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Sunday, August 29th, 2010

Homes &Interiors & Prices

As you may know, some of my fellow artist’s and me have got together and hired a stand at the Homes & Interiors exhibition in Glasgow. It’ a fairly expensive business hiring a stand and so there are eleven of us crammed into one 6 meter x 1 meter space. We would have loved a clean minimalist look but reality has dictated that it has to be the “boudoir” look!

It’s been fantastic to chat with so many people, if you have ventured along, thank you, it genuinely has been nice to meet so many of you.

Pricing artwork for this event has been a dilemma. As there is no gallery involved, many of the artists are slashing their prices. This is a dangerous game. It is certainly not my intention to undercut galleries and I have a great relationship with the galleries with whome I work (I still miss Park Gallery though!). So, brand new pieces were there or there abouts gallery price and some other pieces which have either been around a while or were unframed, I did apply some discount. What happens? People then haggle even more! I guess it’s just in the nature of people but it was beginning to feel like a bazaar in Marakesh.

It’s been great fun though and good to see so many galleries there too. Sunday 29th is the last day and I will be there for most of the afternoon, if you pass by, do say “hello”


Tuesday, August 31st, 2010

Exhausted Artists

It really is amazing how tired standing about can make you!

Three days at Homes & Interiors has come to an end. A big thanks to all of you who came along, it’s always great to get feedback, meet up with some “old faces” and also get to know some new people.

This was a big decision for the Parade Artists collective, who I have been exhibitiong with for a few years now. Homes and Interiors is attended by an estimated 20,000 visitors and we thought it would be a great way to bring our work to a wider audience. It was also a great opportunity to let people know about the WASPS Open Studios event. We were in good company as there were several other well know galleries there including Christos, Queen’s Gallery and Scotlandart.

It was certainly a busy event with lots going on and demonstrations by the likes of Interior Design Guru John Amabile (He was the year above me at college but never spoke to anyone in the “lower” years!).The shock moment for me however, was the lady who stood browsing with her husband and broke wind repeatedly without pausing to discuss the colours in the landscape paintings.


Saturday, August 14th, 2010

Madonna Art Revisited

I have not painted as much celebrity art over the past few years as I used to. In all honesty, this has mainly been because of pressure from certain galleries who have advised against it. Painting celebrity or icon art is tabloid as opposed to broadsheet it would seem.

Still, Peter Howson paints celebrity art very interestingly, including Madonna and I am still a fan of Tarantola. Every now and again, I paint a celebrity painting and as it has been a summer of pushing myself working with oils, I thought it would be interesting to revisit a previous Madonna painting and produce a new version for 2010.

This seemed especially relevant with the upcoming Homes & Interiors exhibition at the SECC in Glasgow where a group of artists have got together and hired a stand to bring our work to the masses.

So, here is  asneak preview of my new Madonna art, in oil, almost finished. Snobbish gallery owners can look away.


Tuesday, August 3rd, 2010

Kilt Art Revisited

Male Art KiltieIf you have been reading previous blogs or my last newsletter you will be aware that I am heavily back into oil painting at the moment. It almost seems as if I am testing myself be recreating images which I had painted before in acrylic (mainly earlier this year) and now, again in oil.

My studio seems to be a more peaceful place when I paint in oil. It just seems to slow me down. Very therapeutic an d I would recommend it to anyone interested in relaxation!

It also pulls me in two directions in that when I first apply the paint to the canvas, the temptation is to leave huge daubs of paint and texture. The drive of that “near photographic” appeal kicks in for me though and I inevitably work the paint to a smooth blended finish.

“The Page”, shown left, is an oil painted version of the “Page Of Chalices” painting created earlier this year in acrylic and is shown about 80% complete.


Wednesday, June 30th, 2010

Oil Painting

It’s been almost a year since I painted in oil. As I return to it this summer, I notice that my relationship with oil paint has changed. It’s odd, but I definately had afear of oil before. I don’t know why, but I did. I used to make excuses for not painting in oil but I think it was the fear and also the lazy aspect I have when it comes to cleaning up. There are no two ways about it that oil is a pain to clean. What a rotten excuse for not painting ina specific medium though. I was spurred on to have a dabble in oil again when I was arriving at the studio and bumped into former WASPS artist Judith Bridgeland. Jusdith moved out a few years ago but returns with her paintings to have them framed. I had the privelage of having a sneak preview and helping her take some from her car to the framer. Judith always sticks in my mind for one reason – the way she described oil painting when we were interviewed by Scottish TV a couple of years ago. I think we must all have sounded like mad artists. Frank To talked about freeing bodies from the canvas, spoke about my relationship with brushes and Judith spoke about “juicy oil paints”…..yum!


