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The studios are busier than usual and most artists seem to be in a good mood. The studios can be a strange place. there are quite a lot of shy people about who can’t even lift their heads to say “good morning” , there are the art snobs and there are some really decent folk about too.

I am convinced Frank To has a strategy of keeping other artists off their work by visiting for a chat when he is on his tea break. I am suspicious of Frank as I know he has read the book “The Art Of War”. Frank is one of the good guys and is having great success with his artwork at the moment but don’t be fooled by the pleasant demeanour. Fall aslleep at a party and you will either find yourself with a painting…..on your face or your hand dipped in a bowl of warm water. (Apparently it makes you wee in your sleep).

If you have read elsewher in my blog you will know that I am also a  fan of the art of Joe O’Brien. Joe is so talented it is simply disgusting! I was passing his studio the other day and I thought the radio was on….but no, it was Joe singing and playing the guitar. Bloody good he was too. The pic above is Joe strumming away in front of one of his current creations. I also video’d him but the file is too large to get up on here.

Anyway, it’s been a great week in the build up to Open Studios and hopefully there will be a lot of art lovers through the doors as we have the biggest event yet with artists from 2 other WASPS premises joining us.

You never know, Joe O’Brien might even strum you a tune.

Lots of palette knife work and painting without drawing first which I like to do now and again even though it can be scary. I had some company this evening as my daughter was working with me and she took this snap of me and the painting which was first posted below. As I have said elsewere, having a figure next to the artwork gives an idea of scale and apparently it’s a healthy thing to do on a website for various reasons, not least because it shows that the website is run by a real person.

Promise, I am real and you can see the above artwork and me at the WASPS Open Studios event this weekend if you come along.

There has been a lot happening but I won’t bore you with all the details. At one point this week I was standing on the banks of the Clyde in th middle of rush hour traffic. Noise, people everywhere and the usual City centre hustle and bustle.

I turned round at this point and there was a bird sitting on a post at the quay side.  It really was one of those moments that slows you down and makes you realise that you don’t need to be a part of it all sometimes and can have a quiet moment all to yourself.

Last week when I was in the framers, the art restorer from the studio next to me was in looking for a frame for a painting which he was working on. The painting was a Joan Eardley original worth over 150k. It was painted on hardboard and I just loved being able to look at it. I remember a teacher at school talking about Joan Eardley and her paintings of Glasgow “weans” but I never really paid that much attention to her landscapes for some reason. The internet is at it’s best when it does that whole “library in your home” thing and I have had a great time being blown away by some of her landscapes. They are some of the most emotive I have seen and there is that tinge of sadness when you look at them as she died young.

Today I passed Brian the restorer as I went to clean my brushes. He was working on a huge canvas of an unknown fishing village on the east coast of Scotland painted at the turn of the last century. The figures in the painting were incredible, I absolutely loved it and Brian was pointing out the Pentimento to me. I had not noticed this until it had been pointed out and then it was very obvious. There are many terms in painting which people don’t know and if you do, you sometimes forget: unless that is you studied the Italian language. Pentimento is when an artist paints over his work and this can later be seen on inspection, sometimes only with x-ray.

When he used this word though, he followed it up with another,sfumato and I was immediately transported back to my art lecturer, George Devlin, who used these words but with a broad Glasgow accent. His best, which reduced most of us to tears (not that anyone was brave enough to get caught by George !) was “Chiarascuro”.

Jeely Piece anyone?

It’s a real mixed bag though as I am working on figurative paintings, landscapes (and plenty of them!) as well  as a celebrity painting, see the sneak preview of the Michael Jackson art to the right.

I still wonder as an artist if this is an acceptable way to work. Therther artist’s studios which I pass and all the work seems to be of the same ilk. THis makes me wonder if I should be doing the same thing and hava consistency of style and subject.

Then I think, “nah!”