Scotland's Open Gardens- Bridge of Allan

Well, we are part of a group of four in Bridge of Allan who have just opened our garden for the first time to the public.

Now there is nothing like the thought of several hundred people inspecting your garden to cause you to hurry up and finish off all those odd jobs that have been lurking around for months, well, years in some cases.

The national charity,Scotland's Gardens Scheme, started 75 years ago inviting people to open up their gardens as a novel form of fund-raising and it has proved to be hugely successful.

We were gobsmacked to be asked. A few years ago ours was the proverbial "garden from hell"- wooded, north facing, steep slopes with the added bonus of deer and rabbits who ate everything. It was a nightmare to turn around. Maybe because it was so difficult that led us to find some unconventional solutions.
Well here's the result.




On Sunday afternoon we invited friends to help out including our next door neighbour, John Gray, who found himself directing traffic for four hours non-stop!- not bad for an octogenarian.



We had thought this would just be a local event but we found people came from all over the central belt: Glasgow, Alloa, Aberfeldy, Falkirk, Brig O'Turk, Yetts of Muchart, Larbert, Stirling,Drymen, Fintry,Kippen, Gargunnock, Dunfermline and even a visitor from Australia!



Afterwards we all agreed that the open day had been a great success despite a big traffic holdup on the motorway near Stirling causing tailbacks for several hours.

And the oldest visitor was a 96 year old woman who took great pride in naming the plants she recognized.

Oh yes, and the afternoon raised over £1,000 for Strathcarron hospice.

Postcards in the studio

I like to keep postcards in my studio of work I have recently seen. These two images are from my recent visit to Amsterdam. The original of Floris Van Dijck's "Still Life with cheeses" had a maggot crawling along the table and some gigantic flies on the white cloth but in all the reproductions these have been digitally removed!

The drawing is, of course, by Rembrandt of a "Lion Resting".

Glasgow Art Fair

Well, I guess a couple of visits to Glasgow Art Fair this past weekend made me decide to completely change the way I use my online blog. No longer am I going to write about other people's art but its going to be my own.
What caused this change? well strolling around gallery after gallery of paintings I felt I had stepped back in time. Who buys this stuff? what does it have to say about the world we live in today?
Sure its decorative- so is Ikea and Habitat and at a fraction of the price.

Rembrandt-Caravaggio exhibition, Amsterdam

Hotel Aalders, Amsterdam- just the place to stay if you want a quiet family run hotel close to the museums. The Rijks and Van Gogh museums are one block away.
So, we are doing all the cultural stuff, the big Rembrandt-Caravaggio exhibition, the permanent Van Gogh ( long queues everywhere but I had taken the precaution of booking online).
Yes its spectacular and after all the conceptual stuff its good to be brought face to face with solid works of art that have withstood the test of time.

About the paintings (starting from the top):
Rembrandt- "The rape of Ganymede" (detail) (1635)
Rembrandt- "The night watch"
Caravaggio -"The betrayal of Christ" (1602)

Net Art- Tate Online

Have just been playing online with the latest piece of netart, Screening Circle, by Andy Deck available from Tate Online It is a metaphorical reference to the quilting circle, or what is known as the quilting bee, popular in the US during the 19th century among women living in rural areas.

Now the ideas has been fastforwarded into the 21st century .

Grow in peace

Nick Ford installs his stone text piece in the garden this morning. It complements the acorn he built earlier in the background.

This is a site-specific piece designed in conjunction with Nick and the aim is to create an experience of peacefulness and silence under the canopy of the fir trees yet reflecting the organic nature of the garden too.

Adobe Roadshow

Just back from the Adobe "Fully Loaded" roadshow in Glasgow where they showed the latest software in their Adobe Production Studio suite. I found the most interesting section was the Photoshop because the video editing was all on Premiere and PC- while I am Apple and Final Cut Express.

One of the most interesting new developments for photographers is the Adobe Lightroom Beta. This will be shipped later in the year for both PCs and Apple , meanwhile those of us with Apple can download a copy for free to test drive it. This piece of software has been developed in response to the huge demand from professional photographers .


Felt guilty afterwards buying a copy of a daily newspaper. It seemed so..er...uncool.

Can string be called art?

I have every sympathy with Mike Russell writing in today's The Herald on contemporary art.
He says:
"It may be that the visual arts are simply going through a period of profound change, and that eventually we will see our world more clearly as a result.
"Or it may be that there are a lot of creative lemmings around, charging up artistic cul-de-sacs while demanding that the rest of us follow them to the future."

