Interviewed Again

I'm not one to talk about myself much, which must seem a strange thing to say here, given that this blog is all about me. But what I really mean is that in person, I don't like talking about me.

However, now and again I like to take the opportunity to answer written questions about my art. In the past, I've answered questionnaires from 'A' Level students tasked with writing a study of a local artist. Some contained quite searching questions, some were more basic. I finally gave up agreeing to them when the promised copies of the eventual studies didn't materialise.

But recently I was asked by Joanna the Mad if I'd be prepared to answer some questions for publishing on her blog, facebooklet.ca . I agreed and found the experience interesting as usual. I hope you'll check out the interview on her blog. You can make up your own mind about the pencil drawing she's done of me. I'm afraid I'm rather averse to being photographed or drawn.

The written form of interview is helpful, because it provides the opportunity to consider and rethink the answers and in time, I think those answers may be helpful to me when it comes to working out where I want to go.

"Where I want to go?" Oh, more on that vexed question in due course, I'm sure.

Biscuit Factory Show

I was able to spend a little time at the Biscuit Factory, photographing my paintings hanging in the Figure8 show. They looked good, I thought - better than these photographs might suggest - and were very well received at the Private View, but sales were absent. Depressing though that is, it's made more bearable by the general absence of red spots throughout the gallery. Obviously the financial climate isn't favourable to fine art sales.

The show is finished now and I'm faced with the usual problem of bringing the pictures home. Taxi again, I suppose.

Edinburgh

Edinburgh Churchyard (work in progress)

Sorry for the pause in blogging. Pat and I went to Edinburgh at the beginning of the month and I came back with a three-week cold. Writing came a poor third on my list of priorities, after coughing and wiping my nose. And painting stalled altogether until yesterday.

The trip to Edinburgh was a birthday present from Pat and timed to coincide with the exhibition of FCB "Bunty" Cadell's work at the National Galleries of Scotland. A wonderful show! Not a poor picture in the whole collection; his work during the 1920s was particularly exciting yet at the time he didn't find much commercial success with it.

We also paid two visits to the Open Eye Gallery to look at Kirsty Wither's new work. Previously known for her figure paintings and flower still lifes (both of which were represented here), she's recently turned her hand to landscapes and I thought these were really successful. Lovely subtle passages of colour laid on with a painting knife, with some of it scraped through. Gorgeous.

The cold started to show up on the last day in Edinburgh and by the time I was home I was ready to vegetate. But by yesterday I felt I should make the effort to get working again, so went off to the Art Club. Inevitably, the last person there was just about to leave as I arrived, so I spent the afternoon in splendid isolation, working on this small painting which you may remember from its last appearance in August.

I think I still have reservations about the lighting in the studio at the new Club premises. It's a combination of natural light diffused through ceiling panels together with some strip lighting. On an overcast day like yesterday the light coming through the diffusion panels seems poor and I was uncertain of my tones while painting. As a consequence, this painting looks different when photographed in the Club's common room, where the light comes through big windows, than it did in the studio.

Private View

Here's the invitation to Figure 8's new show at the Biscuit Factory. I'll be showing eight of the Rock & Tree series paintings, including the two new Auchterarder Hedgerow pictures.

If you can make it to the opening, I'd be delighted to see you there. Come and say hello! If you can't get there, maybe you can get to the Biscuit Factory before it ends on 4 March.

Failing that, you'll find all of the paintings on my website.

Auchterarder Hedgerow No.1

Auchterarder Hedgerow No.1 (Oil on canvas, 61 x 61 cms)

Auchterarder Hedgerow No.2

Auchterarder Hedgerow No.2 (Oil on canvas, 61 x 61 cms)

I'd rather have taken my time finishing this off, but the images were needed by the gallery today, so ....

Still, I think I'm satisfied with this and the companion piece. If not, I can tinker next week before I hand them in.

Hedgerows again

Hedgerow No.1 ((work in progress)


Hedgerow No 2 (work in progress)

I'm still feeling my way with these, but I'm happy with the progress so far. Not a lot more to do, actually, unless I make some major mistakes.

Sutherland Through the Hedge

Hedgerow No.1 (Work in progress)

Last night I set about quickly adding an horizon and a blue sky to the first of the Hedgerow paintings. Reviewing the result this morning, I realised how much my love of Graham Sutherland was becoming evident in this painting. There was no conscious decision to make that happen, but I can see it's there, I have no problem with it and in fact I was quite pleased when the influence was immediately commented upon at today's meeting of the Painters' Group.

The meeting was interesting in that I felt my work wasn't universally liked but that reinforced a renewed determination to plough my own furrow. I generally do that anyway, but in the last few years I think I may have drifted into market-driven thought patterns for understandable but unhelpful reasons.

