The Genji Series

Hello everyone,

I hope that you're all enjoying the beautiful autumn weather we've been having this week, and that it's keeping you in a positive frame of mind.  If not, then you still have 3 days left to come and see some beautiful paintings inspired by autumn at the gallery, and they are guaranteed to inspire you.

One of the artists exhibiting is gallery regular Mark Nichols Edward, whose instantly recognisable paintings of exotic fish are always so popular. In fact, we are lucky enough to own a superb Mark Edward painting ourselves.  His paintings seem to have an extremely calming and positive effect on all who view them: just this morning a client commented that he felt he could put his hand into the painting and actually stroke the fish - what a lovely concept.  Mark's work is constantly developing with new techniques and concepts appearing all the time, but it has to be said that for this exhibition he has really excelled himself, producing what I believe to be his best work so far.  just take a look at this:

 














'Genji I', acrylic on canvas, by Mark Nicholas Edward.
A real beauty, isn't it?  One of a series of 9 Genji paintings we have in the gallery.


Mark always uses interesting titles, and the use of Genji is no exception.  Genji, a story written by the Japanese noblewoman Murasaki Shikibu in the early 11th century, is generally considered to be the world's first novel.  In very, very simple terms it is a tale of love and passion that follows the lives of many characters from childhood to old age.  It documents how they change and develop over that time, and Mark has long likened this to the changing of the seasons - how appropriate for an exhibition entitled The Onslaught of Autumn.  Just like his meticulous paintings, his use of such a title is thoughtful and clever.

Feel free to pop in for a look if you have the time.

Speak soon. 

A Spacious Place

Hello everyone,

One of the great artists currently exhibiting in The Onslaught of Autumn is the fabulous Hazel Cashmore.  Hazel was one of the very first artists that we showed here, and our love of her work grows every time we see more of it.

Hazel's use of colour and texture gives her paintings an amazing sense of depth and space.  None more so than this:

'A Spacious Place (on the Flows)', acrylic on board, by Hazel Cashmore.
The Flow Country in Caithness refers to an ancient and unique environment of blanket bogland - the largest in the United Kingdom and one of the largest in the world.  It is frequently referred to as The Last Real Wilderness in the United Kingdom. The terrain consists of vast acres of wetland where moss, cotton grass and other vegetation grow.  Hazel, who lives locally, is attracted to the vast spaces and beautiful vegetation with subtle but rich colours, backdropped by the huge Caithness sky .


How lucky we are that a painter as gifted as Hazel Cashmore happens to live in such a stunning environment so that she can record it for us in her own unique way.  This is just one of four of her paintings currently in the gallery.  They are all worthy of spending some time with.

Hopefully you will get the time to do just that before the exhibition closes.

Think About It!

Thanks to gallery visitor Douglas Fraser for posting this in.

How very true!

Speak soon.....

The Itinerant Painter

Hello everyone,

The new exhibition, 'The Onslaught of Autumn', has got off to a flying start with a very well attended preview last Thursday, and lots of interest in the beautiful paintings we are showing.

One of the artists that is enjoying a particularly high amount of attention is Tadeusz Deregowski. 

Born in Zambia, raised and educated in Scotland and now living in Brazil, Tadeusz Deregowski is one of a rare breed of artists.

He lives a truly nomadic existence, travelling the world with his portable kit, painting those things that interest and inspire him.  Deregowski creates a painting every day, wherever he is in the world, and stores them in his home made cases so he can move them even when still wet.  Trained at Edinburgh College of Art, he is a fine artist in one of the oldest of artistic traditions – that of the traveller painting what he finds around him.  He is a painter of the highest quality creating beautiful little paintings, each of which is dated for the day it was produced.

Have a look at this:

'View from B&B, Elgin (11 July)' oil on board, by Tadeusz Deregowski.

And this little beauty:

'On the way to Nethy Bridge (17 July)', oil on board, by Tadeusz Deregowski.

I'll let Tadeusz himself explain:

‘My interest is primarily in recording my subjective responses to places, buildings, things and people. 

The subjects which appeal to me most are places which are in some way hidden or mysterious: one of the central functions of art for me is the revealing of secrets. Cities which are seldom visited or the places off the tourist circuit hold more interest to me than more obvious sights,  and I love to use art as a form of, and motivation for, exploration. Similarly, I love to use portraiture as a way of studying people in their environments, attempting to show their inner lives.

I see my work in the line of both travel painter-diarists such as Edward Lear or Turner, and expressionist painters such as Bonnard or Joan Eardley: I have a little portable kit with which I can easily transport materials and wet paintings.

I have a daily routine of producing postcard-sized or even credit-card sized paintings on card. These are painted plein-air using oils.

The idea of being a sort of itinerant, travelling painter, a la Turner, is one that I find immensely appealing, combining as it does the roles of explorer, artist and holidaymaker. I intend to spend a considerable amount of time in the future pursuing longer and longer trips. Next I shall go to the UK, after that I’d love to visit the USA again, Chile, Iran, the Caucuses, Japan and more of Brazil.

I currently live in Florianopolis, in southern Brazil, but I often travel, usually to Europe or within Latin America.’

A great painter in the finest traditions.

More to follow on the other fine artists who have contributed to 'The Onslaught of Autumn'. 
 

The Onslaught Of Autumn

See you all Thursday for this:

and this....

and probably some of these.....

I love Autumn!