As a fairly recent graduate who came into this scene late after a lifetime in journalism I know how he feels.
Well, I recall one student in art history asking a very distinguished art historian this question;
"How come something bought in a junk shop and displayed in an art gallery suddenly becomes a work of art?"
She replied:
"It's art if you say it is art."
So there.

Sculptures take on a new life

Following the worst snowstorm for nearly 30 years the sculptures in my garden have taken on a whole new meaning.

Edinburgh versus Glasgow

Spent yesterday in Glasgow after visiting Edinburgh last week and am struck yet again at the difference between the two cities. Edinburgh seems to be like an emotionally constipated old lady while Glasgow is young, gallus, free and easy with a sense of joie de vivre.

Saw a couple of exhibitions including Luke Fowler at The Modern Institute, watched his film "The Scratch Orchestra". Interesting. Well, I sat for 40 minutes through it. The Gallery of Modern Art has an exhibition of landscape work from their permanent collection. Only two did anything for me- S. Salgado and Andy Goldsworthy.

Ice Blink a newe exhibition by Simon Faithfull is at the Stills gallery in Edinburgh. Worth a visit.

New Media Scotland

Went to the bi-monthly evening seminars at Dundee Contemporary Arts where Jon Thomson and Alison Craighead were doing a presentation. Their work is web based .
Says Thomson:
" You are physically here but virtually everwhere."

Had a chat with Cezanne Charles, director of New Media Scotland , about our proposed online collective, an idea that came out of our recent Art+Tech Stirling conference. Over 20 people have signed up saying they are interested in a New Media collective. Question is: do we make it online/virtual?

BAFTA award Claire Simpson

Delighted to see that Claire Simpson, sister of Anne Simpson ( my former boss on The Herald) received the BAFTA award last night for editing The Constant Gardner.

Art+Tech conference

Guess its a long time since the last entry!...conference a fantastic success. We were stunned at the interest and the distance folk had travelled to get there. Clearly there is a tremendous thirst amongst artists to try and find a way of coming to terms with new media which is changing the way not only that we see the world but the way art is produced.
Our speakers were:

Professor Beryl Graham of Sunderland University on : what is New Media?

Michelle Kasprzak, Programmes Director on the role New Media Scotland has in helping artists to promote their work
Richard Brown artist-in-residence Edinburgh University - on interactive installations

Sarah Kettley, Napier University- on communications within small groups using computers embedded in jewellery
on sound as a means of enhancing everyday life

Sue Greirson-video and installation artist and President of the Scottish Artist Union
Karen Strang - painter and performance artist - a personal story .

A Thousand Years of Good Prayers

I rang up my local Waterstones to see if they had a copy of "A Thousand Years of Good Prayers"by YiYun Li, winner of the Frank O'Connor International Short Story award and the subject of rave reviews.
"No, but we could order it for you....it will take about 10 to 14 days."

So I clicked on www.Amazon.com, and the book arrived in the following morning's post......is it any wonder the chairman of Waterstones has resigned?

Now I would quite happily have waited 2/3 days because I like going into Waterstones, I like browsing through their books. All they had to do was order it themselves over the internet......and give me a ring.
So, they have yet another lost customer.


Link:www.annshaw.net
www.zen2Go.blogspot.com

Art+Tech in the 21st century conference- update

Well, all our speakers are in place so now its time to drum up some publicity for the event.
The following press release has been sent out to the media.:

Art+Tech in the 21st century- Stirling conference
Artists working with digital technologies will be the subject of a one day conference to be held in Stirling.
It will take place in The Changing Room gallery on Saturday January 28th from 10.am – 5pm.
This is a NAN (Networking Artists Network) initiative organised by local artists Ann Shaw and Karen Howard.
The keynote speech will be given by Beryl Graham, Professor of New Media Art at Sunderland University who will talk on the role of New Media in the creation of art today.
Others taking part include Richard Brown artist- in- residence at Edinburgh University and Sarah Kettley who is researching computers implanted into jewellery to aid communication .
New Media Scotland, the arts charity set up to help artists in this emerging field, will also talk about their role in supporting artists.
Says Ann Shaw:” We aim to bring together as diverse a group as possible to show the breadth of work that is being undertaken by artists today whose use of New Technologies is integral to their creative process.
“We are also inviting artists who wish to attend to bring along some sample of their work, if they wish, either as digital photos, text, or on DVD to share with others in the group discussions.”
The conference is free but places are limited so booking is essential.
To reserve a place email: events@a-n.co.uk
Anyone wanting further information should ring either Ann Shaw (01786 832287) or Karen .Howard (01506.84.2419)
This conference is supported by the Scottish Arts Council, Artist Newsletter magazine, New Media Scotland and The Changing Room Gallery.

