HOTTER THAN JULY!

The hottest ticket in town opens Friday and sees artists Claire Duguid and Dylan Lisle take to the walls!

Mother and daughter. Team Duguid deliver the first batch of paintings fresh from the framers.
Mum is on the left and Claire is on the right.....just so there's no confusion!

And from deep within El Studio Diablo:

A tense Dylan Lisle prepares to amaze us with his latest offerings.
Do you see that we gem he's holding onto? Seen again here:

In my sweaty grasp! The little gem is called 'Magician's Assistant' and is going to be something of a curators choice.

Be here Friday or miss out.

The Bold & The Beautiful

Hello everyone

So the opening of the "Being Human" exhibition got off to a spanking start!

What a really great night, well attended by artists, buyers and lovely friends and family members of teams Grant and McKenzie. Great things can happen when you all pull together.

This is definitely worth a read:
http://www.broughtonspurtle.org.uk/news/learning-be-human-union-gallery

Here is the footage:

and.....

I found this curiosity whilst going through the photos:

I can only assume this was after hours, during the clear up phase. I think I resemble some kind of mischievous, chair stealing gnome! Goes to show I have a sense of humour....sometimes.

Lastly:

A thoughtful gallery visitor and Audrey Grant admirer brought in this beautiful posy of snowdrops from her garden. There's over a hundred snowdrops in there....that's a lot of picking! A warming human touch.

Have a great weekend everyone.

UG Christmas Party continued!!

Well everyone it's nearly time....and I am getting REALLY excited.

Remember the entry I did about hanging the Christmas Exhibition? I mentioned there were horrid Frank Spencer moments. Anyway sure enough on the second day of hanging one of cables on the window display gave in....luckily no paintings, nor I, were injured during this "comedy" moment. Today my pal Stewart from Edmonds came in to put it right. Edmonds are responsible for our fabulous website, all our printing, invitations and flyers etc. I have to say they are very good, never let us down and remain calm when we have crazy last minute requests!
This is Stewart. He was a wee bit camera shy.

Not so camera shy.....

The upstanding Mr McKenna. We were again blessed with the presence of Mr McKenna today. I think it's wonderful that someone as busy as him finds time in his hectic schedule to pay us a visit and see what's new and what we have been up to. I think he likes the blog.

Union Gallery glowing at night. Not long now and it will hopefully be packed.

Right I'm off to get the party frock on!

Here we go....this is my father. He paints the Geese and Coots.

Never noticed how tall he is until looking at this photo. Eek I think my frock is clashing somewhat with the beautiful Janet Melrose paintings. Do you see the still life painting to the right of my father? It's titled "Paisley Hen" and it's by Georgie Young...you may remember me raving about Georgie's work before.

This picture shows Georgie (red coat) and gallery supporters.

Just reassuring Barbara Frank's "Little Donkey" that the Union Gallery artist's party really isn't something to be feared...really!

This is my "little" brother Daniel who is responsible for the Hammerhead Sharks. He got married earlier on in the year....a big hello to the new Mrs Auldjo!

Just behind me on the right is the Dashing Mr Trevor Jones. Mr Jones and I shall be teaming up next Tuesday evening (December 8th) from 6.30 pm to launch the first ever Heart event. Trevor will be giving a talk about his stunning absract paintings and also to tell us more about the amazing work of Art in Healthcare. I too will be giving a talk about the gallery and my own work...will do my best not to bore everyone to sleep. Please feel free to come along to listen to us. No cabbages allowed.

Right this is our youngest recruit Matyn McKenzie. I think he enjoyed himself last night. He maybe a youngster but he could certainly put away the mulled vino!

It was Martyn who painted the wonderful "Shadowed Sea". A star in the making. We are having the piece below framed up for an exhibition in February. It's a big painting and when I viewed it for the fisrt time it immediately put me in mind of Claude Monet's "Lily Pond" although I would say Martyn's painting has a lot more energy. Good stuff.

Above is artist Christine Clark on the right. I showed you one of her superior drawings in the Halloween entry. Very stylish and very slick in their plain black frames. That's Christine's sister on the left. They are so alike!

Well luckily for all involved the classic schoolboy error of flat camera batteries meant no one could be ridiculed. Below is a nice gentle number. I love the way the windows are steaming up.

And this curiosity. Yes probably best the camera was put away.

I think we all had a great time and I even managed to squeeze in a spot of dancing care of the lovely Christine McGuire, natural mover and wife of artist Derek McGuire.

