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.
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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. 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. 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! Sarah, Chris and Caroline It's November already, how time flies. Just back from a great week's holiday at my friends' Sarah & Chris', place in Riba Roja D'Ebre, Catalonia. It's a lovely place, so peaceful and laid back it makes me want to slow down and just take in the view. They've had the place now for 4 years and are slowly doing it up. It's a lovely wee hoose and quite a few acres of land, most of which is hill, with olive trees lining terraced soil. Their intentions are toward self sufficiency with solar panels galore and land full of veg patches. The good life indeed. They are also planning an ambitious project of creating an artist village within their land. Sarah, being an artist herself and Chris, a graphic designer, want to give artists time and space to live and make work in a creative environment; an artists retreat, if you will. I'm looking forward to seeing the developments as they start to build more. Also, next year in late summer, with the ready organising skills of Sarah's sister Caroline, they're planning to produce an arts and music festival to be held on their land called Riba Rocks. With local and international bands due to be booked, poets and writers planning readings and artists creating workshops, it's gonna be a fabulous event. I'm planning my return trip already. I can't talk about this place without mentioning its newest residents; Tut and Khamun. They are two little kittens that were found under a manky sofa in a supermaket car park by two friends who nursed them to health. Tut was so tiny, found in a puddle and not moving, they thought he was dead. Khamun on the other hand, Tut's big sister, was very vocal, fortunately for them. Sarah & Chris were asked if they would like to take them on. As they are very rural, they can have a bit of a mouse problem, so thought why not. The kittens had only been there a week by the time I had arrived but I could see Sarah & Chris had fallen in love with them already. Well, they are quite adorable. We'll see how long it takes them to move residence from the shed to in front of the wood burner in the house during the winter. Mohawk Hoorah! Have sold "Mohawk" in Art Exposure Gallery and have been commissioned to create a logo, will post up when finished. 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). |
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