Through the Hedge

Hedgerow No.1 (work in progress)


Hedgerow No.2 (work in progress)

I'm working under pressure again. I have about ten days to provide the images of all the paintings I intend to hang in the Figure8 show at the Biscuit Factory in February (details for you nearer the time) and so far I have only four completed. I probably need two or three more and recently have found ideas in short supply.

To clarify: I have lots of ideas for paintings, but having chosen a particular theme (Rock & Tree) for this show, I need to make some new paintings that fit that theme and ideas for such have not been readily forthcoming.

What I thought I would try, therefore, is see what I might be able to do with some hedgerows I found by the side of the road at Auchterarder when I was there in 2009 on one of my annual painting trips. I'm in two minds about how these are going; certainly I'm happier with the first than the second, but as I've put in more time on the first, that's to be expected. I'm very much feeling my way with these and intend to keep looking for more ideas in case they don't work out.

Meanwhile, if you have any thoughts on these paintings, I'd be interested to hear them, but do bear in mind they're very far from completion.

Edward Burra

Every morning as true as the clock
Somebody hears the postman's knock.

To be accurate, he didn't knock this morning. He rang the doorbell.

As I struggled into my dressing gown and rushed downstairs, I ignored the cries from Pat of "There is no bug! The doorbell didn't ring! Don't go outside with no clothes on!" I leave you to decide which of us was the more awake.

I admit I 'm prone to hearing phantom doorbells which have more or less replaced the catalogue of nightmares I've listed before, but this time I knew there was a book on it's way from Amazon and I was anxious to avoid having to go to the depot to collect it tomorrow.

The book in question was the volume published by Palant House in connection with their exhibition of Edward Burra's work. Although my interests in painting extend well beyond these shores, I have an abiding fascination for the work of British painters of the 20th century, and there was a distinct gap in my knowledge of Burra.

Never in good health, he chose to work mainly in watercolour on a large scale and the book captures the remarkably vivid colours he was able to achieve with his chosen medium by constantly overlaying with thicker and thicker paint. I was familiar with the paintings of bars and Harlem low-life (see the cover above) and the Surrealist tendencies (he was a friend of Paul Nash and showed with the Englsih Surrealists in the 1930s) but the landscapes were a real revelation in their pared down simplicity.


Valley and River, Northumberland, 1972
(Pencil and watercolour on paper, 40 x 27 ins)

A lovely book. I'd love to have seen the exhibition.

Refreshments Van, Cambridge

Refreshments Van, Cambridge (Oil on board, 5 x 7 ins)

This year, as we did two years ago, Pat and I are spending Xmas with Pat's son Andy and his partner Helen in Cambridge. Last time I made a small Holy Island painting as a thank you Xmas present and I thought (without wishing to set a precedent!) that I might do the same this year. Looking through some photographs I'd taken in the Xmas market in Cambridge, I picked out this refreshments van as something I thought would make a nice little painting.

I've had to keep it quiet, of course, but it's Boxing Day now and Andy and Helen should have seen it, so I can safely post it here.

River Factory

River Factory (Oil on board, 12 x 12 ins)

The show at Whitley Bay ended on Sunday and I went to collect my pictures today. And there were only three to bring away! This one, River Factory, was sold on Saturday, possibly to an old friend of mine whom I haven't seen for twenty years or more. It shows a factory on one of the bends in the River Tyne, now quite possibly demolished.

Although the show seemed to be doing less well than the similarly situated show in July, by the end it had done about the same level of business. People may have been hesitant about spending in the current climate, but it's clear they recognised a good buy when it came down to it. I think we might try the same format next year if the shop space is still available (and who would expect a sudden demand for large shop spaces in the next 12 months?)

Xavier Pick: Commission

Xavier Pick is an artist whose work I really like. Here's a video of his preparatory work for a commissioned painting of London which I hope you find as interesting as I did.

Pick is a particularly good draughtsman who trained at the Royal College. Imagine how much better he'd have been, however, had the timelines shifted and he'd gone to the RA Schools where he could now benefit from instruction from the Grande Dame of English Art, Tracey Emin, who has now been appointed Professor of Drawing there.

Ahahahahahahaha. Sorry.

Fallen Log

Fallen Log (Oil on canvas, 40 x 40 cms)

Have I mentioned the Painters' Group before? No, perhaps not. I began my painting studies in 1989 with the OCA and continued with them for quite a few years before taking a leap of faith and going to Newcastle University to study for a BA in Fine Art. In the last few years of being with the OCA, the tutor was William Varley. At the time Bill was also in charge of First Year Studies at the University and wrote exhibition reviews for national newspapers such as The Guardian and The New Statesman. He still writes some critical pieces, I see.

