jumbled thoughts & words

Saturday 14th

still no time for blogging when each hour is worth a whole blog, we get breakfast at 7.45, head to studio 8.30 ( our bus has tiger-skin pattern velour curtains, driver wears Hawaiian shirt and sailors cap- it makes sense here ! ), return from studios 8.30pm. I made notes today, but it was an emotional day, I always get emotional when i get in the painting 'zone' but this is crazy, I simply can't believe I am allowed to paint what I want, i don't even know where to start, but I have and the flood gates are opened, impatiently I want to get the pictures out no questions why, what next, whats the point?, done one small one, about the journey I guess. started a pen drawing, and two circular canvases, they are very watery- trying to bring a little of the sea to so far inland. one is about submerged cities, princesses living underwater, selkies ( seal people ); the other is a parade of animal symbols.

At times It felt lonely today, all the artists here are making work which would normally inspire me for months, yet I cannot talk to them about this work, about art, culture, stories, myths, symbol, it was like being trapped in a bubble. But I know the painting process brings every emotion to the surface so I just wait, next it was wonderful, I collared our translator for today, the enchanting and lovely Anna Pavlova- she communicate for me, with a couple of artists we swopped stories about what our paintings mean, what the symbols represent in different cultures, swopped folk stories of swans and seal folk, it was magical!

heres some thoughts earlier;

Journey, migration.
Life death birth
Human evolution, personal evolution, social evolution
Different cultures
Common roots
Common stories
Branches on a tree
Tree of life
Tree reaching to heaven
The pastures of heaven
Our journey
Travelling onwards
In spirals
Circles
Together
Alone
Our stories
Peoples stories
The stories of our people
Strange lands familiar emotions
Strange symbols
Shared symbols

The human tide

( view from studio )

I’m questioning home, questioning the freedom of the West,  the free market which enslaves us. We are so sure that we are free and safe - freedom and liberty, that even those of us who question everything still become enchanted by the western dream, or delusion of freedom and living the dream. UK makes a lot of noise for a small country, UK plays with the big boys and thinks it is so safe and so free. But here 2000 miles from the land of the free, in Russia, I am confused by the freedom, the layers we are wrapped in at home suffocate, the fear the rules the social constraints, we walk about town here, “ that wouldn’t be allowed” at every turn, yet the streets are clean and safe, no-one complains about children playing, pedestrians on the road, dogs loose, loud music, car alarms, smoke, workers, cars parked, no police interfere or question, no-one seems to notice, they stop to pick up litter, they stare at us looking so strange, yet it is a non-judgmental curiosity, questioning, happy to communicate. I was so worried about what the different social rules would be, I never expected that the rules are simple, human, honest. There are formalities here, respect and dignity, but as artists, free to paint what I want ? This has completely thrown me, I don’t have to justify? Explain? It won’t be judged, pigeon holed, dismissed as ‘other’ “ artists are a gift from god “…. at home , now, it feels like we are treated like simple fools to be tolerated, understood as something different “ arty farty- airy fairy “…I’m questioning what they told me at home, in the land where freedom is the dream we are sold, where I feel like a rat in the maze, cog in the machine. I think we are a lot less free than they have told us. I am pretty angry about this, all the time the whole world was waiting beyond tightly held borders, a whole wide giant vibrant world full of live, love, beauty, happy, vibrant free people.

( my space before work starts )

( our studio )

The accomodation

The studios are idyllic, I feel like an art student from a bygone era sent away on a grand tour of the world, set up in some stunning studio in an alien land, like the things you day dream about as a young student or imagine in films or when reading the biography of artists from hundreds of years ago. Alex described Yelabuga as like Mecca for artists. It is a unique city, not that I have any other Russian city experience to compare it to. Not only is it really beautiful architecturally, but to be surrounded by so many artists, to be welcome with such hospitality . But to be given the space the time, the materials the freedom to create is incredible. I don’t get nervous or excited about things before they happen, I don’t get scared when bad things happen, I stay focused, but now that I am here, settled in, I am becoming very emotional it is just so wonderful!  I am painting next to large open windows looking across to the tower & cathederal, a breeze wafts in. the canvas behaves differently to the ones I’m used to and the paint dries very fast, now I am getting used to this I can let it wash watery layers, trying to bring some of the sea into land locked Yelabuga.

