Space - Is it the final frontier?

We all need space to think, space to dream, space to imagine what could be!

How many of us consider it a luxury or due to our upbringing a willful waste of "constructive time".
Daydreaming is something frowned upon, how many us at school witnessed the child staring out of the window in class, lost in some other World, or maybe we were that child.
I'm not suggesting that children shouldn't pay attention in class, but often boredom and lack of attention stems out disengagement.
Its fairly normal to consider daydreaming being synonymous with laziness.
Daydreaming in its creative form, for the technically minded when the brain is in an alpha state is an integral part of developing that space that we can all give ourselves. Many successful scientists, researchers and entrepreneurs make the space in their lives to let their mind wander a little.  I have found most of my ideas spring into my head whilst staring out of the window of a Glasgow bus. Some of them great ideas, others maybe a little crazy.

Creativity starts with quantity, not quality. Being selective and discriminating is the hard part that comes later.

I consider that the space is not only constructive, but essential to well-being, positive self image and creativity.
We have to think of the imagination as one of our most essential life tools we need "Space" to develop and explore our imagination and thus creativity.

This is the creativity that we ALL possess. We must STOP NOW thinking that creativity is the preserve of  "Creative people", those special gifted ones, the artists, musicians, film-makers, dancers.

Children particularly in this busy, frenetic world  are often unable to take the opportunity to have this space to explore and play. With adequate space children will be able to live in a world of magic, joy and wonder. The sharing of creative play is surely a keystone to connectiveness and the development of self expression and self esteem.

This is a short animation experiment - One of the many creative ideas to try in my Pilot your own Spaceship workshops.


I am personally passionate that all children are special and unique and giving them space to develop their creative and imaginative skills is essential in building resilience and self confidence.
My own experience working with vulnerable adults suggest that much of their anxiety and lack of confidence stems from the same feelings they had when they were younger.
Children need the space and freedom to express themselves. Disadvantage and poverty eats away, if not totally destroys the space to express and be creative. Expressive and creative confidence builds and sustains personal confidence and with it connectedness, not only with close family and friends, but the wider world.

Confident and resilient children tend to make confident and resilient adults.

Is space the final frontier I'm sure its not, its part of a journey we can all take to more creative and resilient lives.

Other news : Last week I recently attended a training day with Barnardos on the theory and practice of attachment theory by Dr Suzanne Zeedyk and was total blown away by the emotional intensity and passion of everyone on that day.
Check out the tremendous work by Suzanne.  http://suzannezeedyk.com/

I am still working on venue for the small one off show for the Painted Coast Project for Macmillan Cancer Support:  thepaintedcoast.blogspot.co.uk  News on that one hopefully coming soon.

Bye for now from a wet and wild Glasgow.

Ian

Flying onions and the Princess Matilda

Seems pretty normal for me to start my blogs by apologising for the tardiness of my blogs, as it was last year since I put fingers to the keyboard, well on the blog front anyway! The new year, I know we are a quarter of the way through although looking at the weather outside its more like December than Spring. The new year has seen changes as I have taken the step to go it alone as a creative trainer. I am currently developing new approaches to build self confidence in individuals whether young people, or individuals with complicated lives. I see creativity as more than a means to an end, but a vehicle to develop self worth and confidence. I know from my own experience that self worth and esteem are directly related to resilience. Life has a habit of throwing the unexpected at you and for most of us we have a fair share of complication, woe, joy and wonder. The latest project is titled "Build your own spaceship" the idea came me after reading an interesting book by Tony Buzan on managing change. Some days later I had a meeting with Helen Salt from Bright Yellow Thinking who asked me if I would like to take part in the Creative Industries Conference for Schools in Hamilton in May. The conference allows students for schools in South Lanarkshire to come together and see and discuss creative careers with arts, film makers,actors and dancers. I developed Spaceship to introduce the career of an artist, but more importantly highlight the essential part of any creative career - "Confidence and focus." I know after the years inadvertently misdirected my life away from Art that you have to "Believe" to "become the person you really are." The session structure is now finished, and the presentation all be finished. I am currently working on some visual and musical ideas to supplement the presentation. The main element of the workshops is to ask the students to imagine themselves as spaceships which they have complete control of on a journey to millions and millions of stars. They will be asked during the sessions to design a spaceship that represents themselves to journey into a universe of possibilities. He as example in good Blue Peter fashion, one that I finished earlier! Strange the but true, the Onion Spaceship. Just an example of an unconventional spaceship design. Maybe an onion?? as it suggest lots of layers, lots of talents. It's up the student to represent themselves in a creative way that helps them think about who they are and what they want to achieve. The idea funny enough has already "developed wings" as I have been discussing my future collaboration with choreographer Norman Douglas now based in Berlin. Norman's involvement will be invaluable as he has over 20 years experience in using dance and movement in developing confidence in young people. I am excited at the collaboration as it could take "Spaceship" into new exciting Creative territory. In other development areas I am looking forward to my new involvement with the Mental Health charity SAMH next month as develop the art workshops what worked so well with the Look Ahead Project in North Ayrshire. On more pure artistic notes the "Scarlet Pimpernel" of paintings , "Princess Matilda" found its new, framed home with Timothy and Shane Spall. You can see Shane's picture with Tim holding the said painting of their boat the Princess Matilda battling a rough sea as they head out into the North Sea. I hear that Tim is pleased! Good news for the artist. I am currently have work on exhibition in 2 galleries.. The Green Gallery in Buchlyvie in Stirlingshire and the Blackheath Gallery in Blackheath, South London. My work is also going to be available for sale in the forthcoming Weekend for Art Lovers at the Gleneagles Hotel. East Neuk Storms 15 x 15 inches ( Oil on canvas board ) Two new exhibitions are on the horizon... Both themed on the Sea.. April sees a new exhibition at the Union Gallery in Broughton Street Edinburgh and early May will see a new Seascape exhibition at ScotlandArt.com's gallery in Bath Street here in Glasgow. So a few things to look forward to on the Art front! That's me, so catch you all soon. . Go raibh maith agaibh! Ian ... Glasgow March 2013

