Screenprint experiments

I really enjoy the unpredictable nature of the outcome when doing a blended screenprint.

 Each print really is unique.

Artists plan mass meetings amid concern over Creative Scotland

Article published in the Herald on Wednesday 3rd October

 

http://www.heraldscotland.com/news/home-news/artists-plan-mass-meetings-amid-concern-over-creative-scotland.1349254874

 

Phil Miller

Arts Correspondent

 

SCOTLAND’S artists are to stage mass meetings in Edinburgh and Glasgow next month after disquiet over the policies of Creative Scotland, the national arts funding body.


The events will be the first organised and regular “open space” rallies of artists from all genres who want their voices to be heard.

Criticism of the funding body’s actions was sparked in May following the removal of Flexible Funding – fixed-term funding – from more than 40 organisations, and its replacement by Lottery-backed project funding.

However, until now, criticism and debate about Creative Scotland has been confined to individuals putting their heads above the parapet or comments and discussions on social media such as Twitter and Facebook.

Fiona Hyslop, the Culture Secretary, has written two letters to Creative Scotland, stressing its need to communicate better with the arts world.

Leading poet Don Paterson described the body as a “dysfunctional ant-heap”, and playwright David Greig has added his criticism.

Now, with a meeting of around 100 artists and commentators at a space lent by Creative Scotland at its Waverley Gate offices in Edinburgh on October 26, and another of around 100 people at the Tramway in Glasgow on October 31, organisers hope a more cohesive voice for artists and arts companies will be heard in the debate over arts administration and funding north of the Border.

The organisers of the meetings want artists to attend and provide a counterweight to, and opinions about, Creative Scotland’s policies and decisions.

Representatives from Creative Scotland are being invited to the meetings in Glasgow and Edinburgh. Paterson and Greig are both invited to the Edinburgh meeting.

Jen McGregor, the writer and director who has organised the Edinburgh meeting, and Roanne Dods, the producer and former director of the Jerwood Charitable Foundation, who has organised the Glasgow meeting, hope the events will be the first of many.

Ms McGregor, who is not funded by Creative Scotland, said: “What I am really hoping to achieve is to get artists to talk to each other, to express themselves, and argue their case.”

Scotland can make it

SCOTLAND CAN MAKE IT!
 

7 SEPTEMBER 2012 – 13 JANUARY 2013

Scotland Can Make It! is an exhibition of six souvenir prototypes inspired by the London 2012 Olympic Games and the Glasgow 2014 Commonwealth Games.

The souvenirs, designed and manufactured entirely in Scotland, aim to offer a lasting material legacy of both major events whilst expressing a strong message about Scotland’s rich and imaginative cultural landscape. 

The prototypes have been made by the following artists, designers and companies: 

Atelier EB and Marc Camille Chaimowicz with Begg Scotland and McRostie of Glasgow

Claire Duffy with Tunnock’s 

Emlyn Firth and Angharad McLaren with Johnstons of Elgin

FOUND with Chemikal Underground

Katy West with Highland Stoneware and Rogano Oyster Bar 

Neil McGuire and Marianne Anderson with Carlton Die Casting and Jewellery Prototyping Services

The souvenirs will be developed for sale as a part of the cultural programme for the Commonwealth Games. They will be available to buy in Glasgow and across Scotland in 2014.

A film, Scotland Can Make It!: the making of six souvenirs presents a series of informal interviews and a behind the scenes look at the processes involved in creating the unique prototypes for Scotland Can Make It!

 

Filmed in the studios, workshops and factories of the Scotland Can Make It! designers, artists, musicians and manufacturers, the film highlights the quality and breadth of Scotland’s creative practitioners and manufacturing industries. 

Scotland Can Make It! is part of Scotland’s Cultural Programme for London 2012 and Glasgow 2014

www.scotlandcanmakeit.com

SANCTUARY|COMRAICH at Mount Stuart

SANCTUARY|COMRAICH

"Short films by Gill Clarke and Lucy Skaer, Ian Bourne and Nina Danino and sculpture and works on paper by Kate Davis are located within the historic interior and collections at Mount Stuart. The exhibition references contemplation and exploration through the practice of the individual artists and collectively brings into focus the intrinsic natural refuge of the 'island' space and the complex cultural strands woven through the context of Mount Stuart."