Saturday, May 29th, 2010

Art Bar Glasgow

As some of you will know, I had a very successful exhibition last year at ArtDeCaf in Glasgow. There has been a change in ownership( previously Braewell Gallerie’s Marcus MacLeod) and also a name change since then and ArtDeCaf is now Art Bar. I am very flattered that I have been asked to curate the gallery space at Art Bar.

I have always been interested in other artist’s work and in addition to giving me a permanent Glasgow City Centre gallery space for my own art, it will allow me to showcase the artwork of other artist’s too.

Art Bar is quite unique in that it is quiet during the day and at night, when there is entertainment, there is a really lovely feel to the pace. Also, it is fif-raf free!

I think it is also fantastic to be able to display paintings to people who may or may not have otherwise venture into a gallery setting.

Currently, I am putting together a group exhibition and I am really excited about showing an exciting mix of work from established and new artists.

This doesn’t mean that I will not be painting. Painting will still occupy me full time, in fact, I am planning on having a space in Art Bar where I will paint from during the day from time to time so please drop by and see what I am up to.

In the meantime, here’s a shot of the Joe Hendry art exhibition from 2009.


Tuesday, June 8th, 2010

Glasgow Boys

Apologies for not “blogging” so much recently. I am still not painting so much since the Braewell Galleries “thing” and have been keeping myself busy with activities other then painting.

I have a couple of commissions nearly finished: if you are waiting on paintings then please don’t panic, I will have them completed very soon. i don’t rush my painting….in fact, it’s something I just can’t do.

Over the past week, I have been meeting up with artists who will be exhibiting with me at Art Bar (formerly ArtDeCaf) in Glasgow. It has been really interesting for me to meet with so many other artists in such a short space of time.

One of these artists. Ivor Sexton travelled up from “nearly England” to submit paintings and have a chat. We ended up touring around the GlasgowBoys exhibition at The Kelvingrove Art Gallery and Museum. If you have read elsewhere on my website, you will know that this is one of my favourite places. The Glasgow Boys exhibition really is something else. It is on until September and I don’t think I have seen an exhibition of it’s like in Glasgow. It truly is world class. It was all the more fun visiting the exhibition with Ivor. He is one of lifes “half full” people.

To end a perfect day, I have discovered the joy of the BBC i player and watched the fantastic BBC Scotland Glasgow Boys documentary with the legendary Murial Gray. I missed Muriel from The Tube when I was younger and then I missed her when The Munro Show finished.

More Muriel, I say.


Friday, July 23rd, 2010

Lazy Artist

As I mentioned in the previous blog, I have not painted in oil for about a year. At the moment, I seem to be only painting in oil. No new work has appeared in the current art section of the website as I have about 7 new paintings on the go, all in oil and all being painted at a leisurely pace. I do need to get the skates on though. Parade Artists, the collective I am a member of have hired a stand at this years Homes & Interiors exhibition. It’s only five weeks away and as yet, my ideas on what I will be displaying there are, at best, vague. But that’s ok, isn’t it?

A sneak preview of one of the said oil paintings. Without going in to long stories, I am mainly working on small canvases at the moment, which also affects the way in which I paint I have noticed. The large scale canvases seem to need too much physical work and I run out of juice all too quickly.

The “Lazy Artist” I refer to in the title comes down to the realisation of why I avoid painting in oils. It’s simply the clening up after! Isn’t that a lame reason? Th egreat thing I have learned is that I truly love painting in oil. There is not the time pressure of acrylic and whilst as an artist, I doubt I will ever abandon painting in acrylic, I feel it’s time to get my heart and mind back into oil painting and see where it takes me.


Friday, June 11th, 2010

NHS Enigma

I don’t like to go on about health issues to much – it’s one of those things that people are not all that interested in- unless they suffer from the same issues. If you you want to know about health nonsense and me then there is a detailed piece in the Articles section of this website. I had to write about this one though. Today, after 2 and a half years of tests, prodding, pills, tubus down the throat and up the nose (yuk!), I was told that they don’t know what is wrong with me. I was then told that I might have “nutcracker esophogitis”. Yes, apparently it’s a real condition. I had to check it wasn’t April 1st and the consultant even kept a straight face when he said it.