Anyway, Bill proved very influential in my development and, indeed, was instrumental in encouraging me to think it might actually be possible for me to undertake the degree course. Unfortunately, he retired from the University in 1998, a year after I started there, and frankly the quality and direction of the teaching moved away from what I had gone there to find.

Bill also gave up his role with the OCA but continued an informal critique session every month with former students. For some time it didn't seem to be something that would meet my needs, but recently one or two friends of mine, including Maureen Stephenson and Elizabeth Talbot, joined what had come to be called The Painters' Group. That made the difference for me and I joined Bill's group again in October (in time to be included in the XIV Show, in fact).

The most recent meeting was on Saturday and I made a special effort to get this Fallen Log painting completed on Friday night. Inevitably this posed problems in carrying the wet painting on the bus to the session, but it was worth it. It's always good to get other people's input and on this occasion not only Bill but some of the other painters had interesting comments and questions. The questions, I find, are particularly helpful because they make me think about the painting and articulate my thoughts more clearly than might otherwise be the case.

The painting was well received and as has been my experience of the group in the past, I came home wanting to get straight back in the studio.

"Art in the Park"

Traders' Rooftop (Oil on board, 12 x 12 ins)

Earlier in the year - June, I think it was - the Art Club held a selling exhibition in an empty shop in the Park View Shopping Centre in Whitley Bay. For whatever reason, I took no part in it, but I understand it was popular with the public and sales were good.

Which is why I have four small paintings in the new show in the same premises, which opens tomorrow. I think the standard is pretty high, given that it's a club show and no judging was done on the entries. If you're in the area, why not drop in and take a look?

If you can't get there, or if you'd like a flavour of the show, try the slideshow on the Club's website. The pictures will be changed next week, I think, but for now it shows the painting above.

Cakes at the Club

Glasgow Cakes (work in progress)

I went back to the Club yesterday and made a start on this one. Like the fallen tree painting, it's (perhaps obviously) a combination of two images: cakes I saw in a shop window in Glasgow and a view of the city itself from the top of the Lighthouse. Increasingly, I'm looking for ways of bringing elements together like this.

Getting Back to It

Fallen Tree (work in progress)

Actual work has suffered recently as repairs are being done to the house and I've continued to mull over ideas for painting. A few attempts at different ways of working, mainly on paper, have been inconclusive but some of what I achieved has, I think filtered through to my current oil paintings.

This one is an combination of a landscape and a fallen tree seen in Bishopdale last year, which I started late last night, working through until the small hours.. I'm pleased with how it's progressing, although I think I'll have to address the fact that right in the centre of the composition are two trees. Not a good idea to put things there.

Piazza after Rain

Piazza after Rain (Oil on canvas, 12 x 12 ins)

Trying to get into the routine of going to the Club again, I went along on Thursday and finished this small painting of a piazza in Venice. I wish I could remember the name of the piazza - if you know it, please let me know.

It was relatively quiet but evidence of work was everywhere, especially in the drying racks, which were full. I had to find a space in the print-making room to put my painting out of harm's way. Apparently there's talk of changing the arrangements for storage of paintings, perhaps eliminating the wooden drying racks which, though elegantly made by a time-served joiner, don't really meet the needs of the Club. Putting a shelf round the room, rather like a plate shelf, would probably suit us better.

Self-Portrait 1993

Self-Portrait 1993 (Oil on board, 12.5 x 9 ins)

I found this hidden away in the studio a few days ago. If my intention was to produce some kind of Dorian Gray hold on time, it's not been significantly effective, I'm afraid. When I made this painting I had plans to do a series of self-portraits, but apart from a drawing (which I've published here previously), nothing came of it. I think perhaps everyone, including myself, found the apparently angry stare so frightening that it was put in a dark corner and forgotten about.

My good friend Maureen Stephenson, who is one quarter of our painting group Figure8, recently entered the Ruth Borchard Self-Portrait Competition and her painting, Wysiwyg, was selected for the exhibition. Congratulations are definitely due. She suggested some time ago that I should also enter, but I couldn't fit a self-portrait into my schedule. Had I remembered this self-portrait existed I might well have entered it. Oh well, these things are sent to try us.

Boat at Trogir

Boat at Trogir (Oil on board, 6 x 16 ins.)

Calling in at the Club yesterday, I barely had time for a quick chat and to pick up this small painting I completed some time ago.

I really must address the problem of spending time at the Club. Since we moved into the new premises I've hardly been there and I think in part this is due to my not having adapted to the admittedly smaller space and the sense that there is no natural light (in fact the light is all natural but comes through diffusion panels).

XIV Opening Reception

The Opening Reception for the XIV show went off really well yesterday. I was particularly pleased with the way the hang had been arranged, even if it meant that only half of my submitted paintings made it to the wall.

