Michael Scott 1946 - 2006

Last night I went to the book launch of 'Michael Scott, Testament' at Glasgow Caledonian with my friend Kathryn.

Michael Scott's work felt familiar to me but I'm ashamed to say I knew nothing about him. Looking through the book I immediately fell in love with his paintings.

I am pleased to say that Roger Billcliffe will be showing a retrospective exhibition in October, I'm really looking forward to seeing it.

You can read more about Michael on the Glasgow Caledonian Web Site and his own website.

Summery Blue and White Window

James Orr brought a new painting of Crossmichael Church to the gallery yesterday. When we unwrapped it we noticed how nice it looked with the huge bunch of delphiniums and irises that our friend Anne had given us.

I thought it would make a lovely window display with Sue Binn's blue and white pottery, Allan Craig's copper Arts and Crafts clock and Lisa Hooper's Curlew etching 'Beach Patrol'.

Past Times

We were lucky enough to get expert help from our friends Bob and Val when it came to replanting parts of the gallery garden.

After removing a rather evil Russian Vine we were left with a big piece of bare wall. They found this climbing rose, Past Times, for us to train up the wall.

It starts out with delicate pink buds...



... which then explode into huge blousy blooms. Quite gorgeous!

'A bit of class aboot it'

Sunny days aren't the best for bringing people into the gallery. We've learnt that now, after nearly three years here, and just get on with the tasks in hand.

After a really quiet morning a lovely gentleman came in - he had discovered the gallery by chance. He loved the exhibition. As he was leaving he said 'this is a great place, there's a bit of class aboot it'.

Ah, thank you kind gentleman.

It's the enthusiasm that we get from our customers that makes what we're doing so rewarding.

James Paterson @ The Hunterian

This little exhibition was an unexpected discovery when I visited the Hunterian to see Joseph Beuys.

The collection consists of paintings, photographs, sketchbooks and furniture given to Glasgow University by James Paterson's grand daughter, Anne Paterson Wallace.

We have been lucky enough to sell work by Paterson in the gallery, and we will have some for sale in our August exhibition. It is always very popular, particularly because he lived and painted near us, in Moniaive.

I really like his style of painting. I often think some of his oils look like watercolours from a distance, as he was so good at painting in soft tones, without any harshness.

Until I saw this exhibition I hadn't been aware of his great interest in photography and there are several of his photographs to view including photos he took of his own paintings.

The exhibition was created to go with the major Glasgow Boys exhibition that's on at The Kelvingrove Art Gallery. It's well worth going to see. There's a web site to go with the exhibition here.

Joseph Beuys @ The Hunterian

Well, I finally got a chance to see this, and it didn't disappoint. The exhibition is located in the end section of the main room in Glasgow's Hunterian Museum. It's quite a compact display of his work but there's just enough to mull over.

I find Joseph Beuys quite fascinating as an artist. His choice and use of materials mark him out a true pioneer of the art world.

His famous use of felt and fat are shown in several of the pieces in the show, including the iconic 'fat chair'.

You can read a review of the exhibition from The Herald Newspaper here.

I'm back

The Blog has been quiet as I have been in Spain on an Iyengar Yoga holiday at the wonderful Casa Mayor situated in the mountains above Malaga.

I'm back now, feeling refreshed and excited about all the new paintings that I collected in Glasgow.

This week I met artists Joe McIntyre and John Johnstone at Kelvingrove Art Gallery and Museum, we had coffee together and a great chat about all things arty. They are both exhibiting with us in July so I will be adding the new work to the web site soon.

Muriel Gray on The Glasgow Boys

Last night, on BBC2 Scotland, Muriel Gray presented an excellent programme on The Glasgow Boys.

Like lots of us, she has fond memories of visiting many of the paintings at Glasgow's Kelvingrove Museum as a child.

The Kelvingrove is hosting an unmissible exhibition of The Glasgow Boys' work 'Pioneering Painters - The Glasgow Boys 1880 - 1900'.

If you missed the programme you can watch it again here.