What's happening by the sea and more

Just a quick update of the exhibition at the Gallery Heinzel in Aberdeen's West End. I was asked by the gallery to contribute work to this exhibition with two of the most respected and established landscape painters in Scotland, Helen Glassford and Ruth Brownlee. At the opening I managed to take a few shots of my work in the gallery.

The first image is of my original format of work, the works quite small 9 x 9 inches framed in limed wood and double mounted. I was originally drawn to this format and the inherent discipline of work on a relatively small format.

This is an example of my larger scale work, it was a bit of a challenge to work on the larger scale, but I think I have settled down into a technique I am very happy with. This work ( actual painting size 27 x 24 inches ) A bitter chocolate frame with a pink/cream slip and double mounted. Lots of positive comment on the larger works and the framing .. Thanks Framing Workshop , Maryhill Road, Glasgow !!!

Elsewhere I have been happy to be associated with the Erskine Hospital for Veterans and the first "Art for Erskine Event" held in the Trades Hall in Glasgow's Merchant City.http://www.thestudiofineart.com/docs/erskine.pdf The event was organised by the Studio Fine Art Company.

Here are two of the works for this charity exhibition, Bass Rock and one of two wave themed works produced specifically for the event. Check out my work at a number of Christmas exhibitions and a possible event at the Tall Ships in Glasgow. Many thanks all, all comments welcome as always! Ian Glasgow Nov 2012

The real magic in all of us

Talk about magic to most people and they will think of magicians, wizards and maybe witches. To me the real magic is the potential of each one of us to live up to our personal potential. How many of us have been told throughout our lives, "You can't do that! You're not intelligent enough? artistic enough? brave enough?" Too much of our natural magic or creativeness is sidelined and in some cases squeezed of us during our childhood. Over the last 6 months I have had the privilege to be involved with an organisation based in Glasgow "The Wise Group" which works with the long term unemployed and many in society, young and old that have complicated lives. For myself my creative side was heavily suppressed during the last years at school, I'm sure for all the best intentions by those closest around me to allow me to get a "proper job" " a regular sensible income" As one of the lucky ones who after more than twenty years broke out of that to pursue an artist life which is the "Real magic" for me. Seeing and talking to so many young people that see no future,or have low expectations. For the most part are characterised and stereotyped as lazy, unmotivated and lacking drive to succeed. My belief that creativity should be actively encouraged to flourish at school, learning to think in different ways, tapping in the natural curious minds of children will inspire young people and equip them with practical mental tools to go out and enjoy and succeed in an ever more complex World. I make no apology for believing that learning facts simply to pass exams is failing, it was failing those many years ago in my schooling in the 60s and 70s and continues in many places today. It true to say its not always the case, having trained and studied for my a certificate in training practice my admiration continues to grow for the teachers and trainers who put in an immense amount of preparation and effort into what seems on the surface as "off the cuff" I recently been involved in a couple of employment events in Motherwell and Glasgow and brought an artist angle to personal goal setting.

