So couple of months ago, I got this email from the executive producer who said they've got my details still in their database and that's how she found me... would I be interested in taking part in 'Rolf's pop up art School'? Of course I jumped at the kind of once in a lifetime opportunity! But the day didn't pass without it's 'problems... well, the first thing I noticed was this 2'x2' space with a tiny easel in a dark damp and VERY unwelcoming corner...it had a chair there too (almost fit in the space with the easel!!!). Why was this a problem? Well because the chair had my name on it! And as I had specifically emailed to the producer a week ago mentioning that I need a table not an easel, this was somewhat surprising.
The thoughts of not being able to finish my piece in time, started to fill my mind...but by chatting to some other participants, I was glad that I had prepared and had a very clear idea of what I wanted to do... And then, I can't remember what promoted it but I got talking to the series producer and she informed me that we all have to paint the still life in front of us!!! "Oh s**t!" (not that it was a huge problem, after all, that's what I was trained to do, for years!) I was somewhat surprised as this wasn't mentioned in a very comprehensive email we were all sent. Hmm, I thought, should I make a big deal out of it (after all I had prepared for this and had a really good idea...!) or jut say it's fine? I ended up being myself (as always) and informed her that this was not at all clear from the received email...and others might have misunderstood it as well!? True enough, 9 people out of 10 had their sketches, pictures etc. in place to start drawing what THEY had in mind when the 'whistle blows'! This was a BIG problem for the producer as they had prepared all the script for Anneka Rice and Rolf Harris to read out! And it included the term 'still life' - the stuff beautifully placed in front of us! So when the time became to choose the artist to 'represent' the 70's, it had to be the one, who didn't have her own idea and painted what was in front of her: the still life!
I can understand now what kind of pressure that BBC production team is under, as by now, they only had 5 hours to film everything and having to change the plan at the last minute is just not possible with such a big crew and everything planned out to a single minute!!
There is a lot to tell about that day but I think the main highlight has to be "This is gorgeous!" from Rolf himself! :)
It was quite an eye opener when it comes to how the programmes are made: it's simply a commercial entity and all that mattered were the camera angles, sticking to the time-line and the script - the end of story! Whether anybody produced a nice piece of art, or whether someone had never painted before, I'm sorry to say, was totally and utterly irrelevant.
I have no idea whether I'll be a tv star after this or not, but it's going to be aired on Tuesday 5 June 6.30-7.30pm on BBC ONE. You can read all about it here: http://www.bbc.co.uk/mediacentre/proginfo/2012/23/rolf-diamond-jubilee.html
My finished artwork is below...so if you see someone painstakingly drawing outlines of stamps in the program - that'd be me! :)
