I got an email from Charles Saatchi yesterday!

I actually received an email from Charles Saatchi yesterday! And no I’m not joking.

Registering on the Saatchi online gallery has been on my to-do list for about two years, but I had never actually got around to doing it. Partly because I’m a bit of a luddite. I love typewriters....notice the font.... but I am improving, and sometimes have to be pried away from my laptop...quite often in fact! Also because a friend had tried to register last year and found it impossible to download any images, and I never seemed to have any time, or something else always seemed to be so much more important.

Yesterday I actually gathered together my CV and sorted out a folder with images of work dating back to 2005 and started downloading. It was a synch! Maybe the system is more user-friendly than when my friend tried or maybe I’m not the luddite I thought I was. So I was feeling pretty smug with myself that I could actually tick it off my list of things I should do. Next thing I got an email from Charles Saatchi welcoming me to his Gallery and no it wasn’t just the welcoming one from the website, I got that one too. It was from him it said from Charles. Do you think that he was actually online! I know that he must send one to everyone, but it really touched me. (No comment please H or A)

I think I have a bit of a soft spot for Charles Saatchi since I almost bumped into him in the Saatchi Gallery last spring. ‘A’ and I had gone to see the Unveiled exhibition which was amazing. I specially loved the installation ‘Ghost’ by French-Algerian artist Kader Attia. He had filled the room with figures of women made from silver foil bent in prayer. Each hollow shell a different shape but all similar. It really lived up to its title, it was haunting. The whole room had a kind of hollowed feel to it. We took tons of photographs from all angles.

I know that critics often complain that the chador or veil is overused in conceptual artwork. I have used it myself, but it wasn’t without lots of soul-searching first.

But getting back to Charles Saatchi. I dashed back to the gift shop to get something I can’t remember what it was but almost bumped into a small man carrying bags from the shop wearing a crumpled black suit who averted his eyes shyly and dashed off at a tangent. He seemed very sweet and shy as he hunched his shoulders and ran off. He probably wasn't small at all but that's the impression that I got, maybe because his empire is so large that by comparison he seems to be small...it's a bit like when you see actors in real life, they always seem to be so small....

His gallery is an awesome building and it’s great that there isn't any entrance free so accessible to everyone.

I've just trolled through 3,946 images to try and find the ones from the exhibition and annoyingly can't find any....they must be on A's so will have to look for one on the net instead.