The picture depicts the goal setting racetrack which I created for the Motherwell event which mixed the fun activity of creating an individual "you" and placing it on a race track where you would define an short/medium term goal which for the most part was get a job, get into college. The young people were then asked what 2 or 3 things would would help them achieve that specific goal. Here you can see some examples of the figures created during the 2 day event.

This is just one example of a visual tool that can help those who often find it difficult to express thoughts and ambitions purely in words. For those who know me know how much I bang on about Art and creativity being more than a picture on the wall, but a vehicle to express ideas and feelings far beyond the world of galleries and art dealers. Check out this video from the TED organisation about creativity in schools by one of the foremost educationalists Sir Ken Robinson http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iG9CE55wbtY It's time to learn how to think, rather than just trying to remember "stuff". Art may not be for everyone, but its time for everyone to have the chance to explore the way they learn and think, the one fit fits all approach is as they might say "So last Century" My own personal journey in using creativity and art is just beginning,it's a journey that is driven by a passion . Who knows where or what the destination might be, but the journey is has to be fun and the reward, like all rewards is best shared.

A word to the Wise

Since the last entry I have been actively involved with the Glasgow based employment organisation the Wise Group. Since leaving my last conventional full time job in 2010 I have been shocked by the waste of talent who are either out of work, or under employed. Since April I have been volunteering with the Wise Group, who as a third sector organisation are genuinely motivated to help people achieve their full potential. I am currently working with them to develop new and creative sessions that will compliment some of the imaginative work they are doing with the unemployed, whether to develop an alternative positive mindset, or for those on a much longer path to gain confidence to consider the World of Work. I am a passionate believer that everyone is creative, not some select few of artists/photographers/writers. Children are innately creative, and it's only the pressures and complications of life that shuts much of the openness of possibilities. As Picasso said "All children are artists. The problem is how to remain an artist once he grows up." Art is just a vehicle to unlock a new way of looking at things, build confidence and improve self esteem and awareness. I have been looking at new ways to create and find that sense of "playfulness" It has been great for me to try new techniques and medias, to work on accessible ideas for those who may never have tried anything "arty" since leaving school. I have been working with clay which an easy medium to try out first, painting and drawing can be quite intimidating. Here is an example of modelling work which is part of some of the environmental art work I am designing for the Wise Group. This is an an example of clay face which was first created out in the open on the side of a tree as part of an outdoor activity and then after drying painted to created a interesting if not a little spooky face mask. Here is an example of another technique using photosensitive paper which allows you to create permanent and interesting effects just be exposing the paper in sunlight and creating images by placing objects onto the paper Both techniques allow someone with little experience to create interesting and rewarding results. On the Home front and my own artistic efforts I have been working on much larger pieces, the challenge always remains to create work which is in keeping with my own style, or an extension of my own style whilst scaling it up. The larger work gives me some freedom to express more abstract ideas which has its own challenges as the natural tendency for me is to start to over work the piece adding unnecessary detail that do doesn't work within the larger format. This piece is 25 x 25 inches, some scaling up to maybe 36 x 36 would be interesting, but since I work on board the difficulty of getting MDF board with a minimum of 36 inches is looking to be a bit of a challenge. I have also started to explore the en-caustic techniques ( the use of wax ) I have been already been asked on twitter about technique, my philosophy has always been experiment and if it works use it , if it doesn't try again. I am currently using molten beeswax with tube oils and stand oil ( I used the stand oil ) in the fear that the wax will become too brittle on drying and break off. It's all a big experiment which half the fun. It is all too easy to become prescriptive in technique, all art is a journey and if you don't like the destination then move onto another place. Keep travelling and enjoy. So back to the painting and more on my endeavours and journeys into art education and tutoring at a later date. Opening up the possibilities of art to others is a real passion as it was never meant to be stuck up there on that ivory tower, Arts is fun and open to all given the opportunity and encouragement. All the best from a hazy day in Glasgow, Scotland. Ian.

The Sea and the not so permanent wave....

