On Making It Our Own | The Sunday Journals No.13

When Adam asked if I'd write this week's Sunday Journal, my first reaction was a mixture of excitement and panic.

He's usually the writer.

I'm more often the one behind the scenes - choosing paint colours, moving paintings around (again), updating the website, wondering whether a frame should hang a little higher, or thinking about the music playing in the gallery.

So, I hope you'll forgive me if this week's journal feels a little different.

Over the past few months, I've realised that taking on The Torrance Gallery isn't just about exhibitions or paintings. It's about caring for a place that already had its own story long before we arrived.

People often ask what it's has been like taking over the gallery, and the truth is, it's a little like moving into a beautiful old house.

You don't fall in love with an old house because you want to change everything about it. You fall in love with it because of its character. Then, slowly, you begin to make it your own.

That's very much how the gallery has felt.

 

A set of framed canvases displayed on a wall, including one showing the back canvas with handwritten notes and another showing a landscape painting in progress.
Delivery of paintings, 2026

 

Over the past week, we've been refreshing the inside of the gallery with a new coat of paint as we prepared for Al Bell's exhibition. This week, we'll be turning our attention outside, updating the frontage and introducing a refreshed look for the gallery.

 

 

A long, narrow room with a freshly painted or plastered floor in a warm off-white tone, flanked by light gray walls and a dark teal accent wall. A doorway at the far end reveals another interior space, and a white floating shelf or cabinet is mounted on the right wall.
Painting the gallery walls, 2026.

 

They're only small changes.

Most people probably won't notice every one of them.

But I will.

Because I've come to realise that places are shaped by hundreds of tiny decisions. The colour of a wall. The way an exhibition flows from one room to the next. The welcome someone receives as they walk through the door. The stories we tell about our artists. Even the music quietly playing in the background.

 

A collection of framed canvases and paintings stacked vertically against a beige wall in an indoor gallery or storage space, with track lighting visible on the left.
New wall colour, 2026

 

Individually, they're small.

Together, they create a feeling.

Over the past few weeks, as we've lived with Al Bell's paintings while preparing the exhibition, there have been moments when I've stood back at the end of the day and looked around the gallery.

Freshly painted walls. Beautiful paintings. Everything finally beginning to come together.

 

Two framed landscape paintings are displayed on a textured white wall and ceiling. The larger painting near the top has a dark brown frame and depicts a misty forest scene in green, blue, and brown tones.
Hanging the show, 2026

 

For the first time since taking over, it felt a little less like someone else's gallery and a little more like ours.

That was a rather lovely feeling.

Of course, galleries are never really finished.

One exhibition comes down, another takes its place. New artists arrive, familiar faces return, and every few weeks the walls tell a completely different story.

Perhaps that's what I love most about it.

It's constantly evolving.

 

Two framed landscape paintings hanging on a beige wall, with a small sculptural object mounted to the right.
Final touches, 2026

 

Our hope is simply that, whether you've been visiting The Torrance Gallery for years or have only just discovered us, it continues to feel like somewhere you enjoy spending time. Somewhere to slow down for a while, discover an artist you've never come across before, or simply enjoy looking a little more closely.

There's plenty happening behind the scenes at the moment, and with more exhibitions already taking shape, it feels as though we're only just getting started. I can't wait to share more of that journey with you over the coming months.

Thank you, as always, for being part of it.

-Antonio

 

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