Up The Garden Path with artist Ruth Addinall.

Hello everyone

I hope you have all been enjoying the much improved weather!

So, our Up The Garden Path exhibition continues and is proving to be a perfect fit for the time of year....fingers crossed that the fair weather continues.

There are 10 artists contributing to this mixed exhibition, and the first that I'd like to take a closer look at is Ruth Addinall. I have picked her out as she has been instrumental in this exhibition, even providing the inspiration for the title of the show.
3 years ago I visited Ruth in her studio and I remember the experience well:
It was pouring with rain on a Sunday morning, and all in all the day was looking quite grim. However, walking through Ruth's front door, my spirits were immediately lifted - I was instantly struck by how calm and peaceful her home was. As she showed me round her home, I remember getting excited every time I came across a cracking wee painting casually lying against a wall, hanging on a wall or in progress on her easel.
There was something of an aura in Ruth's house which was very relaxing and brought a sense of contentment to me. I guess it was Ruth's aura. She is a warm, gentle and thoughtful person and I think this radiates not only in her home, but in her work too. Take a look at this:

'Hellebores and Ivy in a Mug', oil on paper by Ruth Addinall.
A seemingly straight forward still life, it sits perfectly and is almost humble in appearance; it is gentle in subject matter, sensitively rendered and endlessly rewarding to look at. It makes me feel relaxed and content to look at.
Apart from her paintings I discovered another masterpiece at Ruth's house, her garden.
Having moved in 6 years ago, she has worked tirelessly to transform her outside space from concrete slabs and overgrown jungle into her very own oasis of calm. This is Ruth's first garden and there has been a great deal of trial and error, which I'm sure many a gardener will recognise.  But after a lot of hard work and commitment, the results have been well worth it.
Before:

and

from chaos.....

comes order

and peace and tranquillity.
Leaving you with this:

Not content with being just a pretty face, a great artist and being green-fingered, Ruth Addinall is also a brilliant pianist who tutors youngsters on how to get the best out of the ivories.
This is her piano in her front room looking onto that lovely garden.
Often when I look at Ruth's work I imagine her sitting peacefully at her piano, mainly in the evening and making beautiful music.

Have a lovely weekend all x

Up The Garden Path

The month of June sees us tending to our gardens:

What will you fine up the garden path?

Join us for a summery evening to celebrate the wonders of the flora and fauna (and much more) that inhabit our gardens.

See you tomorrow!

In The Company of Birds

This month at UG sees us doing a spot of bird watching:

and.....

This is a must see for everyone who enjoys the company of birds!
See you all Thursday x x

Little by little

All great things are only a number of small things that have carefully been collected together.Anonymous

Hello everyone

Greetings to our latest blog followers. Nice to have you with us Ms Patterson!

So we are continuing with the little guys theme. Lets start with this beauty:

"Tortoiseshell" by Jenny Matthews.

When you get over how perfect that little butterfly (who is only 5cms in width) is, you will start to notice other amazing things about this painting. Bottom right hand corner, on the stalk of the pea plant there are tiny, minutely observed, strands peeling away from the stalk. That's so good! If I were told I was going to be boiled alive at dawn I could not do anything a 10th that good. I was also keen to see a 'black' painting on the black background - rather slick I think. If you still can't see what I mean about the stalk, come in and I will show you.

"Dark Place II" by Siobhan O'Hehir.
At only 30x30cm there's an awful lot of work that's gone into this striking little painting. The oil and beeswax combination give this painting a really rich finish. Again, I was keen to see this painting on the black background too.

And this little cutie:

"Tiny Cup on Blue" by Ruth Addinall.
I really, really like this little treasure. I have even been lucky enough to share coffee and chocolate with artist Ruth Addinall, using this very tea cup. The coffee was a small serving...the chocolate was not!


Have a great weekend all.

"SMALL AND PERFECTLY CRAFTED"

Hello everyone

Overinduldged at Christmas? Did everything supersize?

The perfect little fix is here.....

and......

If Santa was good enough to put some cash in your stocking, then this is the perfect exhibition to treat yourself to something really special.

Big can be beautiful, but tiny treasures can hold there own.

There are some real stunners in this exhibition and, in spite of the smaller scale of the work, there is no shortage of quality.

Last weekend to view "The Hunt" and many other beautiful artworks from the Christmas show.

Bird Watching

Hello everyone

So now we have done the fish, it's time for the birds.
And there are some stunning species in Union Gallery's Christmas Exhibition.
Lets start with an all time favourite:

"A Bird in the Bush" by Janet Melrose.
Award winning artist Janet Melrose painted this earlier on in the year, outside in her garden. She tells me that the subject of the work...Mr Blackbird....accidentally flew into the canvas! I like that story, a little bit of history about the painting's creation. The frosty blue pallete is very fitting for the time of the year!
Next:

"Green Still Life" by Suzanne Kemplay.
Mmmm. I rather like this painting. Months in the making, that's a hungry little bird in the foreground!
And:

"Sand Martins" by Sally Johns.
The actual birds are done in pastel, but you would be forgiven for thinking they were painted. The be-spoke round frames add to the curiosity factor.
And finally:

"Flat Pack Bird Cage" by Jessica Irena Smith.