As no surprise time slips away with you and its an age since I last posted an entry. So far this year this have been slow, but even with the economic outlook as gloomy as ever the job of an artist is create work. Truly for many artists the identity of artist is not one of "doing" but "being" an intrinsic part of who you are. This year if sales have been slow two additional galleries have asked to take my work, the Fine Art Studio Private Gallery in Bothwell and the Scottish Showcase Gallery in Kirkcudbright. Two pieces of work were accepted for the Paisley Art Institute Exhibition this year, the first time I got my act into gear to remember submission dates. In the last few months I have painted about 35 most small 9x9 inch pieces with some larger 15x15 pieces. The discipline of working within the smaller format can be a limiting, but scale can be your enemy which means you have to try an alternative approach which brings its own challenges. The larger works lend themselves to a more abstract approach.

Here is a an example of a recent larger format work. I found the larger area allowed a looser, freer style. This allows me to suggest more of the emotion of the sea, rather than the abstract leaning representational approach of many of my other works. I am drawn to the heavy seas and skies the darker palette and here the only light in the work is swath of white that cuts horizontally across the canvas. The move to more abstract style requires that age old dilema for the artist "Knowing when to stop!" It is all too easy to continue to work and overwork the paint as the "detail gremlins" sneak into your head to make aspects of the painting more distinct and representational. Practice is the key to developing this additional voice. . Another image of a recent work which is my now standard 9 x 9 format which typifies a signature of much of my work, the breaking wave, crashing water as it hits shore. Its a challenge to try and capture the energy of the breaking wave on an essentially 2 dimensional surface. If I manage capture a small part of this energy and emotion then I am well on my way to translate my emotional connection with the sea to others.

The artist that has distilled the essence of the wave is Maggi Hambling who's sea work has tremendous physicality and energy. Here is an example, I hope she won't mind me reproducing it here. I visited the Paisley Art Institute preview evening last week which was nice to see your own work on the walls, but also to see the wide range of approaches of current contemporary artists in Scotland today. Fingers crossed that the public will like the seascapes enough to buy. One interesting aspect of visiting galleries , exhibitions is the different approaches to presentation and style. Mount, no mount, width,style and colour of framing. I am currently working with a framer in Glasgow to make subtle changes to the framing of my work. I have always believed that the presentation is an important vehicle to bring the best out of your work and becomes part of a coherent style that becomes associated with your work. I have always from my early days selling work in St Ives, Cornwall used limed washing frames as they have for me that psychological tag of the coast and the sea. Well back to the knives and brushes until the next time. Ian

Postcards and the Sounds of the Sea

Greetings mo chairde,

The first entry for 2012 and out of the grey flat skies of the last month came a little colour in the form of two small postcard format pieces I submitted for the ScotlandArt.com exhibition "The Big Postcard Show" currently on at their Edinburgh Gallery in Stockbridge.

Both works capture the wild and unforgiving sea of Wester Ross Scotland. Storms off Wester Ross - 1 and 2 are both Oil on Gesso'd board. Both works required a slight change of technique due the surface properties of board as opposed to linen.
With no reference to land it was difficult to capture the such freedom in such a small format 210 x 148 mm. Only the viewer can decide whether it was achieved.

Both pieces are presented and on sale unframed for only £75.






I must mention the artist Stephanie Earl who commented recently that my work captures the "Sound of Sea" a compliment I thank her for! An elusive quality that I am still striving to achieve. I have always worked to evoke a feeling, not just the physical representation of the water and sky.
The sea is more than a view, it's an emotion, often a companion, sometimes a possessor.

The winter often brings surprises in the midst of incessant days of flat, lifeless grey skies a little colour visited our small garden.

The image is little unclear as it was taken through glass on not the the brightest of days. For many the fox is a pest, but this visitor was almost like a ghost, his eyes following mine, almost as if he could see me thinking. Behind the knowing, a sadness. While he waited for his mate to join him he sat contently taking in the brief photo shoot.

Look out for some possible fox themed work in the future, a bit of a diversion from the sea a welcome change possibly, nice to dwell at the other end of the spectrum, the thick tubes of reds and brown oils are a testament to blues and greens of my sea related work.
Started to work/experiment on some larger format work although all painting is one of scale and so its difficult to achieve the same style/effect when working on larger size canvas.

That's it for now, more news coming soon and as I always promise more frequent entries for the Celtic Wanderer!