Russia, food and hospitality

 much has been happening, it’s impossible to know where to start, there’s been no time to blog the last two days, so first – the food  & hospitality!

Breakfast at hotel- food is very different, very clean fresh flavours, lots of herbs are part of everyday life infusing things with subtle and strange tastes and smells. Breakfast is cooked things like rice or pasta, eggs ( with herbs ) sausage, also cheese fruit, salads, a bitter yogurt drink, and sometimes thick pancakes. Tea – chai, is usually black, not much use of milk as we know it, but the tea is delicious, not so bitter as ours, vey refreshing.

Lunches, start with a salad, like carrot with sour cream or coleslaw but not so sweet, or cucumber and yogurts, next course is a very watery soup, again fresh subtle flavours very refreshing in hot weather, today lentil & ham stock, yesterday some sort of vegetable and chicken. ( vegetarianism is going to be just too much hassle and the meat isn’t meaty meat- when in Rome do as ... )next course is a small plate ( by our standards ) or rice, or mashed potato, or pasta, with a meat and meal type burger or a strong tasting type of salmon cooked in flour, with a carrot sauce. There is also available piarajok ( sp? ) small pasties, with mashed potatoes, and or cabbage, sour cream, meat etc in- delicious ! next comes the tea, and the pancakes and a very runny jam or sour cream. It’s all wonderful, you never feel too full or too hungry. Nobody here is overweight. The tea we have at the museum theatre building is flavoured with blackcurrant leaves, so subtle. The herb that is mostly in the food is horseradish, but the leaves as well as the roots, a strange flavour, hints of mint or fennel or something else!

Thursday night after supper and our bus journey to the hotel we were very honoured to be the guests of Alex and his family to his flat, we walked a long walk through Yelabuga new part of the city to his apartment- it seemed everyone was out that hot evening, walking with their families, sitting by the fountain, playing with the children, watching the world go by, safe and relaxed despite the imposing concrete tower blocks. A world where crime and health & safety seem a million miles away. The hospitality at Alex, Luda’s ( sp? ) and Yorgies/George’s was wonderful. The flat is small by UK standards, but the warmth , friendship and generosity so much bigger.  I know it sounds like a cliché, but until you meet the open, relaxed, friendly hospitality of the Russians, words cannot do it justice.  We were offered a second supper, salads, caviar, vodka ( So much tastier than what we have in UK ), chai, homemade beer, wine, juice, chocolate...the table full with beautifully presented items, served in beautiful  glass and enamelled folk art cups. The air was hot and humid, everyone dripping with sweat, so Luda offered us ‘Russian  air conditioning’ – paper fans, which kind of sums this place, the paint may be peeling in places but the heart is all there. I hope one day we can return the generosity back in Scotland !

Then today, Friday, a special supper for everyone, all the artists after the formal meeting and speeches. Tonight a beautiful array of pickles, salad and vegetables, with salt herring, we got stuck in thinking this was the whole meal, but there was another course of rice and salmon to come, served with a red berry? juice, and green horseradish vodka. There were many speeches and toasts, all requiring more vodka, much pressure was put on us the international visitors to down the vodka in one... you can imagine the rest, dancing on the streets and general mayhem! Some of our colleagues will have sore heads tomorrow !

( the main supper to Open the event properly- yet another toast )

( a display at the museum of medicine, showing traditional herbs used in old medicine- most are the same as ours, but still in regular use )






















( Vodka, the creator of international friendships ! )

journey to Russia

(photo Edinburgh Airport before 1st flight )

