We have had a great spring show season, having the pleasure of visiting some fantastic railway and aviation events including –
Swanage Spring Diesel Gala
Epping and Ongar Diesel Gala
KWVR Diesel Gala
Severn Valley Railway Spring Diesel Gala
East Kirkby Lancs n Tanks
Daks Over Duxford
Crewe Open Day
Cosford Airshow
New Products
Our new personalised railway gifts, especially the replica loco panels, have gone down an absolute storm as have our D-Day 75 Commemorative gifts. Thanks for the great feedback on these products!
Bumps in the Road
We have been quiet recently following a health scare for our embroidery partner. All is well now, but it had a knock on effect to orders, so apologies if any of you have been affected. As a result we have decided to invest in a second embroidery machine which will allow us to increase our capacity whilst our partner can take it a bit easier. Our new embroidered railway and aviation designs were well recieved at recent shows but we havent been able to get them online. I am intending to add them this week!
We have had a couple of weeks off the show circuit whilst we get on top of everything, especially getting to grips with the new embroidery software.
Upcoming Shows
We will be out again for the Armed Forces Day in Mansfield on 30th June so if you are in the area drop by and say hi!
The following weeks looks like this
Flying Legends
DRS Carlisle Open Day
Marham Families Day
East Kirkby Airshow
Military Odyssey
If you are planning to visit any of these shows come and say hello!
Society and Fund Raising
We have been busy with supplying various Societies with merchandise for their fund raising stalls and are delighted to have added several new societies.
We are extremely pleased to have been asked to supply the BBMF, the Battle of Britain Memorial Flight, with printed and embroidered merchandise. The Western Loco Association, Woodhead Railway Group and 466th Bomb Group at Attlebridge have also kindly ordered various fund raising items. There is also an interesting job involving 50008 in development!
Our regulars including the Network Southeast Society, Southern Electric Group, Class 37 Loco Group, Lincolnshire Lancaster Association, The Spitfire Society and the Class 45/1 Society have been busy filling their stalls with our products so if you see these groups out and about, make sure you drop by and buy something to help them raise much needed funds!
Alamy Editorial Portfolio
Time has been precious this last few months and unfortunately I havent added any new editorial images to my Alamy Portfolio, but nevertheless licences have been good.
If you need editorial pictures for your publication then check out my Alamy portfolio – there is a wide range of image subject matter and styles as can be seen below. These images have recently been generating enquiries and licences.
This brings you pretty much up to date on where we are at the moment. We would like to thank you all very much for your support over the last few months. We are very much looking forward to getting back on the road again, starting with a home town event in the shape of Mansfields Armed Forces Day on 30th June.
If we dont see you there, hopefully we will see you at another event this summer!
Thanks for reading and all the best
Gary, Dawn & Kay
Share This Update with your friends and family …. thanks!
So we are back home recovering from a long three days at the Flying Legends airshow. All the orders we took have been processed and will be with their respective buyers early next week. Thanks again guys n gals, your trade and support is much appreciated!
Ted had a great time at the Flying Legends with his personal highlight being a date with B-17 Flying Fortress Sally B!! That bear gets around, last visit to Duxford he gets a flight in a C-47 Skytrain!
Many thanks to Andrew and Geraldine for arranging this![/vc_column_text][ess_grid alias=”teds-date-with-sally-b-at-flying-legends”][/vc_column][/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column][vc_column_text]
Great Flying Display
As usual, the flying display was pretty good, although the weather did prevent a couple of displays. My personal favourite aircraft were the Avenger and Sea Fury – both very impressive. The famous Duxford ‘Tail Chases’ were a little thin on the ground. I’m not sure if this was to do the changes imposed by the CAA in response to Shoreham or simply there being insufficient aircraft?
Unusually for the Flying Legends, a modern fighter made an appearance in the shape of the USAF F-22 Raptor. The Raptor flew with a P-51 in the USAF Heritage flight display. I have seen many F-22 aircraft at Nellis but this was the first display I have seen and it was pretty impressive.[/vc_column_text][/vc_column][/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column][vc_column_text]
Crowds A Little Thin
From our viewpoint, although sales were healthy, the crowds did seem thin on the ground. I suppose this was to be expected as the event clashed with RIAT at Fairford, the British Grand Prix and some funny game with yellow balls in South London.
Hopefully there will be a nice healthy crowd when we return in September!
Here is an interesting discussion point. What are your thoughts on image theft by people taking photos of artwork? I am getting increasing numbers of people innocently walking into the stall and covertly taking pictures. This activity was rife at Flying Legends.
I don’t know why people would do that as much better quality images can be had from this site and even better quality pictures can be bought there and then! I stop most people and they seem annoyed I intervene and prevent them taking photos. I wouldn’t mind so much if they were up front and said ‘great picture I want to share it on social media’ and gave us a mention.
Is it theft? Would people expect to walk into an art museum or exhibition and snap away unchallenged?
