Monday, June 16, 2008

Wow! Dylan - What A Rush!!!

Friday 13th June - Diane & I spent the evening moving the gallery around and hanging the Bob Dylan signed limited edition prints with help from our kids who, after being fed some very nice fish and chips from the Railway Street Chippie, we got stuck in with great gusto! They helped to unwrap the framed pieces and wrap up the pieces that we had taken down to accommodate the Dylan work. By 8.30pm we were finished!

Saturday 14th June - Diane & I arrived at the gallery early and shut ourselves in with the shutters down! We still had bits and pieces to finish off in readiness for the launch time of 10am. At bang on 10am we put the shutter up hoping to see a crowd but the street seemed no busier than usual - but the minute we opened the door the gallery filled up - I don't know where they came from! People had obviously been waiting to get in and grab their piece of Dylan artwork.

By 10.30am we were well and truly underway and the sales were coming thick and fast. People were loving his work and we had fans old and young coming in to have a look!

Before we knew it it was 4pm and the gallery had gone quiet for the first time so we took the chance to put the kettle on and try to grab a sandwich but before the kettle had boiled or we had taken a bite of the sandwich we were starting to fill up again!

By 6pm we had managed to close the door and sat back and just hugged each other! Our decison to be in on the Dylan launch - after only 6 months in business - had paid off! Sales for the day were phenomenal!

We had sold to France and Holland and even had someone trying to gazump a portfolio from under a customers nose such was the demand!

Monday 16th June - We got to the gallery to find answerphone messages from people over in the USA wanting us to ring them ASAP as they wanted to buy! One guy even said he didn't mind which pieces we had he just wanted one!

Due to our misinterpretation of time zones we rang a lady back only to find that it was only 5am with her! Nevertheless she was delighted to be in time to buy and promptly chose a superb selection of prints which will be winging their way over to her very shortly! (Thankyou Linda - for your business!)

We even had a message from BBC Look North who wanted to come along and do an interview - unfortunately they didn't have a VT man and had to put it off but are still hoping to come down later in the week (I'll keep you posted!)

So, now we have only a few Dylan pieces left and we think that even they will be soon gone! We have left only nine individual graphics and one portfolio! Anyone wanting to be a part of this journey needs to get on board fast!

Diane & I would just like to say a massive 'THANKYOU!' to all those people who bought and those who came along for a look and a chat! Many people were happy to simply buy a book or a brochure and I'm sure that even these will become very collectable! More books are on order and brochures are still available to buy!

To sum it up Dylan has been one hell of a rush and we haven't stopped grinning from ear to ear!

We can't wait for the next installment of Dylan mania!!!




1 comment:

Anonymous said...

I bought the Drawn Blank book when it first came out in 1994. And now to see the drawings fully fleshed in magnificent color is amazing. I feel so fortunate to be living in the time of Dylan.

Thank you, John and Diane, for making my little part of this dream come true. I creep into the Gracious Room where I’ve stored my treasure and cannot believe my luck.

Linda