So what can you do if you’re an artist exhibiting in someone’s home and they are being difficult with you? Well, you have to have a little more sympathy with them than with yourself. Being an Open House owner is to find oneself thrust into a very peculiar set of circumstances, very quickly, that has a steepening learning curve even after the front door has been opened. For over a month, their house will look more like a gallery than their home and even though that is their choice, I think that many house owners don’t quite anticipate the strain and upheaval that staging an open house will have upon them and their family. So put yourself in their place before you have a go at them and think ‘what if that were me – is what I’m asking reasonable to expect of someone else?’

Your next actions will very much depend on the answer to that question. If you’re asking for something that is reasonable but can wait, then do the noble thing and count to ten – or ten thousand – before asking your stressed home owner to stop insisting on whatever it is that’s driving you nuts.

If, on reflection, you can see that it might cause the owner a lot of problems to grant your wish then console yourself with the knowledge that when you open your own home, you can do it your way.

If, however, you have asked for something reasonable and you’ve suddenly realised that the charming home owner who graciously gave you space to show your work has transformed into some kind of power-hungry demonic being, possessed of little reason or sense, then do what you think is best for you. Grin and bear it, grab your artworks and run screaming from the building - you have to use your best judgement in the circumstances involved.

There are plenty of homes to show in and plenty of artists to show in them. Just remember that whether you are a home owner or an exhibiting artist, the whole event will run more smoothly, be more fun and attract more people to your home and work if we’re all nice to each other.

And as I bask in the radiance of goodwill to all I realise I’ve run out of time and space to talk about the practicalites of Open Housing. Looks like I’ll be back for another article next week then.