Sheremetyevo airport 3 am Moscow time.
tired groggy and a bit confused. Don’t know which terminal we are in, we just parked ourselves somewhere with other humans sleeping on the uncomfortable seats. No free wi fi as I’d hoped. A long day, started  at 6am, Rich took me to achnasheen to meet Lynn & family, who then drove us to the bus station in town, bus...it all seems aeons ago, but it was some thousand miles....chatted bus journey passed fast, art families, college, the symposium theme, life. Cameron toll ?then the airport shuttle bus, Edinburgh airport grey dramatic clouds. Cup of tea, we’d done on-line check in which hadn’t really been necessary, had hours to use the self check in machines, still queued at check in anyway. Quick hop plane to Amsterdam, north east England patchy fields the bass rock, up up and then down into grey rain. Shinpol airport is HUGE we taxied for ages, arrived at one gate,  people heading off our plane for connecting flights all ver the world. We headed for the gate we’d been told & that was marked on the boarding card, seeming miles of corridor, gate had been changed, miles of corridor back again, found our gate, now we were queued with Russian faces and voices, it starts to hit, flutters of nerves and excitement. We were flying KLM so the flight attendants were Dutch with very good English of course, most of teh passengers seemed to speak good English but it was delicious to start hearing spoken Russian after so long it being abstract symbols on the computer screen of phrase books. The atmosphere on the plane was friendly, are we just used to the miserable economy short flights? was it the Dutch or the Russians? We thought we were in for a 5 hour flght it turned out that it was only 2.40, the long hours taking their toll as we tried to work out time zones and roubles. Amsterdam one time zone, Moscow 2 more, tomorrow another one. We hit some turbulence through some thunderstorms just west of Moscow, a bit scary but then I had been watching the last of LOST the night before. Wewere unsure about how to fill in teh immigration forms, scary... a chat next to Lyn started asking questions were we wre egoing etc, oh oh we both thought, touting for business? Something dogdgy? No, we was warning us that at this time of night you have to be careful wth the taxi’s as they will charge too much for tourists- which I’d already read in the phrase book. Another lady told us how to pronounce Yelabuga... I knew it didn’t sound right ! we were saying yellubuga, its YeLL-Ah-buga. When the pilot landed the plane people applauded, is this normal on longer flights ?

Official ladies at airpot, scary, though immigration no problems though, surpirised  my bags with all the tightly packed paints got through. Russian young women are stunningly beautiful, in a different way to UK pretty, but very haughty looking,  I guess they know they look good & don’t need to smile ? first impressions are everyone else seems friendly...allthough sleepy as its now 3.30am their time, 1.30 ours.

So I’ve made a nest of baggage on the polished floors to sleep and sit in, its really muggy hot, the pilot said 27C, it smells strongly of peat smoke. The tannoy lady speaks in Russian and English. Whats with the cellophane wrapping on bags?

Art ideas? Reading a little of my ‘women of the Celts ‘ book, love the underwater princesses storys but the books gone all post Freudian on me, Macha was made to race horses pregnant with twins not because men fear wombs and pregnancy represents their own death, but because it proves just how tough she was surely? And her curse explains the later weakness and affliction upon Ulster men. I hope we get internet connections as I want to look up more cross refs on wiki. I’m thinking crannogs, my crannog, and stories of women trapped on islands / underwater/ submerged towns, towns with underwater bells, tales of morality. Also about migration, journey , travels, the stories and folk lore travelled, the peoples migrated invaded conquered became evolutionary routes turned into misty tales of forgotten races and distant gods, boats, this with my own journey, back the way the celts and the Scythians, me heading back instinctive on some illogic path. Talking earlier about not needing words or religious concepts to explain, it just is, art our journey, the images we make the path we take, to explain it in terms of destiny, magic, or fate spoils it for me, it just is. How will this translate into art? Now will I get any sleep “ bing bong bing ladies and gentlemen “ ...not much i guess.

 ( photo Moscow sunrise 6am after a night trying to sleep at this terminal )

11^th august 2010,

Was woken up off my nest on the floor by a security man, who very friendliliy expl,ained that I cannot sleep on the floor, it sis okay to sleep on the chairs but not the floor. He spoke in Russian 1^st then sort of looked at me explained in English. Are we so obviously British ? I guess so. I later asked our hosts and they laughed, I take that as a yes then. This kept happening, I’d say excuse me ‘where is...’ in my best pigeon Russian accent, they’d reply in English. Meanwhile back to terminal...whereever we spent the night, no sleep at all very surreal & hard seats uncomfortable, culture shock, unsure of the social rules. By 6 am their time, still 3 ours? We started the next mission- lesson number 17 ask ask and ask again. We we told it was termainal D for our avianova flight, so off we headed, the red sun raising over a smoggy Moscow dawn, strange and alien skies greeting us. It wasn’t terminal D, but B, which would require a bus, taxi touts pounced on us “ oh at least an hour long way we take you no problem “ “nyet!”. It was about 20 minutes away & cost around 50p on the bus.

