Diary of an artist writer online

I will be installing an inter-active sound installation for the forthcoming Bridge of Allan Contemporary Art Fair on November 1 called “Tweet a Sound”.

Met up with the director of the Fair, Amy Drewery, this afternoon to discuss final arrangements.

Hope for lots of participation in order to create a unique story of the day.

What kind of studio space do artists require?

Traditionally the answer was simple: a big, airy space with north facing windows and affordable.

WASPS, a Scottish based charity, aim to provide such spaces and they were in Stirling last week doing a presentation.

Chris of WASPS  pointed out that the kind of space artists require these days is changing.

One new interesting venture is their South Block in Glasgow, a new studio complex with 64 studios as well as facilities for hot-desking and commercial offices too.

A more radical approach  is the  The Bothy Project , an innovative private enterprise that offers artists the chance to make work in remote  corners of the Scottish landscape from forests to an isolated Hebridian island.

And then there is the other extreme-, which I inhabited today- a virtual space shared with photographers on a global project. www.blipfoto.com/libra

So when we talk of space for artists we have to start thinking outside the box.

Tomorrow evening a small exhibition of my mud paintings will be shown in Blairlogie, part of an evening organised by George Sutherland to celebrate the work of Robert Louis Stevenson.

Stevenson spent childhood holidays in Bridge of Allan and this cave along the Allanwater river is believed to be the inspiration for Ben Gunn’s cave in Treasure Island.

My paintings are made from mud collected from the floor of the cave and they are mythological creatures that spring from the earth.

The evening is a mixture of a literary and art event with performance artist Karen Strang, actor artist Keith Neill and artist Lys Hansen reading some of his poems.

Also there will be an inter-active element where members of the public will be invited to create their own mud paintings working alongside artist Libby Yule.

Unfortunately I will not be able to attend because I will have set off on my travels.

Meanwhile, back at the Macrobert Arts centre we older dancers were filmed yesterday as art of a documentary to show the work of the centre, which like every other arts organisation is desperate for funding since government cutbacks.

“Art is not produced in art Colleges but in studios, with people working together.” Paolozzi

I have just finished re-writing my “Masterclass- Ten Days with Paolozzi”

Now I am looking for an editor and people to read and check it.

At the end of the week we were all given a Paolozzi plaster cast of a head with the proviso from Geraldine Prince, art historian and course organizer:
“If you think you have not had value for your money you can always sell it.”