I am always on the lookout for image infringement and people who use my pictures illegally. To a certain extent it is part and parcel of the online world, but surely it is something more sinister in the physical world?
What really annoys me is this increasing clandestine photography of my artwork.
What are your thoughts? Is it acceptable or is there a limit to what can be ‘had for free’?[/vc_column_text][/vc_column][/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column][vc_column_text]
Next Up – War and Peace Revival
So, after that mini-rant, it’s time to look forward to next weeks War and Peace Revival Show. 5 solid days of the best military vehicles, living history and battle re-enactments to be found. We are very much looking forward to this show, which will be our first time attending. If you are at the show then drop by our stall located at C21 and say hi![/vc_column_text][vc_single_image image=”17845″ img_size=”large” alignment=”center” style=”vc_box_rounded” onclick=”custom_link” link=”https://warandpeacerevival.com/”][vc_column_text]Thanks for reading, please leave your thoughts on the image theft issues I discussed and see you at War and Peace!
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Share Ted has a date with Sally B at Flying Legends with your friends and colleagues …. thanks!
We are just back from a fantastic weekend at the American Airshow at the IWM Duxford.
The American Airshow 2016 was a good event. There was lots of great flying (well the bits I got to see were very impressive). It seems the crowd numbers were down – a result of the advance ticket policy? I know a lot of people without tickets were turned away from the gates.
From our perspective it was a successful weekend despite the low crowd numbers.
We had a blast chatting to those visiting our art stall. Many became customers and bought something – its great to see your own personal work leaving for a new home.[/vc_column_text][/vc_column][/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column][ess_grid alias=”gdmk-images-art-stall-american-airshow-duxford-2016″][/vc_column][/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column][vc_column_text]
Ted Gets a C-47 Dakota Flight
The highlight of the event for us was Ted making a new friend called Loon. Loons guardians, Andrew and Geraldine, dropped by the stall when they saw a black and white picture for sale on our stall. It turns out it was a picture of their steed for the weekend – C47A Dakota N147DC. After a lovely chat, they invited Ted to fly in the Dakota during the display on Saturday! Well what could we say? Before we knew it Ted was off and away for his VIP trip. I am sooo jealous of that little bear!!!!
July 2016 Update – little did we know that Ted would go one better at flying legends by getting a date with B-17 Flying Fortress Sally B!![/vc_column_text][/vc_column][/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column][ess_grid alias=”ted-goes-flying”][/vc_column][/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column][vc_column_text]
Interesting Discussion Generated
My Vulcan digital art picture is always a popular picture wherever I go. As this was our first airshow, it was particularly interesting to listen to the knowledgeable airshow photographers who stopped by. Much discussion was had on whether it was a photograph or art. Even more discussion focussed on its merits as art. Some questioned why someone would sell a badly blurred photo. Others were commending a stunning piece of aviation artwork. It was very entertaining overhearing the banter between friends when opinions differed!
I’m glad the picture does exactly what art should do – generate debate! I’ll side with those customers who bought the picture. Several versions were bought including framed, on canvas and on a wooden block, those people obviously know their art!
What are your thoughts on the picture? Leave your comments below![/vc_column_text][/vc_column][/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column][ess_grid alias=”vulcan-bomber-and-new-spitfire-digital-painting-pictures”][/vc_column][/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column][vc_column_text]
Orders and Upcoming Shows
For those who placed orders, I can confirm that your orders have been processed and submitted for production. You should be hearing from the couriers over the next 10-12 days with delivery slots.
For those who missed my aviation art display, you can check out and order online from the full Aviation Gallery.
Our next airshows are
19th June Cosford
2nd & 3rd July Flywheel Festival
9th & 10th July Flying Legends
We are at various shows every weekend. We will be at Bradgate Park this weekend with a general art stall. Following this we will be taking our railway art display to the North Yorks Moors Railway 70s and Diesel Gala on 17th & 18th June.
If you will be at any of those events, come along and say hi. We love to chat!
In the meantime follow #tedontour on our social media channels to see what Ted gets up to in between shows!
Thanks for reading and please feel free to leave comments below, we love to hear from you!
All the best for now
Gary[/vc_column_text][/vc_column][/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column][vc_separator color=”sky” el_width=”80″][/vc_column][/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column][vc_cta h2=”Subscribe to GDMK Images” txt_align=”center” add_button=”bottom” btn_title=”Sign me up !!” btn_custom_background=”#0098da” btn_custom_text=”#fffffd” btn_link=”url:http%3A%2F%2Fstaging.gdmkimages.co.uk%2Fsubscribe-gdmk-images-newsletters%2F|title:Subscribe%20and%20never%20miss%20an%20update|”]Subscribe and stay up to date with all the latest GDMK Images news![/vc_cta][/vc_column][/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column][vc_column_text]
Share this Duxford American Airshow report with your friends and colleagues …. thanks!
