Ely’s First Popup Gallery, Down by the Waterside

Ted Coney studied Painting and Printmaking at Bath Academy of Art in the 1960s and has been making work about family life for forty five years. He was Head of Art and Design at Hills Road Sixth Form College, Cambridge for over thirty five years and currently teaches Art, part time at St Andrews, Cambridge. His experience as a teacher combined with an irrepressible enthusiasm for his art make a visit to his popup gallery on Waterside, Ely well worth the effort.

Ted has been making paintings about family life and family relationships since 1969 and as he usually completes about one a year and doesn’t sell the original work, most of them are here in his Ely home, a beautiful listed 300 year old cottage. The gallery re-opens for bookings on April 10th – its 9th season! When you book a tour you can relax in the knowledge that you won’t be expected to purchase anything more than the £3 entry fee.

He usually selects seven paintings to talk about on each tour which typically lasts an hour. It starts with a very short film to introduce some of the ideas behind his work and finishes with a visit to the studio to see the latest painting in progress. In this way every tour is different and you truly get to see a glimpse of the artistic process.

“I’ve just finished a painting, entitled ‘Against The Light’ which is about two brothers who were viewed very differently by their mother and father. One saw them as boys who could do no wrong, whereas the other had an entirely opposite perception.” Says Ted

Of course, he uses his family as a starting point but it is interesting how often visitors remark that similar things have happened to their family.

It’s a gallery visit with a difference in that visitors are not left to wander aimlessly amongst the pictures but instead given information and entertaining detail about the work and its background – a brilliant thing to do as a family and to inspire any budding young artists.

Ted takes up to 6 people at a time on each tour and usually likes to open on a Sunday (although if Sunday is impossible, still make contact, as he might be able to arrange something else) and you need to book in advance, by phone, email or through his website at www.tedconeysfamilyportraits.co.uk

If you can’t wait until April, then do try the virtual tour which is also available from the website for a small charge of 99p!