Welcome to my new website. Here are a few things that have caught my eyes and ears this week whilst working on several new paintings. More to follow soon.INSPIRATION:The Unknown Notebooks of Jean-Michel Basquiat — by Tricia Laughlin Bloom and Dieter BuchhartBasquiat and the Bayou — Franklin SirmansLomo photographsRose Wylie — Lolita's House at Davi...
Leonardo da Vinci declared, "Art is never finished, only abandoned."I'm not sure about that but I do know that I struggle and agonize over some pieces of work and return to them sometimes several years after they were once declared finished. Most of the time my sense of completion is a purely intuitive one. I just instinctively know that it is fini...
I have created 2 new designs for the A3 poster for the Scottish Mental Health Art Festival exhibition to be shown in Summerhall, Edinburgh later this year.These two new draft versions were created with the Risograph printing process at Out of the Blueprint, Edinburgh in mind. The red one is the final version that will be used after some work on the...
I added some blue acrylic and then wished I hadn't! Ok, time to cover up with grey acrylic and to me it is becoming a bit interesting again. Last night I wrote the words back in and added some gold marks. Not sure if it is finished but I am reasonably happy to continue and see where it goes.Gold Foot Powder (working title)Oil Paintstick, Ink, Penci...
I was listening to this brilliant song from the 1981 album Tom Tom Club last night as I was painting the last hours of Thursday away.What are words worth?What are words worth? WordsWords in papers, words in booksWords on TV, words for crooksWords of comfort, words of peaceWords to make the fighting ceaseWords to tell you what to doWords are working...
Here are a few things that have caught my eyes, ears and sensitivities this week. It all goes into the artistic mix!WORDSAuguries Of Innocence — William BlakeElle Decoration October IssueUgly: The Aesthetics of Everything — Stephen BayleySOUNDTRACKLow — David BowieNocturnes & Impromtus — ChopinThursday Afternoon — Brian EnoAngel Heart Original ...
Last Friday night I started to paint and threw my normal caution with acrylic paint to the winds of fate! I think I've always had a reluctance to use a lot of paint probably due to lean times in the past and some trepidation.Anyway, I threw paint on plywood and started a crude face, added a body and some arms and suddenly I thought, this is mildly ...
Today, I delivered a small painting, Coal Mouth to the Whitespace Gallery, Edinburgh for the Public and Commercial Services Union, Counter Culture Workers' Art Exhibition.PCS explain:"Work is often something we do to get by, to get paid, to pay our bills, to have a bit of financial freedom. We spend our lives at work, sometimes unfulfilled, underpa...
Thank you PCS and the team that hung the show for a great party and exhibition. It looks brilliant!Counter CultureA Workers' Art ExhibitionWhitespace76 East CrosscausewayEdinburghEH8 9HQ Saturday 15 & Sunday 16 September
I subdued the words and now declare it finished. Three of four that I will deliver to Summerhall today for the Scottish Mental Health Art Festival — Out Of Sight Out Of Mind exhibition.
I have just returned from an exhausting four-day visit to London. The city thrills me; it feeds my mind for months. It's almost intoxication!My first port of call was Frida Kahlo: Making Her Self Up at The Victoria and Albert Museum. The show was dazzling, arresting and moving but for me, lacking in her compelling works of art. It left me wanting m...
A few things that have recently nourished my eyes, ears and soul! It all goes into the artistic mix. Be omnivorous!WORDSTrigger Warning: Short Fictions and Disturbances — Neil GaimanCy Twombly Fifty Days At Iliam — BasualdoThe Waste Land (Facsimile & Transcript of original drafts) — T. S. EliotThe Greatest Album Covers of All Time — Barry Miles...
I have 3 paintings in the current show 5 Years at The Velvet Easel gallery in Portobello, Edinburgh. The opening was last Saturday and it was good to see the current show and the new look that Roz has created in the space; very chic, very sophisticated but retaining the warmth and intimacy. I love the new muted Farrow & Ball palette and the new...
Probably the best words an artist can hear!"We are very pleased to inform you that your application for the 'Apply Within' exhibition has been successful."My three works on paper will be shown as part of the 2018 Syn Festival in the Filmhouse during the Edinburgh Greek Film Festival.The exhibition: A decade ago the global financial crisis left a pr...
I love this exhibition. It is very evocative, fabulously bohemian, innovative and inspiring.Cool title too with its nod to David Bowie! It is on until Jan 20 2019.
I was lucky enough to visit Tallinn, Estonia last week. Amongst many fascinating things that I experienced, a visit to the extraordinary Kumu, was one of the most thrilling. Kumu is the headquarters of the Art Museum of Estonia and houses both classical and contemporary art.The complex itself is a work of art — a modern architectural masterpiece. C...
Dear ArtistPre-selection is now complete. Sadly, on this occasion your work has not been selected for the Open Submission section of… 2019.Dear MichaelThank you for submitting your proposal to exhibit at P… Gallery for the 2018 Exhibition Programme, we appreciate the time and effort put into making your application. There were a large number of amb...
I returned home last night to a good news e-mail: Hi Michael — hope you are well. Just to let you know that 'Crown Silence' has sold. Well done again and payment will be made on or before 7th January 2019. Hope you enjoy the festive break. Thank you Velvet Easel and thank you to whoever bought my work yesterday, may it bring you much cont...
I set off from Rue Victor Massé and walked west on Place de Clichy heading for the leafless trees of the Bois de Boulogne. After 2 hours of continuous walking I arrived at the Louis Vuitton Foundation in a state of feverish excitement!I adore Basquiat's work and have seen many exhibitions down the years including: Musée MaillolParis (2003)Brooklyn ...
Two weeks ago I visited the Musée d'Orsay, Paris to see Orsay through the Eyes of Julian Schnabel (as well as the Van Gogh's), as I quite like a lot of Schnabel's work.The gallery had asked Schnabel to give an interpretation of their collection, by presenting, in two of the museum's historic rooms, a new scenography and a selection of works that ha...