My paintings

Parcel

I spent much of the day parcelling up a painting to send off to a client in the USA. Making sure a parcel is secure and likely to arrive intact is one of those tasks fraught with worry, but I think the box I constructed from Foamcore should hold up OK.

With luck, the couriers may realise this parcel is fragile.

Small Piazza Painting

Piazza (work in progress)

I never tire of painting bits of Venice and my impression is that people never tire of seeing paintings of Venice. This first stage went quite quickly but proved difficult to photograph. In part, this is because, on a whim, I decided to use gold oil paint in the mix for the main building. It reflects very well, of course, but rather too well for the camera. Once it's covered (no Gustav Klimt here!), it should be easier to photograph.

Driftwood

Driftwood (Charcoal and pastel on cartridge paper)

In an idle moment in the studio yesterday I came across a bit of scrap paper and decided to see what I might make of this image of driftwood I'd seen on Holy Island. The paper was a bit lacking in tooth, so the pastel didn't take well, but I think I see something here that may work its way into a painting.

Sad News

I learned recently form Jamie Sutherland, the owner of the Di Rollo Gallery in Edinburgh, that his father died suddenly in September. It was his dad whom Pat and I first talked to when we were checking out galleries last March and he was such a friendly man that we instantly felt comfortable being there, not always the case in galleries.

On the few occasions when we met him subsequently, he confirmed our first impressions. Our condolences are offered to Jamie and his mother.

Tram with Prickly Pear (Soller)

Tram with Prickly Pear (Soller) (Oil on canvas, 24 x 24 ins.)

And there it is. When I stopped working last night I thought I would have to do just a little more today, but I find I'm satisfied with it the way it is.

Prickly Too

Tram and Cactus (work in progress)

More work done on the cactus, a really enjoyable task. There's such a great opportunity to find colour within the overall greenness of the plant.

Next: development of the tram passengers and adjustment of the windows which seem to have become differently sized.

Prickly

Tram and Cactus (work in progress)

Although I'm making some tentative, slow progress towards a new, or at least different direction, nothing seems good enough to post right now.

What is occupying me at the moment is this new painting. Although I intend to show older work - the Vaporetto and Tram series - in the upcoming XIV show, I thought I should make the effort to submit at least one new painting. This is an image I made from a photograph of one of the trams of Soller together with one of the local prickly pear cactus.

I started it on Friday night and painted more on Saturday afternoon. Too wet to work on it today, but I think it's going to be finished in time for handing in next Friday. And I think it has the potential to be a good one, but then I'm biased.

XIV

Lest you you should think I've fallen into the Slough of Despond or simply fled the field, I'm taking advantage of a day when my computer is working, to post some details of this upcoming show I'm taking part in. With luck, the computer problems I'm having will be resolved today, or at least by next week.

Meanwhile, here's Bill Varley on the exhibition:

'The fourteen artists featured in this exhibition were mostly participants in a university sponsored course I ran and when its four years were over, they chose to continue - for twenty years or so. Over time, some have left the group whilst others have joined: the injection of new blood has invariably been rejuvenating. They are diverse in their backgrounds: some are fine art graduates, others are post graduates; some are teachers, and there is even a sprinkling of civil servants. What unites them is the belief that art is indivisible: there is not one kind of art practised by the masters and a lesser art practised by everyone else. As a result they work with the utmost seriousness, informing themselves by visiting exhibitions, acquiring a knowledge of relevant examples and patiently and undogmatically developing their own form and content.

As a result the work that they have produced is also diverse. There is everything from precise evocations of Tyneside landscape to clotted painterly hints of domestic interiors, studies of swirling dynamics of water to post modern abstractions which are hybrids of wallpaper patterns and sprayed and splashed paint. (Their great grandfather was surely Kandinsky.) Add to this biblical narratives and painting which share the metaphysical speculations of Caspar David Friedrich and you have a very rich mix.

The painters are not, you will have guessed, novices. Indeed they share with the former distinguished Director of BBC's Radio 3, John Drummond, something invaluable. When a young suit at the Corporation explained to him that his services were no longer required, Drummond asked to know why. "Because you are tainted with experience." replied his assassin. Drummond was so tickled by this that he made it the title of his autobiography. I am pleased to report that the fourteen are similarly tainted.'

--William Varley

The show runs from 1st to 30th of November (open Tuesday to Thursday, 12 -5pm). Opening Reception is on Wednesday 2 November 12 - 2pm.

Editor's Choice

I mentioned recently that my painting, Wee Scotland Shop, had been chosen as Editor's Choice for the October issue of Leisure Painter. Here's a scan of the magazine entry.