Perthshsire Open Studios
Visited a number of studios. Those who had made a big effort to promote and market themselves did well. Others less so.
Some blamed the recession. Maybe.
Going through a major de-cluttering of studio and office before embark on new work though I have started on a book about Wales with my usual regime of a minimum of 1,000 words a day. Also developing some Ipad work. it is interesting to find out what this new software can do.
Went to opening of friends exhibition, Roy Petrie in Scion House, part of Stirling University Innovation Park .
His digital prints were arousing a greart deal of interest from other printmakers- they were unable to tell whether they were screenprints or not. Roy Has made screenprints for years and now he has moved over to digital.
As one printmaker said:”If you can get this result digitally why bother with traditional screenprinting?”
Jupiter Artland
Sometimes it is good, and very necessary, for artists to get out and about and see new work.
A visit to Pittenweem Arts Festival on the Fife coast proved to be a bit of a disappointment – acres and acres of landscapes- but the following day I visited Jupiter Artland, the new international private sculpture park on the outskirts of Edinburgh.
These are some of the sculptors:Anish Kapoor, Ian Hamilton Finlay,Antony Gormely, Andy Goldsworthy, Mac Quinn, Cornelia Parker and Charles Jencks.
So you can see the calibre of work!
Google it for more info.
Francis Alys
It is always a delight and a surprise to discover an artist for the first time- so it was with Francis Alys’ current exhibition at Tate Modern.
Born in Belgian and now living in Mexico his work resonates with the best of Glasgow School of Art Department of Environmental Art – maybe it is significant that David Harding, who foundered the Department loved Mexico too.
Jessie King, of the the “Glasgow Girls” studio in Kirkcudbright is used today by artists who are founder members of the Kirkcudbright Art and Craft Trail
Just beginning to get back to doing some of my own work – have discovered two new pieces of drawing software- Brushes for Ipad and Melodala- creating images with a soundtrack.
Glasgow Print Studio have sent members a questionnaire and one question really made me think about my art practise.
“Do you make work as (a) hobby (b) exhibit (c) to sell.”
Er….can’t decide. Somehow I thought it was all three.
Ann Shaw is an artist/writer based in Scotland working in new media. As a journalist she campaigned and wrote about many social and medical issues. She is a feminist and founder member of Falkirk Womens Aid, active in the trades union movement and former member of National Union of Journalists Equality Working Party, and founder member of Forth Valley Open Studios.