Ian - Glasgow Jan 2012

The Sea in Twenty five Parts

For those of you who follow my painfully intermittent blog entries and those catch me on my website or twitter I spent a great deal of time in the summer publicising and preparing for the 100 Pebbles Event for the Beatson Pebble Appeal.
This November on the Saturday 26th I will be staging another painting event with the support of the Green Gallery Buchlyvie.
The event which I have christened the "The Sea in Twenty five parts" will look to raise funds for the Artlink Central charity. They are an arts agency working across Central Scotland, engaging artists in communities. Established in 1988, they are a charity based in Stirling, with a focus on developing evidence-based practice in the following areas:
· Arts and Health
· Arts and Disability
· Arts in Prisons
· Arts and Young People
I feel you cannot underestimate the power of creativity in developing, supporting individuals in these difficult times and am proud to support such a charity working in Central Scotland. Please refer to the this link for more information.
http://artlinkcentral.org/

As part of the Green gallery's Christmas Fair the artist will paint 25 10x10 inch paintings in acrylic. These seascapes I see as akin to a musical work. All with a common thread and theme, but each unique. This is another opportunity to allow the public to purchase an original piece of work at very low cost. On this occasion I will be using deep 3D canvas and a slightly larger size than the pebbles event to produce works that have visual impact, but will require no framing and can be hung straight on the wall. As I will not have to sustain the breakneck pace of the Pebbles Event the work will be slightly more detailed and more in keeping with my Gallery work in Oil.
With the continued support of Ken Bromley Art supplies who made a MASSIVE contribution to the Beatson 100 Pebbles Event the canvas was purchased today. All the other materials are at hand, paint,knives and brushes.
With the help and support of the Green gallery's owner Becky Walker I look forward to this smaller scale event to be a big success for the Artlink charity.
More information to come for this important event, and don't forget that the Green Gallery Christmas Fair is open to the general public Sat/Sun 26th 27th November, Buchlyvie, Stirlingshire.
For contact details and directions http://www.greengallery.com/

This is a well established and publicised event .. so all are welcome.. Lots of arts/crafts and Christmas gifts will be available of sale.. So jump into the Christmas spirit in good time for those unique items and another opportunity to catch the artist painting in front of the public!

See you soon

Ian

100 Pebbles and Blue Man Group

So at last I have put fingers to keyboard and long overdue! The 100 Pebbles event now finished, a busy day, and all the planning and estimating was great in theory. The task in hand was finished with 5 minutes to spare, a total of 100 paintings in seven and half hours. A BIG thanks for all those who supported me before and during the fact.. Especially the Beatson fund-raising team who took the money and chatted to the visitors to the gallery. Another BIG BIG thank you goes to Frances Lowrie, Owner and Director of the Art Exposure Gallery who supported the event from the beginning and supplied the space, the wall :) and numerous coffees and teas to keep me going.

Here you can see the work well into the first part of the morning, Blue blue and more blue. As one visitor ryely commented you could audition for the Blue Man group and its true I spent most of my day with a blue right hand. Some might think I missed my vocation as a Smurf .. Smurfs painting in 3D!
I never thought as a seascape painter I could get tired of blue! You will be pleased to know after a brief blue free period the artist is now fully recuperated and back to blue in his work. Due to the unseasonally sunny weather in Glasgow that day we may not have attracted so many people away from the 70s music DJ and Brazilian parade as we would have liked, but we made a very good start and drew a very positive response from visitors who most of which put their hands in their pockets and bought a painting. Interestingly with all the finished work being hung as it was completed, many people wanted the one they saw me painting. I suppose you don't see that all that often. The artist painting you something right before your eyes. There are still pieces to be purchased and all of the money goes to the Beatson Pebble Appeal.

All of us will be touched by cancer in some way in our lives, either directly or indirectly so the Beatson's work has never been so important. So purchasing one of the 100 Pebble paintings can help them with their research and care. Difficult times for all, but all contributions are gratefully received.
Anyone interested in buying one of the pieces should contact me on rawnsleyart@gmail and I will happily pass on your details to the team at the Beatson. REMEMBER its only £20 for an original piece of art, 8 x 8 inches canvas - painted in acrylic all bearing the Pebble stencil. This symbol shows that the work is from this day and all the canvasses are numbered. It was early decision not to sign the work with my normal signature to set the work aside as something special and the focus on the charity, not on the artist.