"The visual arts programme at Mount Stuart, under the direction of and curated by Sophie Crichton-Stuart, aims to promote and facilitate interest in the contemporary visual arts and bring exhibitions of an international standard to Bute and Argyll. It utilises the context of Mount Stuart and the Isle of Bute to create potential to reach a wider audience and provides an exciting opportunity for public artwork as well as accessible educational opportunities.

The Victorian Gothic Mount Stuart is one of Scotland's most exceptional country houses. With a diverse 18th to 21st century landscape, it presents a unique challenge in relation to interventionary contemporary art practice.

The Mount Stuart Trust annually invites internationally respected artists to exhibit and create new work in response to both the Mount Stuart and its surroundings. Commissioned works have included land art, photography, video, film, sculpture, installation and painting. These projects have developed within the context of the archives, history and architecture of the House, gardens and island. The collaborative process of each project enriches the programme, artists' practice, and audience participation, while continuing the tradition of commissioning innovative new work at Mount Stuart."

Progress of line painting on board

Collage on board

Painting white emulsion onto collage

Marking into paint to reveal collage beneath

Coloured emulsion on collage

In this test I wanted to see the effect of painting coloured emulsion onto a collaged board as opposed to white emulsion onto a collaged board

The edge is important

Ongoing work

I am entering unknown territory and am excited to be experimenting with a new medium...paint!

It

Sculptural installation on 2nd floor of South Block

Open Studios - Saturday 28th and Sunday 29th July - 1pm - 5pm

It's that time of year again for the Merchant City festival. This year marks the launch of the newly refurbished South Block in the heart of the Merchant City. Now is your chance to meet the artists and have a look at the spaces, as well as join in with the activities in the All that is Solid cafe (see flyer below).

Please come and see me and what I am up to in my studio:

STUDIO 312 

3rd floor

South Block Studios 

64 Osborne Street 

Glasgow 

G1 5QH

I will be there from 1pm - 5pm on both Saturday 28th and Sunday 29th July.

Studio 58: Women Artists in Glasgow since World War II

Studio 58: Women Artists in Glasgow since World War II

Mackintosh Museum

Glasgow School of Art

7 July - 30 September 2012

 

Studio 58: Women Artists in Glasgow since World War II is an exhibition and accompanying publication examining the period between World War II and the present day when women artists in Glasgow have been at the forefront of the art scene in the city. The title of the exhibition comes from the studio located on the top floor of the Mackintosh Building which historically was the dedicated work space for women students.

In recent years, a number of highly regarded women artists have emerged from the Glasgow art scene, including Turner Prize nominees Christine Borland, Cathy Wilkes and Karla Black.  Studio 58 will contextualise the work of contemporary women artists in Glasgow through documenting and displaying the little known and under-represented lineage of women's art in the city from 1939 onwards, within the frame of the city's art school where all of the artists included in the exhibition either studied or taught.

The most well known period, 1890 - 1930, has been documented in several publications and the recent exhibition 'Glasgow Girls' (2010), however the post-World War II period has not been subject to the same level of analysis. Studio 58 is organised around four thematic strands:  landscape/still life, body/self, printed matter and photography/film and will focus upon the work of over 50 artists active from the late 1930s onwards.  The artists include Margaret Morris, Mary Armour, Ivy Proudfoot, and Kathleen Mann, as well as those that followed them including Joan Eardley, Margot Sandeman, Bet Low and Sam Ainsley and younger artists such as Cathy Wilkes, Claire Barclay, Victoria Morton, Hayley Tompkins and Karla Black.

Studio 58 has been curated by Dr. Sarah Lowndes and features many seldom viewed works loaned from private collections and the collections of Glasgow Museums, The Hunterian Museum, The Glasgow School of Art Archives & Collections and Glasgow Women's Library.
The exhibition and catalogue is supported by The Glasgow School of Art, Glasgow Life and the Glasgow Society of Women Artists.

Preview: Friday 6 July 6-8pm

Mud Wrestling - Transmission's annual member's show

MUD WRESTLING

03 July - 28 July 2012
Preview: 30 June 2012, 7pm

Transmission's annual member's show

KALEID 2012 London

It's great to see that some familiar GIAB faces are going to be participating in KALEID 2012.

Today I went on one of the Gi SPIN - Off tours organised by Glasgow International.

