If you do not look, you will not find...

There comes a time, once in a while, when you're out of cash, you have nothing to do and boredom takes over. It seems that most of the time, many of us have to be doing something, whether it be with friends or even at school. But what about the times when you are alone, with just yourself to keep you company? I think that what most people don’t realise is that you don’t necessarily need others to have a fulfilling time.

Without going off on too vast a tangent, I will say that last week I felt, at one point, utterly bored. I decided to go out for a while, to somewhere I don’t go very often, and I settled on Twickenham, a small town just across Richmond Bridge. Whilst on my brisk, boredom relieving stroll, I happened upon a sign that read very clearly, Orleans House Gallery. Now, normally if I were out doing something in particular, I wouldn’t ordinarily take notice of a sign, but, as I had absolutely nothing to do with my day, I set out to find this gallery. I enjoy art, and couldn’t see the fault in going to check it out.

When I arrived at the Georgian- mansion style building which was Orleans House, and figured that as I was already there, I had better go inside to this ‘gallery’.

I said before that I appreciate art and I didn’t really expect much from this gallery, as I hadn’t heard of it before, and surely if it were any good, I would have heard something or have seen an advertisement. I thought this as I walked through the door, but I realised I was wrong the minute I stepped into the gallery itself. It was full of paintings, drawings, sculptures and even tapestry, all over the walls. Most of the work looked pretty impressive and some of it, very impressive.  The great thing was, a great deal of the artwork included was created by locals!

What I am trying to say in simpler terms is this: if you do not look, you will not find. My story is a prime example of what you could be missing out on, just because you don’t have an open mind. I had no idea that there was a brilliant art gallery only a twenty minute walk  from my own home, and this just goes to show that there really are many interesting places around, if you just go out and look. When you are handed a leaflet in the street, do you give it a read - or do you bin it? Perhaps next time you should give it a second look, as you don’t know what you could be missing out on. I told my parents all about the gallery, and informed my dad, who enjoys painting, about how local people can submit their work. He took the brilliant opportunity of displaying some of his work there - all because of my discovery! So I guess the moral of this story is, ‘If you look you will find.’