New Beginnings & My Story!

My first post of the New Year, and it’s already February! I enjoyed some cosy hibernating over the festive period, and come January I’ve been squirrelling away with lots of new work.

This new work will soon be heading off to spring exhibitions. It’s wonderful to be invited back by a gallery, and to share in their enthusiasm for their new show! Additionally, I've been invited to exhibit for the first time at Eduardo Alessandro Studios in Broughty Ferry, near Dundee. I’m thrilled, it’s such a lovely gallery in a great coastal location - I'm looking forward to the trips to deliver my work there!

Having a solo exhibition has been a dream of mine since my schooldays (story below - I've tried to keep it brief!). So, this spring it's finally going to happen. I can’t quite believe it, however, along with the excitement I’m a tad nervous!

Art was my love at school, and to have a career doing something arty was what I wanted to do. Unfortunately, art was not seen as the path to follow at the time. So, when offered the choice between a job designing greetings cards and a job in a bank, I was steered towards what was thought to be the sensible option. But all was not lost, as my late uncle Phil owned a gallery, and I spent weekends and holidays rearranging artwork and ceramic displays. It was a basement gallery underneath the local Woolworths store, and the gallery was reached by very steep treacherous wooden stairs. We used to hold our breath when footsteps were heard descending, hoping that the visitor didn’t land in a disgruntled heap at the bottom! That being said, it was very popular (despite a couple of disgruntled heaps!), and always had a steady stream of visitors eager to talk art which I revelled in.

However, I did enjoy my time working in the bank, and it was a bit arty when it came to cheque books! Customer names had to be printed onto the cheque books before they were issued, and this was done using a huge old press. It was operated with a footpedal, and as you simultaneously turned each cheque over the heavy press came down. It was quite therapeutic as long as you kept the rhythm going!

I also wouldn’t have met my hubby, had my beautiful family and many years of happiness if I hadn't have joined the bank. I wouldn't change that for the world.

I didn’t think about doing any art until the children were older. I then embarked on Lifelong Learning courses at Edinburgh College of Art. There I enjoyed figure painting, still life and abstract. From there I started going to the artist, Claudia Petretti, where I tried a mixture of genres, and with her I found that landscape was my thing!

After this I started at Paintbox Art School ‘the art school by the sea’. Here I fell in love with the location, and I decided after a few courses to enrol onto their year long Professional Development course. This was one of the most amazing years of art, it was hard work, there were ups and downs, but it was so rewarding. Topping off the course for all the students was a wonderful exhibition at Dovecot Studios in Edinburgh!

This has led, over the last eighteen months, to lots of exciting opportunities including exhibiting my work at charity exhibitions, art fairs and galleries. I do wish uncle Phil was still here to share my art journey, but I’m sure he’d be delighted, especially as my work has intuitively moved to abstract which was his style. In fact, on thinking about it, before abstract he had a ‘Greek church period’ where all he painted were huge blue skies with a tiny white church (every family member had one!)! I used to spend a lot of time looking at these, I now wonder if this intensity of blue has subconsciously filtered into my work.

So, its taken a long time, but here I am now in the early stages of planning a solo exhibition, and my body of work is well under way. I like to have lots on the go in various stages, this gives me the chance to step back from a painting and work on others, so giving ‘fresh eyes’ when going back to it. I've incorporated vintage music sheets, old letters, and stamps that I've inherited over time. I have an abundance of these items! initially, I was reluctant to use them like this, but i realised they were just tucked away, and by including them in my work, they continue to exist and and enrich the painting's history. The letters and stamps were in fact my uncle Phil's, so he is actually accompanying me on my journey!

I’ve also been adding new art materials to my work. The first is a lovely tin of chunky Derwent XL charcoal bars. I’ve had my eye on these for some time, and so they were a present to myself! They are black tones, a white, and one which is an earthy yellow ochre. They’re fantastic to dip into a little water and make thick brick like marks, or the edges can be used for simpler lines. The fact that they are in a tin won me over, I do love tins.

The second are some gorgeous little Dråpe crayons, gifted by my family. They are made by the Scandinavian Crayon Company especially for small children’s hands, and are a lovely rounded teardrop shape. They are ergonomically designed and are great to hold. They too make great marks, either with the teardrop tip or by using them flat to cover a larger surface. There's something so satisfying about new art materials, but I still have my old favourites which I can’t do without. For example, my blue Lightfast pencil which I use constantly and I currently can’t find. I’m going to have to empty out my collage baskets, as I think it may have rolled from the table into one of these!

So that’s it!

Thanks so much for reading, keep warm and cozy, and for those in the Southern Hemisphere - enjoy your lovely warm summer days.

Janette

ps I’ll do a short post nearer to my solo exhibition (probably mid-March) with all the details.

Dukes of West Barns - Winter Show - Nov to 26th Feb 2025

5 Duke St, West Barns, EH42 1UR

https://dukesofwestbarns.com/gallery-overview

Found Gallery - ongoing

84 High Street, Dunbar, EH42 1JH

https://www.thefoundgallery.co.uk

Torrance Gallery - ongoing

36 Dundas St, Edinburgh EH3 6JN