Leaving the main terminal of the modern buildings we saw camps of itinerant builders working on the airport horrible conditions, pipelines, everywhere scorched brown, old cars and lorries,m unfamiliar makes, a completely strange looking country, like what I imagined North Africa would look, not Russia. Terminal  B was a small old building for internal flights, we we ethe only tourists there. People kind of stare at us. The beautiful glamourous women put their noses up, officials are really scary and inyimidating, ques are strange us being polite soon realised we were always being shoved to the back, in one queue I was literally having a baggage trolley shoved into my legs..but then again wen I let one woman in front of me she was very pleased, smiling nodding and chatting away in Russian, so hey a bit of courtesy I’ll stick with. So another flight, anoter round of security passport checks and baggage scans. Sometime yesterday I was looking forward to my 1^st Russian voice, now thats all there was. So much to take in.

Slept on the flight. Again the applause when we landed, we’ve been told now it’s a European fashion. And there we were Begivishimo airport, plane door opened, and it was like walking into an oven. Hot,  clammy, clammy, still air, 35+ C in the shade...what shade?! The flat landscape scorched yellows and browns. Didn’t take many photos of the journey as I didn’t want to be too much of a tourist, we get enough strange looks as it is!

( Alex who invited us to the symposium and has fixed all our problems for us )

( Olga our translator )

We were met by Alex , Olga  ( our translator ) & a driver, drive to Elabuga, over the river Hama, past remains of a wild fire, past hitchers, ladas, ancient looking lorries, beautiful forests,  swathes of allotments with summer houses ‘dakars?’, then into Elebuga. Old town incredible! Wooden buildings every shape and size with carving around windows , main historical centre which is all part of the state preservation area of which the symposium is part of...photos another day. Its stunning. Lunch, fantastic fresh and strange foods, their tea is the best ever! Friendly people, trying out our pigeon Russian, different social rules, back to hotel – a whole apartment each !- organisational stuff, being very well looked after by Olga & Alex, then a sleep and cold bath ( believe me I need it Its as hot as the Fire house here ), dinner, met some more artists all smiles & language barriers so far, walk around town, wi fi card buying, shopping , fruit market ( no tescos monopoly here ) bottled water, blocks of flats in new town . canna get the air con to work, its probably a gaffa tape job tomorrow...things are very different here. Head reeling!  We are 3 hours ahead of home. Early start tomorrow setting up studio spaces...eeek!

Last day before 'Epic' adventure

Last day at home before starting the journey to Russia. After heavy showers the sun has now come out, I think we've only had a couple of dry afternoons in 6 weeks, it was spring , then rain now the berries and darkening nights tell us Autumn is coming. No matter, I'm off to the heat & the sun to paint in Russia for 12 days. If you've seen the news you will be well aware that there has been a heat-wave over there and wildfires a causing devastation, this last week the smoke has caused airport closures- at the moment the two airports we need are open so fingers crossed it stays that way.

I thought a picture of my unkempt garden & house would be a suitable photo to launch us on our journey of exotic lands. Myself & fellow traveler Lynn hope to keep up blogs of our adventure depending on the internet availability, Lynn's is here.

my bag is crammed with my brushes & paints, the 'studio' is tidied, laptop loaded with my favorite Celtic art reference pictures. Just time to try & learn some Russian phrases, or finish some of the work hanging over me or....possibly RELAX a little? since the last 2 months have been exhausting and flat out with work. There I've done it, said the 'R' word.

next blog We'll be on our way & I'll write some about the symposium theme 'Breath of the Epic'.

Housing Expo.

All this month there is 'Scotlands Housing Expo' on at Milton, just south of Inverness. 

