Kawaii !

Juggling zombies, cowboys, organising things and doing traditional gallery art is usually achievable, they need different bits of my brain so I comparmentalise & flit from one to the other. To take the being 'spread too thin' metaphor a bit further, there is a level of superficiality, not enough meat on the bones ( or sandwich in the spread analogy, except a veggie meat substitute, in fact theres often nothing to go on the sandwiches around here at all...but thats a different story ). Sometimes winging it is no longer enough. In an ideal world an artist could go into the garret and play for an unspecified time, obsessing, immersing and going a bit bonkers in a particular direction until finally Ta Da! out of all those sketches, scribbles, angst and absinthe sessions appears a glorious canvas of divine eternal beauty. Meanwhile back to reality, when I ran a pottery, it was always a case of needing to feed the children so getting those 20 mugs done by Friday. That work ethos has continued now I'm playing at visual arts, deadline? friday, sure, bish bash bosh. Run out of inspiration? sure I'll just go hug a tree & have a rummage in my brain ...and there it is again.

Sometimes more is required though. Bish bash bosh is simply not appropriate for Mr Vysotsky & Mr Beavitt.

The first impromptu outing of Art and Songs together as Tommy sings 'Lyricale' and 'who'll come hunting the wolf' at The Greenhouse, Dingwall this Saturday. It was awesome!

 Interpreting these Russian songs needs me to dig rather deeper, down in the mental art mines, past the chip on the shoulder, the ancient defenses, that pile of rubbish left over from art college... there over there in the corner!

So what is Kitsch?  I would probably define it as badly made, mass produced, cheesy tat. Or corny sentimental over prettified amateur Art. Imagine my fury at the Art college principal when doing a walk past the lowly studios, saw my sculptural ceramic forms, which combined iconography, wombs, feminist themes, child birth, the highland landscape and figures, visceral pregnant birthing figures- he described this as 'delightfully kitsch'!  I dismissed this as art snobbery chauvinist buffoonery. But in my subsequent search for an accessible art form could I have slipped into kitsch? In my refusal to play with the darker nasty side of life, and to try and create things of beauty, light, happy thoughts, have I become too twee? Wiki describes Kitsch as being over sentimental. People love my cute characters and pretty scenes,I try & have a darker undertone, the monsters are always off camera. Life is a mixture of the good and bad, but lets just focus on the nice stuff is what I try to say. Does that make it appear over sentimental?  Someone close to me suffering a lot of illness and trauma used to draw twisted schrieking demonic doodles, but to me she was following the dark side rather than fighting it. So how to create positive images without slipping into sparkly kittens and childlike angels? I'm working on it.

The lady from 'Lyricale' goes too disney princess... version 2 in progress.

'Fire Fighter'

This painting is 80cm x 120 cm , acrylic on canvas.
Its why I haven't got any other artwork done, why I haven't slept much, eaten a decent meal, tidied the house, blogged or sat down in the last two weeks.
Its for the BP National portrait award. from the outset I figured I was punching way above my weight entering this, i deliberately announced and told everyone I was entering it, so there was no backing out. I'd hoped to get the work done with enough time to make sure I'd done my best... but life gets in the way and here I am at the last possible minute exhausted and frazzled. Deadlines and Self-Doubt, torture & torment, but where would artists be without them?
It's got to that stage when I have no idea what I'm looking at, what needs changing, whether its a disaster or brilliant ( more likely the former ). My goal is to be selected for the exhibition. If I'm not, well I hope that my Model is pleased with what I've done and that the picture will help promote women in the Fire service and the values of strong working women. We can be strong and feminine too. I hope the picture says a little of that.

No rest of the wicked though- Its started snowing heavily and I've got to get this submitted to Coatbridge near Glasgow tomorrow, in a van thats about to breathe its last any mile now.....

mini interview with artist Lynn Bennett-MacKenzie

Artist Lynn Bennett-Mackenzie lives and works on her Croft in Gairloch with its wide open vistas and Sandy beaches, contrasting to the rocky inlets on my part of the North West of Scotland.
I first met Lynn at an artists networking event, back in the good old days when there was funding for the arts.
I was instantly struck by how unique and different her work was, bright and refreshing. While most of the other highland artists seem to concentrate on landscapes, textured, abstracted, primary colours on the east coast, browns and grays for the west, Lynn painted figures, lively joyous mermaids in a lovely loose impulsive style. We got to know each other better through serving on an arts committee and also through social networking, which is a real sanity saver for us creatives who live and work in isolation.


Through the strength and subject matter of her work, Lynn was invited to the Arts symposium in Russia this year. She was kind enough to extend the contact out to her artist friends- I jumped at the chance! and thus we travelled together to Tatarstan for a life changing adventure. See previous blogs for much more about this! It could have been a disaster, imagine all those artists egos clashing? But Lynn's patience and humour in a high pressured environment were magnificent! We west coast mothers just seemed to have the same approach to things. 