On other matters the artist is now proud to announce his association with the Scotlandart.com gallery who are based in both in Glasgow and Edinburgh.
Please check out http://t.co/eFk3zld for details of Scotlandart.com rolling auction for the Beatson Pebble Appeal. I saw the painting first hand at the preview for the galleries current Alumni exhibition so take a look at another way that you can contribute through art to the Beatson's great work.
Details below:
We are currently holding an auction on a rolling basis for the Beatson Pebble Appeal of "Scholarly Reflections" by Karen Cairns, with the highest bid on display each day, so visitors can bid at any time during the run of the current Alumni exhibition at our Glasgow gallery. We’re confident that the work will raise a good sum to help support a great cause. For more information, contact Cathy on 0141 221 4502

I recently took this picture when taking the Hector "the white menace" as he is known for an afternoon walk. This is the Cementry here in Summerston North Glasgow, normally a very peaceful place. This struck me how powerful nature can be.
That was one windy day or possibly bionic squirrels ;)

The artist is currently working on some ideas for jewellery, anything to help the starving artist in a bid to keep a roof over his head. Tentative this venture is to be known as Gaelic Isle Jewellery. The idea is to take the colours of Scotland and Ireland and produce competitively priced work which is influenced by nature and the beauty of the scenery and seas of the Highlands and wild places of these Gaelic outposts of NW Europe.
Still working on pieces and more importantly trying to tackle the nightmare of macro shots and getting enough light to do them justice, both in detail and in colour.

More details coming up soon.

Go raibh maith agaibh mo chairde.

slán Ian

100 Pebbles almost there!

This is the final entry before the big day on Sunday. Hard to believe that we have been working at this for months and the day is almost upon us.
Canvas purchased,delivered and numbered. Paint mixed and knives and brushes at the ready.
BIG THANK YOUs to Millers Art shop, Stockwell Street, Winsor and Newton who came good and to Richard and all the staff at Ken Bromley Art Materials.

The BIGGEST thank you goes to neighbour and friend Jessie, who thrust a cheque in my hand for the stretched canvas and wouldn't take no for an answer.
Spent quite a bit of time mixing the base colours for the event, the paintings are fundamentally based on 2 components, sky and sea so it was important to create a set of consistent and coherent colour matches for the base work.
With 6 paintings already reserved, or purchased we still have some way to go, but we have a great start and many thanks to those friends and aquaintances who have put their hands in their pockets for such a good cause.
The event is due to start at 10.30am on the 24th and finish at 6. Good weather is forcast and fingers crossed for a good turn out for the Merchant City Festival.
On Wednesday this week Caroline Wilson interviewed me by phone for a feature on the event for the Glasgow Evening Times, who have continued to be a long standing supporter of the Beatson cause. A photographer followed up on Thursday morning, a very nice guy who put the artist at ease, although I've never been shy in front of the camera.

I thought it was important to include my longest standing supporter, and the person who has had to put up with 100 Pebbles longer than anyone else, my wife Marian. The photo was taken on a lovely sunny day in Pittenweem on the Fife coast in Scotland, and the bundle of white fur is our not so wee dog Hector who loves to bark at seagulls at every opportunity.
This is a great spot, although the artists insistance on climbing over rocks to get closer to the crashing waves resulted in falling over without the aid of any alcoholic beverage.
Just up the road is Cellardyke which I have tried to capture in oil, and can be found at the Union Gallery in Edinburgh for sale.

This painting was influenced by a visit to Cellardyke as the evening was drawing in, and the light was failing, the ever darkening sea only broken up by the white spray on the black rocks close to the shore. A great moment which I brough back to Glasgow to try and capture on canvas. Hopefully I have have done the moment some justice. This like all of my work has a little bit of me in it, and forms a kind of connection with an event or memory.
I have always try to capture not only the appearance, but something of the mood and feeling.
I will try and capture those same memories and feelings into the 100 Pebbles work which even though in a slightly more tricky medium, acrylic. will demand discipline on the one hand, but also a lighter, more instant approach.
The work will be presented in the Art Exposure Gallery in the format of 10 x 10 canvasses, each of 8 x 8 inches in size. I have always the considered the finished piece as the artwork. 100 separate scenes brought together in a coherent whole.

So pretty much ready for the day, so look forward to an entry telling how we got on and a few pics as well of the occasion. So for anyone in Glasgow visiting the Merchant City Festival tomorrow.. have a good day and make your way to Art Exposure Gallery in Parnie Street, behind the Tron Theatre where Frances Lowrie, the gallery owner and yours truly will look forward to seeing you..
Should be a great day.. See you all there.

Ian
Glasgow.

Is it July already?

As we get into the month of July the thoughts of the massive challenge of painting 100 paintings in one day is foremost in my mind. There has never been a doubt in my mind the physical challenge is achievable, but the support of others will be pivotal making the event a success.
The Beatson team, the Art Exposure Gallery are pulling together to build up the momentum for the day. The event has already published with Events Glasgow, submitted to the Merchant City Festival online programme, and circulated to the existing Beatson Pebble Appeal supporters via newsletter. In the last few weeks we seek to gain as much publicity to guarantee a great day and the sale of all of the 100 pieces to make the £2000 total. Lets look forward to a fine day for the final day of the Merchant City Festival.