Art+Tech Stirling conference

Within the first afternoon of this conference being advertised over 20 people had signed up on e-mail!
If you are interested book online:

email:events@a-n.co.uk)

NAN event - Art + Technology – 28th January 2006
Programme for One day conference - Changing Room Gallery, Stirling 10am-5pm

A dynamic day of talks, presentations, critical dialogue and socialising.
Looking at the crossovers and interactions between art, science and technology.
10.30 – 11am Coffee / chat / registration

11 am Lynn Wilson - artist / facilitator – chair for the day
former coordinator of Artlink Central and Arts Co-ordinator for North East Glasgow Regeneration Project

11am Art and Technology : Beryl Graham, Professor of New Media Art, Sunderland University
11.30am New Media Scotland. facilitating artists working with new media
12pm Richard Brown, artists in residence - Edinburgh university
- on “interactive installations”

12.30pm lunch and coffee/tea
1.30pm Sarah Kettley – research including computers implanted jewellery allowing networking within small groups
2pm Kirsty Stansfield – researching Sound as a means of enhancing everyday life ( Duncan of Jordanstone College of Art).
2.30pm Patrick O'Gowney – video and audience participation
3-4.30pm Group Discussions
Karen Strang – video presentation of artist and scientist working together.

Participants are invited to bring along and share a work they have made or that is under construction either (a) inspired by science and technology or (b) using technology as a tool to develop their creative vision.
Formats can vary from photographs, catalogues, CDs, DVD or VHS. We would invite all to bring examples of work for exchange or display. Short presentations can also be made (3-5mins) but please let us know in advance if you would like to give a brief talk ort presentation of your work.

4.30 – 5pm Summary of days event. Plans for the Future!!
5 – 7pm After conference informal drinks / buffet in nearby bistro.

7 pm… post conference drinks. - local pub, for those who want to carry on
To apply

Art + Technology is a free event but places are limited and will be allocated on a first come first served basis.
Please email : events@a-n.co.uk with - Art + Technology Stirling - in the subject line.
Book a.s.a.p.
A small number of travel bursaries are available to assist artists out with Stirling to attend this event. Please email events@a-n.co.uk with your details.
Travel Bursaries will be given on a first come first served basis and will be limited to a maximum of £25 per applicant. As the funds are limited, please only apply if necessary.

Art + Technology is a NAN event Organised for a-n's Networking Artists Network Initiative.
Art + Technology has been coordinated by Ann Shaw and Karen Howard in collaboration with A-N.

Supported by SAC, ACE and the Esmee Fairbairn Foundation within the Networking Artists Network Initiative.
Also supported by New Media Scotland and the Changing Room Gallery.
Guyan Porter
Artists Events, Scotland

Christmas 2005

Hi!
This looks like being the last entry before I am submerged in "The Family Christmas".
So, what's up? Well Karen Howerd and myself are organising a one day conference on Art and Technology in the 21st. This is under the auspices of NAN -National Artist Network- set up by Artists Newsletter magazine to encourage networking amongst artists. New Media Scotland are also involved.

This will take place on Saturday January 28th in the Changing Room gallery, Stirling.

Watch this space!

Childrens Drawings

Some stills from a film I made based on childrens drawings in The Park gallery, Falkirk during the Lys Hansen exhibition.

Art @ Kilbryde Castle, Scotland

This is the fifth art exhibition to be held at Kilbryde Castle, near Dunblane showing the work of a number of local artists.

We drove for miles down remote country lanes and eventually arrived on a wild dark wintry evening with gale force winds howling around us at this huge isolated private castle.

Pictured above: "Chicken" by Gill Wilson, "Burning" by Jim Wylie.

Tate Modern - Rachel Whiteread

Just visited Tate Modern in London and saw Rachel Whiteread's amazing installation of the inside of cardboard boxes cast in white fibre glass.

Healing Medicine exhibition, Edinburgh

Three Oncologists
- painting by Ken Currie in the current exhibition Healing Medicine at the Scottish National Portrait Gallery , Edinburgh.

This astonishing work of art celebrates the power of paint in the hands of a master.

It is of Professor R. J Steele, Professor Sir Alfred Cuschiere and Professor Sir David P Lane of the Department of Surgery and Molecular Oncology, Ninewells Hospital, Dundee

Lunch-time music, Stirling University

Martin Davies ( piano) and Ian Ainsworth (bass-baritone) gave a free lunch-time concert in the foyer of Stirling University.
Their recital"Musicians, Poets and other Animals" included Apollinaire's Le Bestiaire and a selection of English songs.