Its well worth a visit, a fascinating project. Its basically a whole estate of eco showhouses, all completely different styles, designs, ideas. there are huge luxury houses, apartments, social housing, all are going to be incredibly cheap to run, many use 'passive' heating systems, that is the structure & design of the building utilizing space light and building materials to collect and retain heat. there is a community green, a play area, narrow cobbled alleys and normal streets. Some houses aren't finished yet, the whole project had fallen behind. I think we have all become rather cynical about any big project like this in the highlands as it all involves lots of tax payers money and only the usual 'jobs for the boys'- however I was very surprised to enjoy my two days at the expo, the atmosphere was very friendly and relaxed, was this the training of the staff/ ambassadors in each of the houses or the design of the site?

There were a few houses we fell in love with, gorgeous light and space, clever layouts, huge windows, doors opening into gardens, balconies, multi levels, mezzanines. Many felt like they didn't belong next to other houses & should have been in a forest or by the beach. Particularly at the bottom of the site. I felt the top end worked much better as a town community, they had walls for privacy, yet opened out to friendly social spaces, looking like they fitted together. There are no prices on the houses yet, as valuers are finding the unusual situation & designs impossible to value. some will be for low rent, others to buy, some are social housing. It will be fascinating to see what the community will be like in a few years time, it will work for sociable friendly people and families, not grumpy rich old couples who complain about children or anyone in a different economic group to them.

Some buildings had a lack of storage space, parking space? why the bathroom next to the front doors? why the large hallway waste of space? Others lovely! office space, studio space, workshop space. Also very annoying were the Albyn housing showhouses, all very modern & energy efficient, no mention of rotting floors, walls, 35 year old heating systems that don't work etc etc that they are happy to leave us with....

I was there working of course; doing 'RAGS to RICHES'

In the highland Councils recycling house, Doing recycled craft workshops. I had a steady stream of participants mostly making rag dream-catchers, which all came out brilliantly. Lovely to see grown ups joining in too, often it was grannies helping out and patiently showing the youngsters how to do things which was lovely. Talking to the children its obvious to me how important the eco schools projects are in raising their awareness of 'Green' issues. Their craft skills and manual skills experience varies wildly depending on their individual teachers or parents, how to tie basic knots is not a standard.

Now to unload the remaining Rags & Willows from the van and get on preparing for Russia!  van - did I mention we slept over in the van? small van, won't be doing that again! workshops are best done after some hours of sleep.

Ross Shire Journal

Fridays 'Ross shire Journal' had a couple of mentions about our Russian trip.

heres the on-line version here...

'Rags to Riches' clutter

So the Russian trip preparation ticks onwards, but the pile of work I need finished by September sits albatross like upon me, exhaustion. Next two days I'm off to Scotlands Housing Expo, to run workshops for the Highland Council in Recycled crafts, " Rags to Riches " we shall be cutting weaving, knotting and such like, my van is full of willow wands, sticks and rags. I shall also be spending the night in the van so had better move the sticks first.

meanwhile my 'studio' is a complete tip ( and yes I paint canvases upside down & sideways, whatever works ), the rest of the house isn't much better as books of celtic mythology, canvases, half packed bags, paper, fabric, looms, glass shards & mosaics all threaten to collide. Dinnae worry by tuesday morning all will be calm & organised & then I can discuss thoughts about myths, epics, archetypes and art.

news round up

• Russia trip features on Hi-Arts website.
• starting in October I will be tutoring a painting course in lochcarron on behalf of the Skye & Wester Ross College ( subject to numbers ) details here
• the Lochcarron Tuesday Art group is taking a break during August while everyone is busy.
• Mosaic panel 2 is finished;
  
• Been gathering Willow for dreamcatcher/ recycled textile workshops Friday & Saturday at the Housing Expo . Doubled up this task with helping out at the Smithy heritage centre where the grounds have been sadly neglected over the last 5 years. The new committee have plans to get the project all back up and running again, so Rich, the dog and I went to help out by wrestling the overgrown willow dome back into shape. I now have a giant pile of willow to strip, no jokes about 'strip the willow' please.

• Also nearly finished the first big canvas painting a couple of tweaks & starting the next one.
• this time next week on our way to Russia! you should see the list of work I have to finish before then !

