Keith McMurray - Brighton Artist

I'd already done a few pictures of angel statues, mainly black and white, which had all sold, even the ones I thought were not great. "A big one in colour therefore couldn't fail to be a winner!" I thought to myself.

As large pictures always took me forever to finish, I knew this was the last one of this size I was likely to ever do unless my fortunes sales-wise were to suddenly turn around. To make it count I thought I'd have a go at entering it into the Royal Academy Summer Show to get it seen by a large number of people. I imagined it would get in fairly comfortably as the Summer Show is always a right old hotch potch of stuff with an often shockingly low threshold of quality.

To cut a long story short, it got rejected, and neither of the two galleries I subsequently gave it to exhibit even put it up on their wall.

I took it as a final sign from above that my commercial instincts were truly non-existent and didn't pick up a paint brush again for 3 years.

It's currently hanging up on our bedroom wall. Kate likes the blue background.


....

'Angel' 40" x 22 "
Acrylic on canvas
This was my last attempt at doing an all-out commercial picture.
I'd already done a few pictures of angel statues, mainly black and white, which had all sold, even the ones I thought were not great. "A big one in colour therefore couldn't fail to be a winner!" I thought to myself. As large pictures always took me forever to finish, I knew this was the last one of this size I was likely to ever do unless my fortunes sales-wise were to suddenly turn around. To make it count I thought I'd have a go at entering it into the Royal Academy Summer Show to get it seen by a large number of people. I imagined it would get in fairly comfortably as the Summer Show is always a right old hotch potch of stuff with an often shockingly low threshold of quality. To cut a long story short, it got rejected, and neither of the two galleries I subsequently gave it to exhibit even put it up on their wall. I took it as a final sign from above that my commercial instincts were truly non-existent and didn't pick up a paint brush again for 3 years. It's currently hanging up on our bedroom wall. Kate likes the blue background.