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It’s quite an exciting time at the moment  in the studio. I have multiple paintings on the go, which is definately the way that I like to work best. In amongst some painting commissions (thank you! it keeps me going), I am working on paintings for upcoming events for Braewell Galleries as well as just for the hell of it.

THe pic sows me dwarfed by the latest in my kilt art series and this is by far and away the largest artwork which I have ever worked on. The canvas measures 5 x 3 feet and it has been an odd experience as you completely lose a sense of scale and perspective This could, therefore end up with outsized hands and feet etc so as I say, it could be interesting.

At the WASPS studios in Hanson Street there has been a lot of activity as several artists have decided to move to the new studios at the Briggait, which has just recently opened. I have deliberately not had a look at the place as I want minimum distraction over the next while and the thought of moving would be just that. Good luck to the artists who are moving there though, it is a stunning building and was a favourite haunt of mine when it was open in the 80s.

Today was one of those days when I managed to get up and out at a reasonable hour, which for me is quite a feat.

My main reason for going was to have another look at :North Corridor” painted by artist David Evans in 1979. I adore this painting as the way he has captured the effect of the light is genius. My snapshot doesn’t do it justice but you would swear there is a light behind the canvas illuminating it.

The Kelvingrove Art Gallery and Museum is Glasgow’s number one attraction and I have visited there since I was a kid. Seeing it through adult eyes though, it takes me aback more and more every time I visit.

Since the galleries were refurbished, Salvador Dali’s “Christ Of St John Of The Cross” is back where he belongs at the end of a corridor. This is where he used to be many years ago and the perspective leading up to the painting just adds to the drama. In fact, if you approach from the other way, you really do owe it to yourself to walk around the long way and approach the painting “correctly”! This painting is just incredible and I always think that it looks so current because of the geometry and perspecrtive in the painting itself.  I also love watching the reaction of other people viewing it, possibly for the first time.

The building itself is a stunning piece of architecture. There are many stories about the architect builing it the wrong way around but I believe these are urban lagend. After soaking up the atmosphere  i promised myself that I would go back again this year on my own in order that I can spend longer and not bore those I am with by staring at the one painting for too long.

So, to do my Glasgow Tourist Board impression, if you are visiting the city and would like to see original Van Gogh, Dali, Rembrant, The Glasgow Boys and many others in one stunning building then you just have to visit.

After visiting it makes me want to rush back to the studio and paint but that will have to wait until tomorrow.

On the way out I even managed to resist the temptation to visit the “Dr Who” exhibition…..

Well. it’s Hogmany and not only another year, but the first decade of the millenium over already. Can it really be ten years ago that we were all worrying about the millenium bug, planes falling out of the sky and partying like it was 1999?

This decade, for me was marked by massive change. If anyone had told me ten years ago where I would be in 2009 I would not have believed them. Whatever the noughties held for you may  you have a fantastic twenty ten.

Through the holiday’s I have painted in the studio whenever I have been able to. It has been strange entering the building and a customer who visited commented on the eerie fee. Cafe Sejuiced is closed (see pic above). and there is a real “end of the year feel”.

Personally, I am enthusiastic about the New Year and have some really exciting things lined up including work with Braewell Gallery and I will be continuing to exhibit at Park Gallery amongst others: watch this space.

So, Happy New Year from this artist to you and yours.

I am quite choosy about what TV I watch. I have to admit that I get completely taken in by X Factor.

Have you seen “School Of Saatchi”? It’s a sort of X-Factor for artists. Or it could even be The Apprentice for artists. Anyway, it’s odd because there are various experts judging and some things strike me as odd. This was typified by a female contestant who rigs up strange “sculptures” from found items. On one of the shows, she hung a whistle from a handrail and on another there were odd metal shapes which looked like a collection of , well, odd metal shapes. Could you call it sculpture. Could you call it art? This question has of course been asked before but what I find odd is that it seems to depend on what the artist says about the piece. Then a decision is made on wether it is art or a pile of junk. Surely art should speak for itself.

At WASPS where my studio is, the ground floor is rented out sometimes to graduating art students. Last year we had a dead bee hanging from a clock and a bath filled with mud.

All I can say is, after a week, the mud smelled like the devil.

Give me the Mona Lisa anytime and well done Joe McElderry….

After an unsettled couple of months, things seem to be coming together.