As mentioned previously, Millers Art shop are to supply the paint.
We are still need to raise the £150 for the stretched canvas from local and national companies, with the possible support from a major art materials supplier I am hopefully that we can finalise something in the next week.

Last week I was called my Lord Macfarlane of Bearsden to lend his support to the challenge, who as a major figure in art and commerce in Scotland is greatly appreciated. A very big thanks for the support!

There have been a few offers to purchase a painting before the event so it would be good to have a few guaranteed sales before kick off at the end of the month. I am sure I will be leaning on a few people to dig deep in their pockets for the charity.


The event is not without its critics, my cats Rufus and Barnaby continue to provide advice, usually telling me that cat pictures are much more fun than seascapes. I'm sure we can look forward to a future event called 100 paw prints if they get their way.

Since it's Canada Day today I am reminded of an artist in Quebec, Marcel Gagnon whose arts centre sits next to the the Saint Lawrence river.

This picture was taken on typically frozen day in January this year, the centre closed up , but Gagnon's sculptures hauntingly standing like sentinels over the landscape. The wooden figures continue out in the river, or here the ice. The centre out in the Gaspesie National park of Quebec at Sainte Flavie is easily missed, and the artist learned the limitation of snow tyres in rural Quebec in the winter sliding across the road after sharply applying the brakes to capture a few pictures of Marcel's work in the snow and ice. The things you do for a photograph! Well worth it I think, although I missed a few heart beats as we slid to a stop.
The light is always special in Gaspesie, being lucky to have good friends who live in the Forillion National Park we have been lucky to spend quality time in one of the most beautiful and relatively undiscovered parts of Canada. The blue eastern light is so much like Scotland, thick dark forests, mountains rolling down to the sea. A land of Black bear and blue whale. A very special place indeed.

A special mention for the artist Olivia Irvine whose lovely work is to be found in the Union Gallery in the last few days of their "Now we are Two" exhibition.

I was particularly taken by the beauty of this work, her technique produces a stunning luminosity to the colours which are rich and intense even though the image has ethereal dream like quality to it.
Check her work out if you can. The painting here is called Clearance, I'm sure she won't mind me publishing the image of such lovely work.





That's all for now, anyone interesting in reserving for purchase one of the the 100 Pebble paintings in advance of the event, please contact me my email address rawnsleyart@gmail.com where I can pass on the details of the Beatson fundraising team.
Remember its only £20 for an original artwork, that doesn't happen every day. The last blog featured 2 paintings that typified the style of work if needed to know what you might get.

Bye for now.

Ian
Glasgow - Scotland

100 Pebbles Art Event Latest News.

As we draw closer I'm getting more excited about the project, mind is focused, still ironing out of some of the creative ideas as the pressure will be on.
Yesterday sat down with Frances at the Art Exposure Gallery to discuss the wording for the Merchant City Festival literature.
The Event will start at 10.30am on Sunday 24th July and will finish at 6pm, this gives me a total of 7.5 hrs to complete the 100 piece artwork. My own test pieces are taking between three and three and half mins so within my schedule for the day. I expect it will be easy to motor off at the beginning of the day, but I have to remember this a marathon, not a sprint.
Still working on raising the funds for the stretched canvas, £150 to find, having pushed my supplier to the limit. RRP could be as much as £600 so major progress. Just needs to be funded.
The paint materials for the event will be supplied by Millers Art shop on Stockwell Street, Glasgow.. So a BIG BIG thankyou to them.
All 100 paintings will be seascapes inspired by the beauty and wonder of the Scottish coast. In a simplified style painted in acrylic unlike most of my current work in Oil due to the relatively quick drying time. Below are a couple of examples of the type of work that will be featured. Design and colour may vary.

Each work will be original, I am working on colour ideas, but all work will have a common theme and consistency to produce a consistent final artwork. The final piece will be approx 14ft wide and 4-5 ft high.
Each piece will sell at £20 a piece to raise a total of £2000 for the Beatson Pebble Appeal. I have pitched the price to maximise the money for the charity, whilst making the work accessible to those who might not normally buy an original art work.
I have already had some advance interest in pieces, it will be possible to reserve a piece in advance, the logistics of how we do this still need ironing out with the charity.
There will be a representative for the charity will be on hand during the day to deal with the financial side of things and guarantee that 100% of the funds for the Event will go to the Pebble appeal.