Country Day

Final week or so to prepare for Russia trip and finish a month or so of work, its just not happening...mild panic setting in. Meanwhile Friday 30th was the Kirkton woodland & heritage group's country day- I'd got my months all muddled up & thought I would be away when it was on so hadn't prepared any crafty demonstrations to do, which I much prefer to being sat behind a table selling wares.

This day makes a change from the rain cancelled lochcarron games as there is a strong conservation, environment, rural skills element to it. Sadly of course it was still raining, heavily, the field was a bog. there were some great sights, many which I failed to catch on camera. Brain the ferret had come along with keeper Chris to play Ferret bingo.













  Jim of Asgard Crafts was doing metal casting with a brilliant bellows and small stone oven he'd made. Henry Fosbrook was over from the east coast with his woodland instruments, I knew Henry from the highlands alternative/ green scene 20 years ago, always good to catch up.

 Margaret Beaton spinning, always a hit with visitors. The usual range of homebaking from all the domestic goddesses in the area. Tom and Leslie Kilbride with their yurt doing natural dying. Les Bates as Gandaft looking like a community woodlands shaman and lots of worthy conservation organisations. The organisers did a great job, and the staff lunches were deeelicious as ever.

I sold very little, which is typical of this season, there simply isn't the number of visitors around, and those that are -aren't spending much, many local businesses are expressing that its a very poor season this year. All of which makes me panicy about what to do to earn enough to live off, but it boils down to not really having choices up here. The only paid employment is very part time seasonal cleaning/ waitressing, which would earn less than my freelance art or minimum wage manual labour with boys who talk about drink & cars. I am too old to tolerate either. So we'll see where Russia takes my art & I'll go on another hunt for decent PAID illustration work when I get back, I'm also doing some art teaching with the Skye college- details to follow. but with all the cuts & businesses going under its tough times ahead in the UK for many.

comics workshop

Monday- did another comics workshop at Drumnadrochit, yes thats the village next to Loch Ness ( which I flew over the other week! ) surprisingly the children didn't all draw Nessie stories, they were full of stories about the silly things that tourists say or think regarding the monster, but at the same time the children seemed to have no doubts about the beasties existence. I wonder if its like Santa, and stops appearing when they're old enough to get cynical ?  The monster is a great tourist attraction, yet folks are too embarrassed about it to use it as some sort of highland branding. Luckily at Hi-Ex the highland Comic Expo, we have no such qualms.
Meanwhile, comic workshop ? normally participants coming to a comic workshop would be interested in drawing comics, or often they are teenage girls who want to draw manga style, not necessarily draw stories. the summer holidays are different of course, I can get an awkward mixture of local children who have been delivered by parents desperate for a break, and tourist children who can be of the type academic, competitive, not getting dirty type. It was a new challenge to me however to have to entertain for 5 hours a child who thinks comics are babyish, doesn't like stories, humans, characters, drawing or in fact anything -this at a 'How to draw comics' workshop- we survived, not sure if my pens did especially the ones he put up his nose. The others were lovely though & this flip chart drawing of the polar express was a masterpiece, the lad who did it was rightly very proud of himself.

art buying scam

I do a lot of my business through e-mail and website, I will get requests from complete strangers for paintings and commissions, These paintings are often for wedding gifts, anniversary or birthdays, the client can often not know much about art or be sure how it works or what they want. There is of course a deal of trust on both sides, but common sense is also required to protect myself. Usually I build up some rapport with art buyers & will get to know then afterwards. Art is not just another commodity, people like the context, the story behind the painting & the creative process, it means something to them and to me the artist.

So when Matthew Joe e-mailed me asking about a painting for a wedding anniversary gift for his parents, there was nothing unusual in this, his grammar indicated that english was not the first language, while he had an english sounding name. Suspicion was aroused by him asking for my web address, so why would he want my art if he hadn't already seen it ? where has he got my e-mail from if not the website ? I gave him the details of artwork available & to hand, but he chose two water themed paintings off the website- a simple misunderstanding as these are only available as prints I explained. However this sentence, which he repeated twice was not right-

"Meanwhile, I don't want you to bother your self concerning the shipment i have a shipping company come for the pickup  in your gallery also they will be the one to make the packing, just get  back to me with the price of the art work so that we can make some progress."


which shipping company ?  only a select few shipping companies operate on the west here, why didn't he mention their name? if he was a big business man why not have company details on his e-mails ? why use a yahoo AND gmail e-mail address ?


