Who would have thought that after the glorious June we had here in Edinburgh that July would be a total washout. I promised myself some time off to catch up with books on my 'to read' pile. I love reading in my wee garden, and there's a great cafe on Portobello Prom that you can put your feet up with a coffee and relax (and cake of course!). But, due to a lot of rain nice days have been few and far between, so I've been visiting some of the great exhibitions we have running this summer in Edinburgh.
I’ve also just delivered the last two paintings which were sold at the ‘Elements’ Exhibition at Dovecot Studios. It seems a million miles away from that wonderful weekend at the beginning of July, so it was great to deliver the paintings to their new homes and meet the lovely buyers again!
I feel really lucky to have been invited to the preview of David Eustace’s ‘Thereafter’ Exhibition which was held at the spectacular Signet Library, Edinburgh. The building was completed in 1822 for the visit to Edinburgh of King George IV, who described the Upper Library as "the finest drawing room in Europe”.* It truly was a special place to visit and to view this extraordinary exhibition. David Eustace gave a talk about his life and his works, which explored transition, change and hope. His photographs were beautiful, but my favourite where the sculptures (using steel, granite and acrylic), and in particular the sculpture ‘Still’. For this he had used acupuncture needles suspended in acrylic. It’s one of those exhibitions that stays with you - very thought provoking.
One gallery that I visit frequently while walking on the East Lothian coast is in the Scottish Ornithologist’s Club in Aberlady. I visited their ‘Beneath Earth & Sky’ exhibition. Emily Ingrey-Counter (a fellow artist on the Professional Development course at Paintbox) is one of the exhibitors with Nye Hughes and Simon Griffiths, and their work really compliments each other with fabulous sculptures and paintings, in just the right setting! Emily’s work is inspired by her local environment and also a week spent on the Isle of May sketching the bird life. The exhibition is running until the 24th September, so plenty of time to visit.
The next exciting event on my own exhibition calendar is the annual arts festival 'Art Walk Porty' which is held in Portobello, Edinburgh, from the 1st to 10th September. I was delighted to have been chosen to exhibit with them in their ‘Art in Cafe & Shop Spaces’ project, which consists of a series of small exhibitions. There’s a downloadable map (see link below) to guide you from venue to venue. Together with this there’s an abundance of fascinating projects, such as artist led walks, talks, workshops, Art in Houses, poetry, beach activities, and theatre. Some events, for example the Artist's Residencies, have already started and some continue on after the 10th September. So much to see and do!
This annual festival is run by Art Walk Projects, who work with artists and communities creating social and ecological ideas entwined with science projects based around Edinburgh’s north eastern coast. This years theme, VESSEL, is an eco-arts programme focused on water and its central role in the unpredictability of the climate crisis. The vessel as a container to hold, carry, transport, or to provide safety, support and security; as well as a vessel to distribute nutrients.
Work from my ‘Tidelines’ series will exhibited in Venue 33 - Eyden’s Cafe, 215 High Street Portobello, and I will be sharing this great space with Anthony Gow whose work explores how the way we live in the world affects us at the cellular level. The exhibition will be on the wall and ready to view (with more delicious coffee and cake!) from Tuesday 15th August.
Since starting the research for this series last year, I've learnt so much about how amazing tidelines are, how they’re ecological vessels are for organisms, and how they are being affected by toxins washed from our local urban areas during flooding. I really hope that my work will help to raise awareness of this, and I will also be donating 10% of sales from ‘Tidelines’ to the Marine Conservation Society to help to safeguard our precious coastline.
I find it amazing where art takes me, whether viewing other artist’s work or making my own. It’s like a rabbit hole and one idea always lead onto another. Back in April I tried Suminagashi, the art of paper marbling, after I’d seen an online exhibition using this effect on some lovely handmade notebooks. My plan was to try and recreate the lovely rivulets that run down the beach at low tide, and then use the marbled rice paper as collage in my work. However, it was so difficult to do, and it didn’t go as well as I’d have liked! The technique is to create the marbled ink rings by using a shallow tray of water into which you drop (using a fine nib or brush) alternate droplets of Sumi ink and water (with a spot of washing up liquid in the water). You then place the rice paper gently on top of the water and it soaks up the large rings of ink marbling. Or rather, it doesn’t! I persevered, until I had too many pieces of dripping wet rice paper with only little blobs of pattern here and there. However, the paper dried out quite wrinkled and grey, so I’ll still use it for collaging with maybe added ink printed onto it!
It's a bit of a long read this time, so I’ll finish here! I hope that you’re enjoying the summer months, and can catch a few exhibitions here and there too. There are so many to choose from, and it’s great that many are free to view which helps to bring art to everyone!
Here's the link to learn about all the artists involved in Art Walk Porty!
*Ref: Heritage Portfolio, The Signet Library Edinburgh, Details
Accessed 03/08/2023
Comments