Their polished performance gave much pleasure to a large lunch-time audience.

Both are former members of staff at the university.

Lys Hansen art exhibition, Smith gallery, Stirling

Lys Hansen has two exhibitions opening this weekend - one at the Smith gallery, Stirling and the other at the Park Gallery, Falkirk.


Artist Anne Wegmuller (centre picture) gives Lys a helping hand with hanging the exhibition.

Robinson Crusoe

How's this for a bit of serendipity.
While driving along the Fife coast I pulled in at Lower Largo and stopped outside a house where Alexander Selkirk, the man who Daniel Defoe modelled Robinson Crusoe on, was born. Now they have this statue there to commemorate it.
Next day the newspapers are full of an international expedition who have found the actual campsite where Alexander Selkirk lived for four years on a remote Chilean island in the Juan Fernandez archipelago.
They found traces of Selkirk's camp with animal bones and holes that appeared to have housed poles for a shelter.

Wallace - Smith Gallery, Stirling

Is it possible to get TOO MUCH of Wallace?
I ask this question after attending the book launch of "The Wallace Muse" at the Smith gallery, edited by Lesley Duncan and Elspeth King. The book's fine, a gathering together of poems inspired by Wallace. The Provost had recently returned from New York where a quarter of a million people had viewed Wallace's sword - taken over from Stirling for Tartan Week. In the gallery was an amazing installation of a coffin, it looked like a regal lying in state devoted to Wallace .Our national hero ( "thank you Braveheart") died some 700 years ago and never got a burial- he was hung drawn and quartered and his limbs dispersed around the country. Now he is to be a proper burial....

Prague

Having a few days in Prague. Stop off at the cafe used by Kafka, in the Jewish Quarter, and now named after him.

Walking along Charles bridge listen to an unusual rendering of Fur Elise- played on wine glasses.

They say the Sex Museum is the top tourist attraction in Prague and that the city is rivalling Amsterdam as the sex capital of Europe. In the night the city is heaving with hen and stag parties.

Having already been robbed on the underground in Chicago and Paris I was on the alert in Prague. Just as well cause I spotted that we had been targeted. Three men followed us on to the Metro then once they realised we were watching them they jumped off.

Discovered Black Theatre. The Wow! theatre group were opposite our hotel. Amazing!
(www.wow-show.com/wow/main.html)

Old Man of Storr

Environmental artist Agnus Farquhar created the most amazing noctural art project on the Isle of Skye this summer. It involved walking to the top of the Old Man of Storr- at midnight! Well, you set off at 11pm to be precise. I was there two days before the launch and walked up in daylight. There's a fantastic view from the top- which you wouldnt see if you did it in the dark. However, I can well believe that the memory of the experience of doing this walk, tricky in daylight and even more perilous in the night, would remain with you for a very long time.

Ian Hamilton Finlay

Some pictures taken during a visit to Little Sparta, a remote hilltop where Ian Hamilton Finlay , an international artist who is finally getting the recognition in Scotland that he deserves. He's in his 80th year and has three retrospectives in Edinburgh.

Whisky in Scotland

Sometimes it's the unexpected that turns out to be the most interesting. I had gone to Dufftown to see the artists in residence at the Glenfiddich Distillery only to discover that they did not open until noon.
So I went to the Speyside Cooperage to kill time and spent the entire morning there. Here skilled craftsmen make and repair around 100,000 casks, or barrels , a year. They work at a fantastic pace and are paid peace-rate.
(www.speysidecooperage.co.uk)

New Orleans

Where are they now? Hurricane Katrina is about to hit New Orleans, the worst in its history. This guy runs the Voodoo Museum with his collection of exotic snakes. What's going to happen to them in the forthcoming hurricane? he can't escape and leave his snakes behind....
I made a video some time ago in the Voodoo museum and a small section is included in my mini movie which I have entered for the first ever Guardian's laptop movie competition.
New Orleans is below sea level and waves of around 20 feet are expected.
(www.artcom.com/Museums/vs/mr/70116-31.htm)

Francis Bacon exhibition

After a week of video-editing I needed a break from the computer and decided to look at some paintings.....so I visited the Francis Bacon exhibition at the National Gallery of Modern Art in Edinburgh which everyone is raving about.
Yes, its interesting but hardly riveting. He seems to have spent his life painting his succession of gay lovers. And they all looked the same.
Somehow it all looked so old fashioned. Are we really expected to stand there and admire in silence a bit of canvas on the wall? somehow now in the 21st century one expects more of art.

