Stu will finish relatively early tonight although the Hogmanay 'perimeter' barriers mean that I will have to drive a circuitous route to rescue him from the woolly-hatted drunken hoards; I would sure hate to be sober in town tonight.
So. Where did I come from in 2010 and how do I end the year?... Last January I had been back from our stint on Arran for a month and a half; still a residual tan from the month in Vietnam but a lot of insecurity and worry for how we would survive the year on a greatly reduced budget with both of us still on only temporary contracts. Shortly after we were both made permanent and so that side of the load was lifted, although we have become very familiar and creative with pasta, curries and the now legendary 'leftover night'.
At the start of the year I had precisely zero shows lined up, but a newly cleared and organised studio and a head full of ideas from the far east and the year on Arran. A chance email kicked off the first show of the year, which took place in Adam House in March, a fundraiser for the Princes Trust. I painted 'live' for the opening, turning out to be the only one who turned up to do it despite quite a few promises; a terrifying experience to start with, but one which I was proud to have achieved. Now it seems commonplace... The next lucky break was entirelly due to the re-finding of an old college friend; the grapevine had let me know that she was still in town and recently diagnosed with breast cancer. I had to act, and after a ten year gap, we were delighted to discover that our friendship had survived as if in hibernation; since then she has beaten her illness and I have been cheered to have her back in my life. On one of our early outings, she showed me a new gallery in her home neighbourhood and I pulled together the courage to approach the painter/owner whose work I remembered from his time as gallery artist at another establishment across town. I was invited to collaborate on a spring show over the Leith Festival, and over the year my involvement has grown to the degree that I now paint in the gallery every Sunday and collaborated again on the winter show; 'Angel Haven' - paintings by myself and gallery owner Ritchie Collins.
Through another connection (my framer, who also displays paintings for me) I had some giclee prints produced to sell in both locations; the printer asked if I would like to publish some of my designs with them, and so I saw my paintings reproduced as cards for sale at the Edinburgh Book Festival.
In the autumn the opportunity arose to be part of a fundraising exercise for the Exhibiting Societies of Scottish Artists; an auction at Lyon and Turnbull. It was a great show and doubtless achveived its aims, but for me the highlight was opening the email flyer and discovering that my painting had been chosen for the advertising. For some reason it is extremely hard to believe that anyone else will think highly enough of your work to use it for anything other than fishwrap, so it is a major boost to find it used in a context such as this. A similar and equally inspiring moment occurred recently when I found one of my paintings in a FB friend's gallery of inspiring artwork; alongside Botticelli. Great moment.
The thing about this list is that it is growing as I write; now I realise that I have omitted the fact that the Marchmont Gallery hung two of my pictures in the summer and made me their 'artist of the month' on the website; the photo of me standing by the gallery window has to be one of my favouite images of the year... long should I remember that feeling. This show was the result of good old fashioned cold calling; turned up at the gallery with some prints hoping to get a look in and was sent away to return with originals; this again meant that I am in the winter show with some of my angels. Having spent the whole summer giving free reign to my winged ones for the Leith show, they spilled over into many small box canvases, which are resident in the Marchmont Gallery (or hopefully going home somewhere else) until the end of January.
Last but by no means least, I am also now showing (and on the website of) the Number Four gallery in St Abbs; a really inspiring selection of work in an amazing setting; taking the work down was one of my top days of the year, for sure. Coincidentally, I was playing the Slaid Cleaves track mentioned at the top of the page as I came across the most amazing view down the coastal cliffs in the dying golden sun. Moments like that stay with you.
Looking at the work from last January and the one before that I can say that I am surpassing my own expectations of what I can produce; I am excited at seeing how far I can push myself in the coming months.
Of course, I could do none of this without the friendship, humour and hard work of my sidekick Stu; I count myself very lucky that I have someone who will suffer my moods and quirks with unflinching support. And make me laugh at myself when I make deadpan pronouncements about my art which I then contradict in the same sentence. And not mind that many things in the house are now covered in paint.
Wishing all my friends, new and old, a very successful and satisfying year in 2011.