The Fear of the First Time on Rochford Art Trail: Ann Bacon
Rochford Life: Ann, remind me if you will, was last year the first time you had displayed your work publicly?
Ann: Yes, definitely.
RL: My memory says you were scared stiff at the thought of it, beforehand?
Ann: I was a nervous wreck, I was really scared.
RL: When did that change.
Ann: I think it was after the opening event and we were walking along on the first guided tour with Max and I had a phone call saying one of my pictures was sold within the hour and then after that I just felt, “Wow, this is amazing!” and from then on I was OK. I led guided tours and did everything. In fact I led two walks and one of them was really good. One of them had nine people on it and there was this man whose name was Peter, very quiet, a really lovely man and he walked round with us the whole time and at the end he said, “Oh I’m showing in the Hadleigh Trail. If you re around come and see. Well I did and he turns out to be an amazing sculptor, with books, and he hadn’t said a word about it but when I went over, he came over and gave me a big hug and said how pleased he was to see me and it was quite amazing and lovely.
RL: So it opened up a wider vista for you.
Ann: That’s right. It was really nice, and people coming on the Trail were really lovely. It was a great experience.
RL: So how are you preparing for this year?
Ann: Well I haven’t done a lot this year really, I’ve just fun things that I enjoy (I look around her shed-
RL: Do you have an idea of what you will be showing this year?
Ann: I think I have a slight idea because I don’t have a lot that I really like. The window of the Faith Shop have space for about nine pictures. I have a giraffe here that I like; actually I have two of them (somebody asked for the second) but the second one is awful so I’ll just paint over it; I often do that. I may start out with one thing and end up with something completely different.
RL: Well that’s encouraging for beginners who may think they have to get it right first time.
Ann: Well yes, I suppose so. I often start something – I’ve got loads here that I’ve started – and think, oh no, and then start on something else. I have to really like what I’m going to do.
RL: Well, OK, that’s great Ann. Thank you for your time and for sharing how you felt about last year and about how you’re going in to this year’s Trail. We’ll look forward to seeing your work in the Faith Shop window again, and hope you sell as many as you did last year.
This is the first of a series of brief articles we hope to include in the run-
Ann’s work can be seen at Venue 14