May'd

Here we are in May already!  

Portobello Makers Market 

April was a busy month finishing with a lovely day at the Portobello Makers Market, were again, I met some lovely people, and made some new friends.  I was so busy meeting and chatting that I completely forgot to take some photos - next time!

Tower Sculpture

At a very long legged 34" high, this tower is the largest I've done so far.  Now complete and delivered.

Weight For It!

I've had 10 of these amazing vintage election stamps made by D Cunninghame of Glasgow, for a good while, waiting for a chance to do something to them.  The original finish was in pretty poor shape. Enameled much like the old style singer sewing machines, they had succumbed to a bit of wear and tear over the years.

Now upcycled for use as as paperweights, doorstops, bookends, but preferably not projectile missiles as they weigh about 8lb each!

April, has been a bit of a mixed bag of getting going with my new Etsy Shop (still got plenty to add!), making more art, revamping furniture and spending the day at different markets.  Here's a selection of the things I've been up to...

The Lighthouse Makers Market
7th April 2012 

This was a great venue & I had a particularly generous spot on the View Gallery on the First Floor. I had lots of interest in my work which was positive and, as usual, met some lovely people.

The Lighthouse is a gem of a building nestled in the very Narrow, Mitchell Lane just off the busy Buchanan Street in Glasgow's City Centre.  The Lighthouse, now operated by Glasgow City Council is Scotland's Centre for Design and Architecture and it gives host to a number of excellent exhibits around the Year.

Biggest Tower Sculpture yet!

Sneak preview of a recent tower sculpture commission.  Full size image to follow after delivery....if I can get it on screen of course!

Small Occasional Coffee Table

I've had this little table for  a good few months pondering what finish to do it in.  In the end I opted to apply a rich grey flat matt paint to the table top, seal it then apply the illustrations using a high sheen finish.  I left the legs as they where as it works well with the grey.   I'll put more photos of the work onto my Facebook Page to show the full design.  With this type of work, photography doesn't really do it justice, needs to be seen in the flesh.

Circa 1950's/60's Long John Coffee Table

The long john table was tackled in much the same way as the table above, but in reverse.  The legs have been painted the same flat grey and are beautifully tappered.  The table top has been stripped back and a cherry blossom illustration applied to the top in a high sheen finish.  Check out my Facebook Page for more images.

3D Art

I've also created a selection of four of my Three Dimensional artworks and really enjoy making these and have two more in the pipeline.  Again a full range of images are on my Facebook page.

This soft pastel of Loch Long, Arrocher, is quite different from my usual work.  I did a similar piece several years ago and when seen was asked to do something along the same theme.  It's been a very long time since I've worked with pastels (other than quick demo sketches) so I was a bit apprehensive. I'm quite pleased with the result and can see myself maybe doing some more as a wee change from textile work.

...and finally.  I had a lovely day at the Portobello Makers Market, made special of course by the wealth of interesting and engaging people who came to exhibit and to view the work.  I was so caught up in the day, I forgot to take a few images - maybe next time!

Funk Fair Fun!

Finally getting round posting a wee pic of my space at the Funk Fair in the Cafe Camino last Saturday.  I had a really nice day and had a space next to Fiona of Just Braw and  Christine & Vicki of Ivy Rose Vintage who all put up with me moaning all day about my most inappropriate footwear.  Thankfully my helper for the day had the good sense to go buy me a pair of pumps and put everyone out of their misery!  

....it's been toooooo long!

March - Mid March in fact, what happened to January and February?  Tumbleweed has just blown across my blog site, think it's time I gave it a little TLC!

So what have I been up to since Loch Lomond?

Well, apart from much merriment over the festive period, I finish a pretty big 2nd commission and revampted a clients lovely G-Plan unit for their newly decorated lounge.  The piece had formed part of a wall cabinet since it was bought in the 70's and I was commissioned to bring it into line with the new decor and colours. It's now the centre piece of the lounge and the client is thoroughly delighted with the result.

fabulous solid G-Plan unit - over 1.8m wide.

 close up of leaf motif designed to compliment client decor

loch lomond shores

not posted on my blog in ages... something to rectify over the hols I think!  I'm heading off to Loch Lomond shores this morning to do a market.  Tagging on to farmers markets to see how that works out.  Loch Lomond is a stunning location, so looking forward to a wee day trip with my son to keep me company. Will post how things go and hopefully a few nice pics later.

Diary of an artist writer online | Project blogs | Artists talking | a-n

Diary of an artist writer online | Project blogs | Artists talking | a-n

link to Ann Shaw's blog on the recent Bridge of Allan Arts and Crafts Festival.

As a fairly recently graduated 'mature student' of 2+ years I can relate to Ann's comments.  Technology can and will have so much impact on the art world.  I also live in hope I'll eventually be able to speak from one soapbox rather the multi channel facebook, flickr, blog, email,etc etc approach that's happening now and that I'll at least get some use out of my newly acquired hard-drive before I totally 'reach for the cloud's!"

Ultimately, as a participating Artist in Saturday's Bridge of Allan Contemporary Arts and Crafts Festival, I believe you can't beat face to face interaction between art practitioners, art and audience.  From what I could see and personally experienced, Saturday was a resounding success, due to both the efforts of the organisers, the artists' and ultimately the visitors' thirst to experience and interact with something that never be truly replicated virtually.  I relish the opportunity to  participate in future events with the Forth Valley Open Studios, the Bridge of Allan event and other events such as the Little Birds Market and Byres Road Makers Market as this is where I think there is a genuine revival and appreciation of the skill and craftmanship of original art which, for sometime, has been lost within the mass production throwaway culture of the last few decades.  

Revampt Furniture

I've been working on this circa 1950's bedside table and have now finished here's some images of how it looks now...

...and just as a reminder - this was how it looked before! 

I think this would be perfect for many spaces in the home:- it would do very well as a bedside table, an occasional piece for the sitting room, telephone table, or even a little storage space for the smallest room in the house!