And I got that out in the corridor where I saw the gallery's newest purchases, a set of Damien Hirst medical prints. Now I could identify with that!

drawing

still trying to figure out file format for uploading drawing images...seems tif works.some more of my drawings can be seen on my website (www.annshaw.net)

Edinburgh Festival

Visited Edinburgh Festival.
Wanted a "cheesy" photograph of an icionic Edinburgh view and one of a piper. During the Festival there appears to be a piper on every corner so I followed the sound of this one to Princes St and found it was a blind piper with his golden Labrador. Feeling very guilty and voyeuristic I threw some coins into his box and took this photograph. Was I right to do so? if he had been sighted I would not have hesitated.
This raises again all the moral dilemmas about photographing people in public.

Paradise flower

This is just an experiment to find out what the new Blogger imaging software will upload. Photos are OK but drawings are not. The image is of a Paradise flower I was given which I have used as a motif for some thank-you cards.

Evening view from my home

This photo was taken last night from the kitchen window.

Katie, Changing Room gallery, Stirling

This is a photo of Katie watching a video I made of her grandmother's hands for a week I spent last year in the Changing room gallery, Stirling, part of their innovative scheme of inviting artists to come in and create work in the gallery. I chose to work with members of the public inviting them to have their hands photographed. (www.stirling.gov.uk/changingroom)

"The Journey"

I do believe that I have managed to upload an image, one of my digital photos, to my blog....here goes

Martin Parr, photographer

Heard Martin Parr, one of Britain's best known photographers give a talk on his work today in Edinburgh. He's a member of Magnum and there's a stunning exhibition of Cartier- Bresson's work on at the Dean gallery.
Martin is using the new Sony Ericsson k750 photo messaging phones- all two megapixels and sending it direct to the microsite website. Site not easy to access, to start with there is no section for the UK but those I did manage to get through to in Italy showed some amazing photos.

hope

This is my first attempt to upload an image from my digital sketchbook using the new Blogger software...here goes...

Does Virgin support Tiger?

Yes I know this is a peculiar question - unless you happen to own an Apple and have Virgin as your server.
This is not good news. I am sitting here with a state of the art machine - IMAC G5 and Broadband since you ask- and I can't acess the internet. ( I am writing this on a borrowed pc laptop).
So far all the technical helplines have hinted darkly that it cant be done, at least not yet.
Grrrr...........

Electronic spirituality

Electronic spirituality.
Is cinema the contemporary sacred space? on the radio this morning head about an Aid worker giving a poor Indian family money to buy food. Later in the day he saw all seven of them come out of the local cinema. He was furious and told them so. The Indian father replied:"We will always have to struggle to find something to eat but the money allowe dus to do something this afternoon which will remain with us for ever."

Artist to watch - Michael Visocchi

Well, it's happened.
I wondered who would be the first artist in our year to make a mark in the art world. Opened Scotland on Sunday newspaper to see that Michael Visocchi is one of five young artists singled out by art critic Iain Gale as "rising stars".
Congratulations Michael! you were always very hard working . He's a sculptor and actually MAKES THINGS!.....

The Good News and The Bad News

First, the good news...the pedometer works like a charm, clocked up 10,000 steps for the second day ( O.K its early days!) but one gets a sense of achievement and that's important in this fitness lark.
Talking of which...the bad news. TV programme last night on vitamin pills pointed out the dangers of overdosing on Vitamin A just by taking a vitamin pill a day, nasty things happen like damage to your liver and thinning bones. I have been taking vitamin pills for years! Did a quick check on the labels, horrified to find that Vitamin A is the main ingredient! Have chucked the bottle in the trash can.

Pedometer and video editing

Have just invested in a pedometer in order to encourage me to get away from the computer. 10,000 steps are recommended a day, that sounds like an awful lot of walking. Still, I need it. For the past couple of weeks I have been tied to the computer, editing my work from the Royston Road Project. Have got to reduce nearly 8 hours of footage to a maximum of 20 minutes. Help! need to do some walking to mull over ideas.

Lost posts

why have all my latest blogs disappeared into thin air?

Web Page

At last! my new web page is up! with thanks to Andy Allan who designed it for me.Now to make it inter-active...

Artist residency

Royston Road Project

Have just finished filming in Blackhill/Provanmill, Glasgow. It has taken a lot longer than I expected, a combination of bad weather and difficulty setting up meetings with people. The two women who had agreed to be filmed today failed to show up. However, found another woman, a local activist in the community, was very co-operative and allowed her son and nephew to be filmed too.
Now into the editing stage.....