Oh yes, it's coming up to that very special time of year when people all over the world celebrate the wondrous birth of a very special person. Yes, me! Another year older on the 16th but after that it'll be Xmas! Love it or loathe (I'm in the former camp) Xmas is coming with a vengeance: it's going to be December on Sunday! Cripes! I've been painting furiously in between doing all my other jobs and ukeing so I will actually have....count 'em...three exhibitions going on at the same time. The first one is already up (you can read about it below), the "Paint it Black" exhibition at Broadcast in Sauchiehall Street, the next one will be in Bar Ten in Mitchell Lane; a Xmas show entitled "All the Small Things" and then I will have another show at Cocktail & Burger also in Sauchiehall Street. "All the Small Things" will be setting its sights on Xmas shoppers. Small, affordable and unique gifts for that special loved one; original works that are no bigger than 18" x 18" and under £100. Prints will be available too. The image here is one of my tiny paintings that I have just completed. It's part of a set of seasonal woodland critters, four in all of course (5" x 7"). Come on down to see the others. The preview night will be on Wednesday 4th (next week!) from 7.30pm. There will also be extra shenanigans going on with live music. Should be a great night. On the 15th I've got a deadline for handing in my work at Cocktail & Burger for the winners of the "Heeds Up" portrait competition exhibition. Not sure when the preview night for this show is but I'm assuming a day or so after...watch this space for more details.... I'll be sharing the walls with artists Stu Murphy and Marianne Vosloo. You can read about the "Heeds Up" exhibition in a previous blog post. I'll be showing the work that got me second prize in the exhibition as well as some other portraits. Best of luck with the Xmas shopping and remember, getting something unique and hand crafted for your friends and family will not only make you the bestest person in the world but will also save a starving artist from the gutter. Yey! :-)
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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! Been pretty busy of late working (other work) so not getting in to the studio much of late however, I have two whole days ahead of me to do just that. Open day went great with lots of folk coming to see us. Really appreciated all the kind comments and even sold some prints and Karen sold a painting too. We're planning on making it a regular thing, maybe every 3 or 4 months, in conjunction with the other businesses at 143 West Regent so look out for more developments. With the summer approaching (?!) there's even been talk of BBQs out the back so make sure you come along for some tasty grub. Have managed to get some new painting done though. I'm trying a bit of a different style by turning some of my pencil illustrations in to paintings. Usually my illustrations are monochrome, with occasional digital colouring or watercolour but I thought I would give it a go in oils. My previous style in observational oil portraits is much more expressive and loose than many of my fantasy illustrations so I knew it was going to be a bit of challenge. However, I'm pleased to say things are going well and I've produced a couple of works I really like and most importantly enjoyed doing. See more as they get finished in the new "Fantasy" section in the "Painting" menu. 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. 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. OK, so we're all up and running for Christmas! Yes, my brand new Xmas designs, as suggested by some very fabulous people on Facebook, are starting to appear on Redbubble so that means you can now buy them as greeting cards, prints, t-shirts and iphone covers for yourselves and your loved ones. Aren't I good to you! From my Drawing a Day Challenge I decided to draw Christmas inspired images that have now turned into festive cheer for all. I've been getting ideas from people and as usual posting them up on my Facebook page but thought I would share the love to Redbubble. Have a look here but don't forget to check back as there will be a new one each day. After finishing a couple of very busy weeks at work I've been catching up with my Drawing a Day Challenge by making another little animation starring a dog. It's fun, hope you like it. 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). My lovely stall at Art Fusion @ Gibson Street Gala. Had a lovely day with only a bit of a small downpour. Loads of people came, estimating about 6000 over the day and I sold my print in the Silent Auction and my drawing on the Wall (the live art wall happening on the day, pictured below)! So many people stopped by for a chat, it was lovely. Even Gregg from We Love to Boogie got to see his immortalisation in oil paint. So much thanks to the other organisers for making it happen, we done good. Great day.
Next up maybe paintings on railings, Kelvingrove, next Sunday; weather dependent. Oh, and not forgetting my uke club are doing a "Big Busk" for charity this Saturday at the top of Buchanan Street. In celebration of National Dementia Awareness Week and the theme of creativity, Alzheimer Scotland will be holding a series of Big Busk events across Scotland during the week of 18 - 24 June 2012. WOSUP, West of Scotland Ukulele Players, have been asked to take part in the event happening at the top of Buchanan Street on Saturday 23rd June starting at 11ish and doing a set of around 40mins. Come along if you're about, geez yer money and have a listen to our motley crew, however, I can confirm we won't actually be playing any Mötley Crüe. Though, it might go in the next songbook... Going to be exhibiting and helping out with Art Fusion at the Gibson Street Gala, part of the West End Festival. It's going to be on 17th June but we're going to have a preview show on the 9th June at Hillhead High School's Summer Fete.
There's going to be lots going on. On the 9th, Offshore Cafe will see the opening night of the month long Art Fusion showcase in the downstairs gallery space. On the Gala day, there will be an Open Air Gallery along the railings of Westbank Quadrant as well as lots of workshops including screen printing, umbrella painting, puppet making, play-writing and more! A raffle and a silent auction too. Come along, get involved and spread the word! For more details click on the poster to go to Art Fusion's Facebook page |
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