Perthshire Open Studios

 

Over 220 artists will be displaying their work in 138 venues all over Perthshire. Our studio guide is available in many public and artsy places - pick one up and start exploring. The guide is also available online:

 

click here

Painting: Oil

This painting is part of a series that I have created for the Perthshire Open Studios event in September this year. I had needed a picture for my new kitchen in Kettins - it is site specific so it shows food and kitchen paraphernalia. After finishing it I found I had an appetite (excuse the pun) for more foody images. So I did a few more.

Aubergines on Platter

oil on canvasboard. 2014

46 x 61cm

Design: utensil container

Arguably a silly photo angle, but it appealed to me all those years ago when I painted my first piece of furniture in Canada (I had done similar work before as a teenager, but only in single-colour). There is still a lot of neutral grey in my colour scheme, this changed within a very short time. I also realised that using artists' paint for the backround is quite a waste of prime material - I started brushing on good emulsion paint instead.

Plywood, acrylic primer, paint, varnish. 1996

28x20x28cm, 41x21x28cm

Design: painted chair

A Canadian client of mine, an interior decorator in Vancouver, British Columbia, had a comfortable wooden office chair which she thought needed livening up. She told me that she had been a puppeteer for a while, so I painted the chair with a pair of figures from Punch and Judy plays.

Here is a close up of the Punch and Judy chair seat,
and beneath you can see the original unfinished chair.

Punch and Judy chair. 2000

Acrylic paint, acrylic varnish on wood.

Fabric design: T-shirt

This motif was part of a custom order. I only remember vaguely that the name of my customer had somehow to do with a toad. Toad and water lilies were cut out from linoleum, carved and inked up with fabric paint, then printed on top of a hand dyed, hand painted T-shirt. The eyes of the amphibian are emphasized with gold paint.

Toad on Water Lily. 1997.

Setacolor fabric paint and Procyon fabric dye on cotton

Drawing: Pastel

Last year I took a pastel drawing class at the excellent Chapel Cottage Studio in Llanddewi Rhydderch near Abergavenny in Monmouthshire, Wales. Our teacher, Shan Egerton, let us choose and arrange items for a still life drawing. I liked the juxtaposition of this light blue enamel pitcher and the burgundies and oranges of a bunch of grapes. The pitcher reflects the strong light of a sunny autumn day, contrasting the dull pewter tankard.
 

Still Life with Blue Pitcher. 2012

pastels on paper

50 x 50 cm

Design: painted table top

This small table was a custom order for a client in Vancouver BC, Canada. The lady had painted a yard sale find in this beautiful rust colour and then felt unsure about how to accentuate the table top. The piece reminded me of a gambling table, so I came up with a decor of squares like a board game.

Wood, oil paint, artists oil paint. 2001.