There is a bit of a buzz about the WASPS Artists Studios at the moment with the build up to Christmas but I am focussed on the forthcoming Edinburgh Art Fair.

I am hopin gto have seven paintings there and rather than take the easy route, I have been continuing to work on paintings that other artists are telling me to leave alone.

They will be uploaded soon to the relevent galleries.

Carrying on with all my recent “New Age” (I hate that term!) interest, I had my tarot cards read at the weekend. This was done by a girl who apparently “works in the light”. She was certainly very pleasant and I enjoyed it very much. I sway between skepticism and thinking that there must be something in it.

Time will tell.

After a mad week when I have not been able to get to the studio, I have spent the weekend painting away.

I have noticed that after a break from painting, I am almost itching to get back and often paint with renewed energy and style changes tend to happen also.
This weekend I have been working on various paintings which have been on the go for a while and also some new artwork.

The most fun over the weekend was attacking a big 3 foot square canvas with a palette knife and no brushes. I have no idea where this large scale face painting is going but as always, time will tell.

I dropped by ArtDeCaf in Glasgow yesterday for a Pear Cider which I am starting to get quite into. I thenk because the glass is filled with ice it lasts so much longer and keeps drunkenness at bay.

The first lady of art in Glasgow was doing a painting demonstration. Alexandra Gardner was busy painting a rather large landscape. Sandyhas taught in various schools including Glasgow School of Art. She tells it like it is and is known for not mincing her words. I dared to ask her for a crit of one of my paintings which was hanging on a wall nearby. Very interesting it was too. Lots of helpful suggestions but the best bit was when she compared my painting to a Leonardo Da Vinci……one with nothing happening at the focal point! Wrapped knuckled for me then.

Other than that it’s been a weekend when I have a dreaded 18 monthly event. Yes, time for mobile phone renewal. I was definately a bit of a tech geek in my younger years and I was up to date with most things but I have to admit to being left behind in more recent years. I am now the owner of a Nokia 5800 which is one of these touch screen jobs. I swear that it must have been designed for people with nails filed to that of a pen nib. If you phone me and I teke a while to answer you’ll know why. I give it a week and I will be swapping the sim card back into my trusty old N95.

Today I thought i would join the life drawing art class at the studios where I am based. If you have read the earlier posts this week you will have seen that it has been a pretty busy time and this was a deliberate attempt to remove myself from all the busy-ness.

Drawing, for me is very different from painting. Dali said, “Drawing is the honesty of the art. There is no possibility of cheating. It is either good or bad.”

There is certainly some “exposure” in that you cannot hide behind layers of paint. There was the added element today of the model being an expectant lady. I think everyone in the room must have had the thought that they were drawing one person and not two.

Afterwards, I felt much more relaxed but utterly exhausted. This is common when life drawing because of the concentration required.

A good sleep tonight then….

Today was one of thos “2 days rolled into one days” which I  don’t mind but I am convince contribute to that feeling of your life passing by too fast (Aldous Huxley was apparently the first to notice this).

Running around trying to get things done and meanwhile painting a portrait which I am being very perfectionistic over possibly is not a good mix. Add to that we had an artist’s meeting today. All very nice people but sometimes I think I prefered it in my previous career when people just said it like it is! It’s fine being sensitive but it really can be a pain in the ass when it comes to making decisions, or moving a meeting along for that matter.

After all this I just had to grab some paint and make a mess! It is so theraputic and a complete stress reliever. So, no portrait which I have been working on for quite a while to show you but here instead is my stress relif artwork.

Aaaahhhhhhhhhhhh, that’s better.

Sometimes life just bobs along and sometimes you are aware that you are in a period of change. That’s where I seem to be at the moment as there seem to be quite a lot of “big things” happening.

I am getting ready to move home and started the tidy up and put things in boxes excercise. I came across two old portfolios and just couldn’t resist having a rummage through one of them.

I have to say, it was quite a pleasant experience to travel down an artistic memory lane. There were old pieces of art from college and from school days. I thought I would share this “Stevie Wonder” which I painted in oil pastel when I was 14 years old. I have to say that I am quite impressed by it! I remember doing it at the time. I know that I drew it in pencil first but I also know that I didn’t measure it – just went for it without a care in the world as you do at that age. I am a perfectionist for measuring things these days but the freedom to fail seems quite appealing.

Tomorrow in the studio could be interesting….