What a great idea. Led by the wonderful Lesley Hepburn, the group of approximately 30 people were driven from gallery to gallery by bus. Lesley provided en-route commentary about the festival and the galleries we were visiting, and once at each destination, the curators/artist/gallery staff introduced the exhibition to us, giving some information about the artist/the work/the gallery space/the curatorial premise.

There was a real mix of people on the tour, making for some interesting discussions. The tour was a great opportunity for artists to meet with non-artists, Gi regulars to chat to Gi newcomers, and for locals to mix with visitors to the city.

The tour was well organised, with appropriate time allocated at each exhibition, and snacks and refreshments were even provided! I would well recommend doing a Gi Spin-off tour, and hope they will be running again at Gi 2014.

Our intinery was as follows:

GI Festival ‘Spin’ Bus Tour on Saturday 5th May 13:00-17:00
13:00-13:15 Reception at Trongate 103,

13:20-13:50 Killian Ruthemann & Kate V Robertson, David Dale Gallery & Studios,

14:00-14:20 In The Shadow Of The Hand-Market Gallery,

14:30-15:00 Castling, The Wasps Factory, 77 Hanson St,

15:10-15:30 Marieta Chirulescu & David Korty, ‘Mary Mary’ at 45 Alexandra Park St,

15:35-16:05 Dazzler, The Duchy,

16:10-16:40 Dialogue Of Hands, East Gymnasium, City of Glasgow College,

16:50 Rosalind Nashashibi, GI Hub, 54 Miller Street, Glasgow, G1 1DT

Under_Cover blog about GIAB 2012

Isa and Caro (aka Under_Cover) blog about their participation in GIAB 2012.

Read what they have to say here

http://undercover-books.blogspot.com/p/undercover-giab-2012.html

Sunday 22nd April

Day 3

The Lighthouse

Arrives in Starting - organised by The Duchy

A Manifesto of errors - organised by The Mutual

Saturday 21st April

Day 2

Jeremy Deller - Sacrilege - Glasgow Green



Pio Abad - Dazzler - The Duchy

Friday 20th April

Day 1

Theresa Margolles - Glasgow Sculpture Studios





Karla Black - Gallery of Modern Art

Book Cultures, Book Events Conference

This event looks really interesting

Book Cultures, Book Events

A significant development in literature at the turn of the 20th and 21st centuries has been the growth of literary festivals and book towns. In the new media era, the opportunity to meet authors and readers face-to-face, to buy books and other merchandise, and to align a liking for literature with travel and tourism, is taken up by hundreds of thousands of readers every year. The Book Cultures, Book Events project brings together practitioners and academics to share their research and experience. Supported by the Royal Society of Edinburgh, the Universities of Dundee and Stirling, Queen Margaret University, and Bookfestival Scotland.

Book Cultures, Book Events Conference 23-24 March 2012: see http://www.bookcultures.stir.ac.uk/

Talk for 3rd year Sculpture and Environmental Art students at Glasgow School of Art

A while ago, Justin Carter (3rd year co-ordinator) for Sculpture and Environmental Art invited me to give an artist talk to the 3rd year students.

I discussed how I approaches making work in different contexts, and illustrated this with examples of work made over the past 5 years. Initially, I talked about 'my quest to find a Shaddock', a public artwork that took place at the Barras market, Glasgow in 2007, and how it was presented in an exhibition at the Newbery Gallery, Glasgow School of Art. I then discussed 'Helter Skelter', a performance which was developed specifically for the 3 hour duration of Not Your Average Evening Event exhibition, McLellan Galleries, Glasgow in 2008. I also addressed making art in a more conventional gallery setting, by referring to my recent exhibition 'Strength in numbers', at the Briggait, Glasgow in October 2011. There was time at the end for questions, and I was pleased that students were engaged enough to ask some excellent questions.

I spent a lot of time planning what works I would talk to them about, and how I could make it most useful and pertinent to the students. It does not seem long ago since I was sitting in the audience of the Barnes Lecture Theatre and a Visiting Lecturer was stood behind the podium. I vividly remember my anxiety about doing the Public Art Project in 3rd year, and so tried to raise some of these thoughts and feelings with the students, and shared my successes, mistakes and what I learned with them.

Looking back at the work I made when I was in 3rd year was a very useful exercise, and it helped me see how my work has developed.

I thoroughly enjoyed giving the talk, and the positive responses from students and staff afterwards suggested that they found it most interesting and useful. I would really like to do more talks and would like to become more involved in teaching, so let me know if you (or someone you know) could provide such opportunities!