Silly fact for the event :) Part of my preparation for the event will be the need to strengthen up my arm,hand and wrist for the day as over 7 hours of painting is inevitably going to take its toll. Daily Bodhran ( Irish traditional drum for those not familiar with the name ) playing. Can't promise to be playing on the day.
Hope to see as many of you on the day as possible, cancer has entered most of lives either directly or by someone we know. This is is my small part in helping the Beatson reach its target. Lets keep out fingers crossed for the weather and if it is raining come on in and buy a painting.

More details and information as I have them.

Take Care.

Ian
Glasgow - Scotland

100 Pebbles project continues to move forward

I am pleased announce that the day is set and challenge is firmly set.
The Beatson are fully behind the challenge to paint a single piece of artwork that will be made up of 100 single seascape paintings. Each individual work will be 8 x 8 inches in size , making the total size of the work approx 14 foot wide and over 4 foot high.


The date is set Sunday 24th July and the location will be the Art Exposure Gallery due to the kindness and support of its proprietor Frances Lowrie. The work will be created in one day and will be part of Glasgow's Merchant City Festival.
Millers Art shop Glasgow have agreed to supply the paint for the day and I am still on the look out for financial help to source the stretched canvas to make up the the 100 pieces.

The Beatson Pebble Appeal is a £10M fundraising campaign to build the Beatson Translational Research Centre (TRC); the final element in the creation of the Glasgow Centre for Cancer Research.

For more information on the appeal please check out this link


http://www.gla.ac.uk/about/givingtoglasgow/beatsonpebbleappeal/

I know its going to be a big challenge , but well worth it . Each piece of work will retail for £20, making the target of £2000 for all 100 pieces !

More info and news to come.

Ian
Glasgow
www.ianrawnsley.com

100 Pebbles on the shore

Having mulled the idea of painting a large number of paintings in one day for charity for a number of years, this week I put the idea into action. Having already offered work for the Beatson Pebble appeal I put the idea to the Beatson and they wish to run with it. This is where the hard begins.
Not only a real challenge to capture the pebble them in a painting,but also one which can be completed in 4 mins is a real challenge.
The whole venture is going to be a real physical challenge, but I think the whole adrenalin thing and I suspect a vast amount of caffeine will be consumed will pull me through.
The logistics is just the start, getting a "buy in" from companies and art groups is a real challenge. Spending time pushing all the contacts and leaning on commercial companies to help in a realistic way to supply the 100 canvasses required for the event.

100 pebbles will be 100 separate paintings , each 12 inch x 12 inch block canvas. Expecting the whole effect to be quite impressive.
Each painting will cost £20, so £2000 and well needed for the Beatson Appeal publicity. Cancer touches all our lives in way or another so it's a seriously important cause.

So onward with 100 Pebbles .. more coming soon.

Ian

The psychology of Eastern light - Initial thoughts

The question is there a psychological effect on landscape artists by Eastern light? or artists of a certain psychological temperament drawn to paint in the bluer, darker influences of the East.
Having spent many years exploring and enjoying the light of Western shore, West Cornwall, the Atlantic shore of Donegal, the coasts of the Uists in the Scottish Western Isles even though many of these locations attract artists in their droves to capture and utilise that “special” white light, especially in St Ives and the Big Sky. I have only recently drawn to the  darker, bluer light of the East coast of Scotland.
I have found it personally difficult to capture the beauty of the bone white sands, the azure seas as they hold nothing back, stunning and spectacular the scenery almost revels in its own immediacy.
I find the reluctant mystery of the East coast captures the imagination, a reluctance to reveal in the blues and greys of the sea and sky. More unforgiving, a coast inhabited by more ghosts.
Being as artist is about the journey rather than a destination, one foot after the other I will continue to attempt to capture some of that mystery of the Eastern light.
Ian

First time in the real bloggershere -The Irish artist in Glasgow

This is the first short journey online on blogspot having just returned from the far reaches of Quebec, Canada from an area called Gaspasie "The end of the World"  this wonderful peaceful and little known area has similarities with Finistere, Cape Cornwall and Scotland's own Cape Wrath. All these places seem to have a magic where the land and sea meet.
For me as an artist the energy of these places fills the soul with excitement and always provides inspiration and purpose to my work as an artist.

I want to use this area to talk to artists and all who are interested in art.

slán

Ian

www.ianrawnsley.com