I asked Lynn a little about her work which is currently going from strength to strength-


How do you describe your work?

I would describe it as illustrative, emotive, narrative

Do you make a living from your work? do you do other work if so what &
how do you manage the different activities?

As with most artists, it is difficult to make a living from my work, but I supplement it with selling cards & prints, and also offer a picture framing service.  I manage to juggle both pretty well at the moment and one complements the other.

What is your inspiration?

My inspiration comes from many things.  The area in which I live is atmospheric, with legends and tales of the sea and woods.  Also, words, thoughts, people - anything can inspire a picture in my head, but not all ideas make it onto canvas or paper.

What are you working on now?

I am working on a few things, some watercolours, a pen & ink drawing and I have a couple of oil paintings in progress.  I am also working on a project with Shinod Akkara Parambil, an artist who I met online, and then in Russia at an art symposium.  We had discussed doing a joint show months ago,  and then after meeting in Russia decided turn the idea into reality.

In an ideal world what work would you be doing?

I would be working full-time as an artist and travelling to meet artists in other countries.  I would also like to do some sculpture at some point.

What is your biggest frustration as an artist?

I try not to dwell on frustration as it just gets me down, I try to look upon life as a series of lessons, and if something doesn't go the way I want, there is a reason for that and I will find another solution that may end up being better for me in the end!

What is your biggest pleasure in art?

When someone really "gets" my work because I don't always know myself where a work has come from.

Have you a preferred medium ? If so what is it & why?

I work in 3 mediums - oil, pen & ink, and watercolour, and it depends on my mood which is the favourite!  I have also recently begun using charcoal again and really enjoying that!

What or who helped/ or inspired you to become an artist ?

My art teacher Alex Young in Tain Royal Academy.  Up till then I had been discouraged from taking art at exam level, and then when I changed schools, he really encouraged me to take art  further and after 3yrs of school and doing a portfolio, I found myself at art school!

Did you receive any formal art education? If so was it a good or bad experience?

I did a 4 yr BA hons course - I enjoyed college but did struggle sometimes - one tutor in particular really knocked my confidence, but there was another, Frank Convery who really opened my mind to imaginative work.

What sort of hours do you work at your art?

I work full-time with art & framing, but there are times when it really takes over and I have to be in the studio to get the ideas down.

What is your studio space like ?

It is a converted loft space in my home - I am really lucky as it is well lit & north facing.  My only gripe is I would like more upright wall space so I can do some larger works!

What else other than art is important in your life?

My family, friends and keeping positive!

Where can people see of your work?

They can see it online at
 www.lbm-art.moonfruit.com,
 www.lynnbennettmackenzieart.com,
 follow me at twitter - lynnbmackartist.
Physically at Bridge Cottage Gallery, Poolewe, Stepping Stones, Dundonnel, and Inchmore Gallery, Inverness.

Midwinter Birch painting

The snowy light is fascinating me,. daylight is so brief, but this last week has had a bright moon at night which helps combat the darkness, and in the snow makes everything amazing eerie colours, shapes distort, shadows shift. I like just going out in the freezing temperatures & looking at the sky trying to breathe in any light available. I hate Midwinter.

I've also been getting sick of 'painting by numbers' representational landscapes, which people like, and buy. But am currently allowing myself just to go mad with the paint, paint from memory and just splodge around to see what happens. Its pretty mentally exhausting but feels good. I also haven't had space/ house to myself in a couple of months, so am having to shift my working methods to try & work around this. Luckily the snow colours are inspiring enough to help combat the midwinter blues.

I'm quite exited about the latest Firefighting paintings I'm doing & would love to post a sequence of progress photos, how ever the last two pictures are gifts, hence surprises for firemen, so it would spoil the whole thing. There's a wee watercolour , I'll tell you the story once the fireman in question has received it. The one I'm working on the moment is a portrait in action, on canvas for a retirement present. Its been one thing painting my own crew in action, but its quite a privilege painting these other chaps, we're a diverse bunch us firefighters & there's a world of difference between whole timers & us retained, and yet the brotherhood thing is really strong, hard to explain. I guess the intensity of experience we go through is something we can't really describe, even if i had to leave the fire service tomorrow, its touch lasts for ever. The sweat, tears, laughter, crackle & roar of flames, smash of glass, crunch of metal, acrid smoke burning lungs, adrenalin clarity & slow motion ultra focus.

I've been sent some great photos from other colleague's I can't wait to paint. thanks guys & keep them coming ! meantime here's something i can show you... stand by for more.