New exhibition in Broadcast in Sauchiehall Street, Glasgow went up last week with an opening night on Friday. A hectic week for all involved but a great looking show that will be on for 2 whole months. Thanks to the organising talents of Michelle Cohen and Karen Bones a.k.a. Wolf Bones there was live music and even a club night. Good times. The show opens up the darker edges of the artist mind producing an exhibition of 13 artists; from large scale paintings to smaller intricate ink drawings there is plenty to see. On for 2 months so get yourself down there and grab a tasty burger and beer and peruse what's on offer. All works for sale so do the right thing and make the happiest partner, wife, husband, girlfriend, boyfriend, sister, brother, uncle, aunt, grann......ok, you get the idea. I have put in 6 new paintings, two of which are acrylics, you can see them in the flesh in Broadcast of course but if you can't make it, there are images online on my Facebook page. I decided to switch from using oils and turps and try water-based acrylic paint so I wouldn't asphyxiate myself now I've sealed up the studio due the onslaught of the coming winter and my determination that I will be able to feel my fingers while I paint. It was a bit tricky at first being used to the long drying times of oils but I've got a handle on it pretty quickly. I seem to naturally work faster due the faster drying time but got slightly frustrated sometimes also because of this. I've read up a bit about the properties and uses of both media and have come to the conclusion that using both (which may be controversial to some) may be a way to go; though only when I can open the window again. It is said, by those who know, that oils can only go over acrylics but never the reverse as you will end up with a whole fireball of mess. The plasticy overcoating of the acrylics will dry quicker and shrink and so I'm assuming it won't take the oil colour with it and there will be some sort of separation. However, this could be an interesting experiment if you want to mess around with textures but then maybe it would eventually fall off as it wouldn't adhere to the base coat. Oh, I'm getting kind of technical about stuff that I don't really know the ins and outs of. Think it's a trial and error thing that probably would take years to see actual results as acrylics have only been around commercially since the 1950s they still don't really know about longevity. Anyway, it's going fine at the moment so onward ho!
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Woohoo! I got second prize at the Heeds Up Portrait Competition at Cocktail & Burger tonight. Am so chuffed. Thanks so much to Michelle Cohen for organising, curating and hosting the show. "Hireath" did it for me. Had such a lovely evening. Good times. Just need to work out who to take to dinner with my prize of a free meal at C&B. Applications welcome here with a 100 word essay on why you would be the best dinner companion! Going to be in the month-long portrait exhibition at Cocktail & Burger, curated and hosted by the delectable Michelle Cohen of Grey Wolf Art. Opening night is tomorrow (Sunday) from 7.30pm and looking forward to it, should be a good night. I've put in a couple of older ones "Hireath" and "Alex" but have a new one of the lovely "Steph", so come on down to see them and a whole bunch of other amazing portraits. There will be live music and DJs so bring your pals and make a night of it. Remember it'll be on for a month so you can come back again and a delicious burger from the rather lovely menu. Look forward to seeing you there! A little while a go I joined Shop Scotland, an online showcase website dedicated to promoting Scottish and Scotland based creatives, designers, artists and makers. They've been working very hard at getting their site looking dandy and have a new fancy member badge that I've just put on the footer of my website. They've also just become one of the winners of the Edinburgh heat of the Local Business Accelerators. So check them out. Other exciting news is I've got a new studio! Well, will have next month. I have been sporadically working from home but have realised that I definitely need others about me to get me working proper and having a separate place to work in makes all the difference. The temptation of washingup/cupsoftea/tv/daydreaming/generallyfannyingabout is far too much of a distraction and as I don't have a lot of space in my flat, my sitting room is either a sitting room where I can sit or a studio with all my materials everywhere and no where to live. Currently, it is a sitting room which I much prefer. So from mid March I'm moving into a studio space in West Regent Street with my friend Karen Bonella. I haven't even seen it yet but I have good vibes about it. There are already a few businesses in the building; Rig Bike Shop, Jetpace Industries t-shirt printers and Devil's Own Apparel clothing shop who are just about to have their grand opening on Sunday 3rd March. Also judging by facebook pages, there are always dugs kicking about the place so that's an extra boon! Picture of cuteness of a chocolate lab pup called Elvis Presley here. So with lots going on and lots of creative types hanging about hopefully this will be the start of very exciting things to come. Hoorah, I've sold a painting at the Art Exposure Gallery Xmas exhibition! Apparently to the people that bought the other one I sold there so I officially have a collector. What larks. Now time to get those brushes out again. Day 353 - Lady centaur I know we're in to January a fair bit now but I still say Happy New Year to you anyway. It's going to be the end of my drawing year challenge come the 31st January. Unfortunately, this year's 28 Drawings Later: February Drawing Challenge will not be happening this year but to be honest I think I'll be glad of the rest. Think I'll still do a weekly drawing post but it has been quite a trek putting up something for each and every day. I am considering doing a public vote on Facebook of the most popular 30 (or something) of my 366 drawings (it's a lot, I know) and make a book available to purchase at all good venues (most likely craft fairs and the like). Let me know what you think.... If you like my pictures and would like to have a print or the original of your very own, do me a favour and don't just nick 'em off the interweb; purchase at a very reasonable price from the on and offline outlets. Namely Redbubble, or a fair I'm at or contact me if your favourite pic isn't up yet. Keeps me in pencils, see and means I can continue to entertain you with my wondrous imaginings and witty(?) banter. Many thanks to all who continue to support the arts. Stairs Art Exposure Gallery will be having their Xmas Exhibition 1st December to 22nd January and I have "Stairs" exhibiting. Come along and see what's on offer. Lots of affordable items for Xmas presents; paintings, ceramics, glass from £10. Private view 30th Nov 2012, 5-8pm. I'll be there, glass of wine in hand. Now I'm off to get ready to go and take photos of my good friend and artist Lynsey Cosham's craft and textiles for her website, Art Angel. Another opportunity to get some unique and lovely hand crafted gifts for those extra special people in your life because they are so darn worth it! New images of new items will be uploaded asap. Go on, have a gander. www.artangelart.com Blue Hue Oooh, putting in for the Royal Scottish Academy Open Exhibition 2012 in Edinburgh this week. Wish me luck! Mohawk Hoorah! Have sold "Mohawk" in Art Exposure Gallery and have been commissioned to create a logo, will post up when finished. My latest drawing from my "drawing a day challenge". Its quite small, only A5 size in pencil. Its got 23 elements as it took me 23 days (worth), admittedly I haven't been taxing myself. I like the result though. Drawing in small stages can develop a slightly off kilter part of the imagination. You can follow the new images of my challenge by 'liking' my Facebook page. It started from the Facebook page challenge 28 Drawings Later: February Drawing Challenge. The idea is to draw something once a day for the month of February, post it up on the page for comments and adulation and then have an exhibition at the end. A couple of hundred people got involved in this, the third year of the challenge, even folk as far flung as the US and Japan! The exhibition was held this year in The Old Hairdressers bar and gallery here in Glasgow. Lovely it was too. I enjoyed the challenge so much I decided to continue, greatly benefitting from the discipline of a daily drawing (though I do cheat on occasion, don't tell anyone). |
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