Oh folks, this is something else and right up my street! The skill in the making process of this glass cage is quite staggering. Let me know if you want to learn more...prepare to be amazed!

Here was the exciting moment the flat pack arrived with Jessica....

Leaving you with this:

Posted in by lovely artist Ruth Addinall. Another Mr Blackbird, a favourite subject of Ruth's, is checking out the new arrival in the garden. You will be seeing more of Ruth's superb work in the New Year.

Have a warm and happy weekend all x

BIRTHDAY BLOG II

Hello everyone

No, it's not my birthday again. Although Union Gallery will be celebrating it's 1st birthday very soon.....I am SO EXCITED!!

It was the birthday of regular gallery visitor and now friend Lillian Redhead yesterday. Mr & Mrs Redhead popped in as crafty old John had told his gorgeous missus that she was getting a jigsaw puzzle for her birthday! How could he? However, on opening said present, she discovered that it was infact:

WOW. Now that's what I call a present; what a perfect husband!
"Through The Net Curtain" by Philip Braham is a unique and very special painting and it could not have gone to a better home. As I say: I love happy endings.

Happy Birthday Lillian!
John and Lillian took the opportunity to have a last look round the "Not So Still" exhibition which you all still have time to do.....my offer of a wee gin and tonic whilst viewing still stands. A really beautiful exhibition and a huge thank you to all the artists involved: Georgie Young, Cathy Campbell, Jean Hall, Suzanne Kempley, Astrid Trugg, Ruth Addinal, Drummond Mayo and of course Philip Braham.
Leaving you with this:

I am pleased to report that I finally got my "art n tart" date with lovely Stewart Bremmner. He is coming along nicely with his new abstract style and I can also happily report that his famous pies are in fact the business. Mmmmmm.....

Have a great weekend everyone x

Something for the weekend II

Hello everyone
So February was a busy old month and it looks like March is shaping up much the same. We have visited quite a few studios recently, and more are lined up this month. We shall of course keep you posted on our adventures.
We had a visit from artist Sally Ann Johns the other day, accompanied by her brother who, it turns out, is pretty niffty with the camera. He took some amazing snaps of the gallery and it was interesting to see the space "distorted", if you like. The work still looks amazing though....

Bendy!
I also wanted to go back to artist Ruth Addinal's work. Rememeber the "Mug & Ivy" piece I raved about in the Tweet Tweet entry? I compared her work and style to an all time favourite artist of mine, Henri Rousseau. Well a certain person who shall remain nameless (Rob) remarked that he didn't see it and thought that I was maybe a bit off the mark. Anyway, always keen to prove that I am in fact CORRECT on these matters, I thought I would give it another go and came up with this:

"Fantasay Garden" by Ruth Addinal.
and:

A classic jungle scene by the wonderful Henri Russeau. (This is a wee print I have hanging in the gallery loo as I love to be surrounded by my favourite images.) I rest my case.
Also, leaving you with this.....as I happen to be in a good mood. Have a good weekend all!

Tweet Tweet

Hello everyone
Having spent the weekend trying and failing to communicate in Higher Grade French the benefits of owning an original piece of Scottish Art, to our 6 Nations Rugby visitors, it's back to business as usual.
And I thought I would kick start the week by focusing on these little beauties:

"Pink Bird" by Ruth Addinall.

and....

"Ivy & Mug" by Ruth Addinall.

The title of Union Gallery's current exhibition is "Call of The Wild" and the exhibition includes some stunning bird, landscape and flower paintings alongside some excellent animal sculptures. I was going to keep Ruth Addinall's "Mug and Ivy" painting back for the next exhibition however, there is some foliage in there and it's a gorgeous, classy little painting, so it qualifies! I have to confess to being so taken with these two that I took them home with me to show Rob as he hadn't seen any of Ruth's work before. We spent the whole evening discussing their merits.

I guess you would call Ruth's style "niave", which is something a lot of painters would love to be able to achieve. On first viewing "Pink Bird" I got excited as it put me in mind of one of my all time favourite painters, Henri Rousseau and in particular a piece I adore:

"Tiger in a Tropical Storm" by Henri Rousseau.

Ok "Tiger in a Tropical Storm" is much larger than Ruth's "Pink Bird" but I think you can see the similarities. "Pink Bird" maybe on a much smaller scale but this jewel can hold it's own in its own charming way. They are also presented to perfection in understated yet classy frames as you can see in the next image:

I am also getting as lot of pleasure looking at "Bird Study I & II". To me they sit perfectly on the back wall alongside Hazel Cashmore's to die for landscapes. Have a wee look......

There has been a staggering amount of interest in this exhibition with a lot of the work finding new homes already. Again I am so proud of the quality of paintings and sculpture on display and would be only to happy to put the kettle on if you want to come in for a closer look. Aparently I make a decent cup of coffee. Coming up next Mark Nicholas Edward's astounding "Wall of Fish".

Until then au revoir.........I think.