So Excited!!! Union Gallery Christmas Party 2009

Hello everyone.  I am getting really excited about the Union Gallery Christmas Party tomorrow night! We have now been in business six months, and thought it would be lovely to celebrate with all the artists who have shown with us in that time. It's our way of saying thank you for all the support and hard work they have put into making the gallery a success so far. We have always firmly believed that the gallery space is their space too, and without the efforts of our partners we would not have achieved as much as we have. The party also coincides with Broughton Street's December late night opening which will be repeated again next Thursday evening. Many traders will be open late, if you fancy a trip down our fabulous street. If you happen to be passing the gallery door our party should be in full swing should you care to join us.
We will endeavour to bring you all the live action from Union Gallery with photos of the party as it happens.  However, if it's getting really rowdy, it could be posted on the Friday....or perhaps Saturday if we are all a bit fragile.
Watch this space.....can't wait!

Trick or Treat....and sweet dreams

Well with it being Halloween readers I wanted to bring to your attention this thought provoking work of Art....

Get ready....

Here it is.....

"Night Walk with Toby" by Derek McGuire.

Derek's paintings are all unique and a lot of thought goes into them. Much of his work is profoundly autobiographical. His paintings involve a lot of layering-much like the thought process that goes into them. This special painting was inspired by Derek's daughter Jessie. Derek's mother is quite nervous about her dog Toby being around Jessie and on one occassion shouted at Toby. Jessie picked up on the sense of urgency of the moment and later that night had a dream about it. This is Derek McGuire's interpretation of what that dream may have been like for 3 year old Jessie. A little insight into the imagination of a child where fear and terror exists. It may sound spooky however, the painting has an engaging dream like quality to it. With the layering process involved, this is a classic example of a beautiful painting that deserves to be viewed up close and personal. For that reason "Night Walk with Toby" is hanging in the gallery window at present....for all to see over Halloween. I must say it looks stunning in the evening with the lights on it. Pure poetry!

Lets also take a look at this mysterious and exquisite graphite drawing by Christine Clark.

I like "Warm Viened Roots" a lot. A really fab, delicate drawing. I don't think you see enough examples of good draftmanship in galleries. I remember the words of my dear father ringing in my ears..."you will never do a good painting without a good drawing". He was a scary teacher!

On a lighter note. I spotted this on the railings of Broughton Street.

Love it. Kind of looks like me on a Monday....

And this little guy was posted into us by superb landscape painter Hazel Cashmore.

It cracked a smile on the scowl...thanks Hazel.

Live From Broughton Street!

Well readers as I was stood up today.....yes I know....can you believe it!!
So thought I would use the time I had carefully put aside to once again treat you to some more delights form Broughton Street...........

Even the dogs round here know it's the coolest place to be!

I am very fond of my friendly dinner lady. I do love her frock.

Whereas the outfit in this window has a little less....detail.

During the evening Broughton Street gets really lively and the excellent bars and restaurants fill up. However, this evening we were hit with a torrential down pour so people were moving pretty sharpish. The next pic (another poor one..... I'm not great with a camera) is Broughton Street Lane, just a few doors up from the gallery.

Not sure if you can make out the figures in the background? There's a couple huddled under an umbrella and obviously in a hurry to get home.

Lovingly observed by amazing artist Henry Kondracki.

The figure on the other side of the road is just dying to get home. Henry's painting is better than my photograph!

Something for The Weekend I. (Just for fun.)

Ok so you can probably guess that we are quite serious about our Art round these parts. I have even been know to spin round with excitement whilst talking about certain artists.....(yes I am sure you do remember that!). Should you be lucky enough to stumble past the gallery windows you may even catch a glimpse of my screwed up wee face scowling at the computer screen. Deep in concentration. However, even I can allow the odd spot of humour to creep into the gallery.

So would like to share a few oddities with you:

Introducing the gallery hounds....

This cheery little face belongs to Tommy our adorable pooch form Boxer Welfare.

This is Harry introducing himself to Barbara Franc's "Palmer". Harry is also a rescue pooch and is proving to have a bit of a "nose" for art. As you will see from the next couple of pics.........

Harry was most taken by "David Hosie's "Man Observing Horizon". And was thrilled when he sniffed out the deadly talented Dylan Lisle's "Object of Desire".

We have probably mentioned our great fondness for Broughton Street. There is such a cool vibe round here and never a dull moment. Just the other day I managed to capture (badly...did I mention I am cack with a camera?) These curiosities.....

I have no idea what the over-sized monkey's head was all about. One can only assume (hope) that it was part of a float. There are a couple of other weird things in front of monkey. The next pic put a wee grin on the scowly face.

The next 2 images never fail to crack a smile. Just a few doors up from the gallery is the delectable Pizza Piccante. Suppliers of the famous Deep Fried Mars Bar. Just the ticket for sorting out the ARTeries! I know... awful.

Rob has just informed me that my lilly feet are not unlike hooves in this picture! Charming.....bring on the onslaught of insulting comments.

Just minutes walk from the gallery is the Edinburgh institution that is Dofos petshop. That wonderful frontage is unmistakable and hasn't changed for decades.

Now immortalised by award winning artist Henry Kondracki.

Once again the proud owners of this little masterpiece are overjoyed with their latest acquisition. Nice.