Back in about April of this year, when the summer could not even have been said to be appearing on the horizon, I completed a series of three small paintings that I wanted to show you. However, as they were for a competition, it occurred to me that there might be a rule about entries being judged anonymously, and so posting them on a blog saying “here’s my competition entries for the Deckchairs at Clevedon Pier” could be seen to be foolhardy.
So now, here is a belated “Ta Da!”
I don’t often go in for competitions that require a special piece of artwork because I’m slow – meticulous yes, but mostly slow – and so it can constitute a week’s artistic output to do this sort of thing. But this one caught my fancy. The Tollhouse Gallery at Clevedon Pier ran a ‘Design a Deckchair Competition’. Pausing briefly to establish that they only wanted artwork to print onto the cloth part, not a re-design of the whole wooden finger-biting arrangement of the chair itself, I leapt on this one with some enthusiasm.
Mermaids, of course, what else…?
You see, the really nice idea about this competition, was that the 25 winning designs would be made up into real deckchairs and the finalists would get a deckchair with their design on. This was such an appealing and novel idea that I had to enter, so you can imagine my delight at getting one of my designs selected 🙂
So on Friday 26th July the exhibition opened:
Here are some of the dechchairs. They all looked fantastic, by the way, and if anyone fancies one they are available to order, so you can buy your very own arty deckchair in either adult or child size, or, if you are feeling particuarlly silly, in a size for your mobile phone to sit in and relax on the beach!. There are also six celebrity designs that are one-offs and are going to be auctioned. See this page: http://www.clevedonpier.com/events/events_exhibitions.shtml on Clevedon pier’s website for more details about it all.
Me, with my deckchair, obviously….
The photo below shows the celebrity deckchairs to be auctioned. From left to right: The Stranglers, Gyles Brandreth, Neil Murison,
Nick Park – Wallace & Gromit, The Wurzels, Alice Roberts.
All the deckchairs are on display at the Tollhouse Gallery on Clevedon Pier The Beach, Clevedon BS21 7QA, from Friday 26th July till August 20th. Entry to the gallery is free and it’s open from 10am to 5pm every weekday and 10am to 6pm at weekends. There will also be a late night opening on August 16th.
And the three designs that I put in, in case you’d like a closer look…
Art by Nancy Farmer 
Congratulations!
Thank you! 🙂
Hi Nancy !! I adore your mermaids !!!! They fit wonderful on a deckchair !!!!! Congratulations !!!
🙂
Thank you Mirsini!
xx
Nancy – Extremely pleased to have made a purchase before hearing your chair was the overall winner! Obviously congrats etc for your ticklish humour, which I viewed also in Ilminster; hope you have some left for Somerset Arts Week, as decision impossible in Ilminster!
Hi Tim, oh yes, plenty left for SAW! My deckchair was not in fact any overall winner – they selected 18 I think from submitted designs – they were all winners… plus 6 from celebrities and a couple from the volunteers, which were done first to see that the actual deckchairs were going to look good. At least, I think i counted about 24 chairs when I was there, might have missed some!
[…] about the availability of this place for next year, since I first saw it last month for the Deckchair Competition. Too good an opportunity to miss, with it being available immediately, and one thing I was reminded […]
Met your mermaid (2) in Ilminster. Loved the exhibition and can’t wait for Art Weeks. By the way, being photographed in front of your life drawings should become an Abbey Road moment for fans!
Thank you Chris! Oh, and you can be photographed in front of any of my pictures that you like 🙂
…if you come and see me at Arts Weeks – I will be there thursdays – Sundays, all except the last weekend: Artwork will be there but not me, unfortunately!
hello there, read this today & was wondering if your mermaid deck chairs were still available to buy & how much for? Thankyou. I know I am somewhat late in enquiring.
Hi Janet, the deckchairs were actually ordered and sold through Clevedon pier, not me. I fear you may be too late because they put in a large order and I don’t know if they can order just the one, but worth asking them. Their website is http://www.clevedonpier.com/index.shtml If you can’t get hold of them, come back to me and I will investigate!