I decided to cheer myself up by heading to the studio to splash some paint about, which always does the trick. WASPS is a much more sociable place for me now than it was a few years ago and I caught up again with Frank To and Teresa Flavin.

It’s great hearing what other artists are up to. I mentioned Teresa’s book before in my blog but today I actually got to hold a copy. Teresa is an illustrator from New York and she has written a children’s book, “The Black Hope Enigma”. Even the cover is exciting! The website will be going live soon for the launch of the book and you will be able to se it here

We always seem to gravitate towards Frank To’s studio, possibly as it is larger than everyone elses and it has cosy couches. Frank’s paintings always fascinate me and today was no exception. A first for me – Frank To landscape paintings. And I mean paintings, plural.

This boy doesn’t do anything by half.


Saturday, June 19th, 2010

Martin Elliot

I don’t know where i was in April, but somehow the death of Martin Elliot passed me by. If you are unaware, Martin was the photographer of Tennis Girl, the 70′s poster which has now passed into popular culture forever.

If you have read elsewhere in my blog, you will know that I painted a version of tennis girl but with an Andy Murray figure – just for fun. It was featured in the national press and Jo Wiley mentioned it on her Radio 1 show crashing my server. All thanks to the fame of Martin and Andy Murray rather then my humble painting I would say!

I was very flattered when Martin contacted me and asked for a print. He seemed such a nice guy. I was even more chuffed when he sent me a signed copy of Tennis Girl, which I will treasure.

RIP Martin.


Friday, May 28th, 2010

Crushed Cans, Trainers and Bird Skulls

I feel that I am really getting back into the swing of things again after all the hassle of the recent months and the Braewell Galleries exhibition. I am putting it all behind me.

It takes time for the creativity to get pumping again though and I have been letting it happen rather than forcing it. A couple of new paintings have sold even before they have been completed so that has been nice. Not just from a financial point of view (but it is comforting in a recession) but from a confidence point. It’s good to know that people out there appreciate what you are doing.

Today, I was in another artists studio and we were talking about art that we used to create when we were younger.

At school, I caught the 80′s crushed can, trainer and bird skull thing where art teachers seemed to go off and do there own thing whilst the pupils sat in silence copying the detail of said items.

In fifth year, I remember being priveleged to be allowed to progress to a a cow’s skull! My art teacher was a great guy, Robert Jenkins, and he let me take home a skull that I am sure he told me he found rotting in a field in the Scottish Highlands. He posted it home and raced it via train and bus. I recall taking it on the school bus and then having to shake the dead bodies of thousands of dead slaters from it. Much to my mothers disgust. All so that I could put extra time into the drawing and work on it from home.

All these years later, I still have my Cow’s Skull drawing. A I looked at it today, I questioned wether I would still have the patience to draw something in such detail with just a couple of pencils like I did when I was 16.

The honest answer is….no.


Friday, May 14th, 2010

Beached Whale

If you have read elsewhere in the blog, you will know that I am hoping to go on a mini “tour of Scotland” and paint some new landscapes whilst I am actually there. There really is nothing like painting whilst you are on location and breathing in fresh air. I don’t know if I could paint somewhere I have never been ( I am now wracking my brain to think if I have ever done it!). I know of a few artists who trott out landscapes of places they have never been to but lets not get into that – it’s been a controversial enough year!

Anyway, the next best thing is taking photos whilst you are visiting somewhere and painting the landscape in your studio at a later date. To this end, I have been looking through old photo albums. Recently, I came across this photo, which I have not seen for years. Around 1998, on a holiday to the Scottish Highlands, we rentted a cottage at Tongue. Tongue has Ben Hope and Ben Loyal as a backdrop and the area is as jaw droppingly beautiful as it is interesting. We were staying in a rented cottage overlooking the Kyle Of Tongue with a field next us full of white horses galloping around. It really was picture postcard. On the night we arrived, we heard on local news that there was a beached whale at Bettyhill. After a seven hour drive, although tired, we just had to go a drive that bit further to Bettyhill to see the whale.

The whale had died by the time we arrived and was lying right on the waterline on this beautiful remote beach. The photo shows my daughter in the foreground. She spoke about it for years to come and I still remember it vividly. It is difficult to describe but there was a really emotional atmosphere on the beach amongst the few visitors that were still there. The footprints in the sand are a testimony to the amount of people who had come to pay there respects to this amazing creature earlier in the day.

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