He then chose another 6 paintings from the available list, 6 paintings? for a wedding anniversary gift ? what eclectic taste his parents have, waterfalls, technical firefighting image, fairy story whimsy and abstract landscape? I had by this time googled his e-mail address's;


matthew.joe1@yahoo.com
matthew.joe212@gmail.com

and found 'him' on a list of scammers;

I couldn't work out what the catch was, If I waited for a cheque to clear? didn't give account details etc. So it turns out it works like this, they order something to buy, using a third party for shipping or such, send a cashier cheque, which the banks may well cash, but later you will be liable when it turns out to be a fake.. but its not the artwork they're after, they send 'extra' payment in the cheque to cover the shipping, you have to sent the balance via western union, which of course is you out of pocket, as there is no shipping company. It seems he is targeting all the members of the Highland Open Studios Directory.

more information about fraud etc here

I am furious! at no point did I believe I was going to sell hundreds of ££'s worth of art, I am not one to count chickens. But to try & rip off an artist ? according to the Scottish Artists Union the average wage of a Scottish artist is £5K per annum, I earn a lot less from mine. We are not exactly the decadent capitalists of the western world. Also artists, being poor, artistic natured & optimists might well be easy prey, also the internet is a wonderful useful tool, but criminals like this leave a whole generation afraid of computers, left out in the cold because they've seen on crime watch about ID theft, scammers, viruses all those urban myths and scare stories. It's almost designed to stop people using the potential of the internet, people who are afraid are easier to control, people who are afraid are more likely to turn on each other. Most humans are good, most humans are trustworthy and genuine, scams like this disgust me because they prey upon hope and trust.

I'm blogging as it seems about all I can do to vent my anger, although I intend stringing Matthew along a bit more to waste some of his time, I wish there was an e-mail version of a football whistle blown down the phone. I guess the internet is a bit like the wild west, a whole new frontier with carpet baggers, freak shows, houses of ill repute, gambling, snake oil peddlers, criminal gangs, cons, thugs, but mostly good people just trying to make a living.

ladies faces

finally got all the comic pages that I had to colour done yesterday ( although more arrived today ), so now onto the paintings I need to do, but first a wee warm up, dying to paint things which will feed into the Russian art symposium theme, 'Breath of the epic'- so heres some painted ladies sketches . Now I'm painting the first of the two big canvases....

Space Hop

Every Summer the libraries run a reading scheme to encourage youngsters to keep reading throughout the holidays, this year's was Space Hop. Yasmeen the librarian organised for me to do Space Hop junk art workshop today at the Gairloch library. We had the full compliment of children, both local and visitors who all  got stuck in and made some brilliant imaginative space ships, planets, flying saucers and aliens out of old containers and packaging. They came in shyly, but went out zapping each other with space zappers and debating the size of the universe, Saturn's rings and what happens to fire in the vacuum of space.

Free press, mosaic & more colours

More publicity for the Russia trip with this piece in the West Highland Free Press this week. Our Visas arrived today, big sighs of relief for Lynn & I !

The Smithy Mosaic progresses, using yacht varnish so each layer taking ages to dry. Next panel will have crofting history images & 3rd panel modern scenes.

also chugging along with the Slaughtermans creed colouring. The sample above features a flashback scene, Which we're going for in sepia tones over Stephen Downey's lovely pencils, Stephen has recently got work drawing for the Torchwood magazine,  and deservedly so! 

meanwhile the theme of the Russian Symposium is cooking away in the background, I'm reading lots of folklore, listening to folksie ballads and traditional music, things are desperate to come out- but I have to dig in & get all this other work done before I can play !

certificate & colouring

Heres the photo from the award ceremony last week.

meanwhile as well as plodding on varnishing the heritage Mosaic, prepping for the Russia trip with Lynn Bennett-MacKenzie and so on, I've mostly been glued to the digital drawing board getting seized to my chair working on comic colouring for Slaughtermans Creed sample page above. Its written by Cy Dethan who has done a lovely write up about my recent work on his blog here.

Commitment to Excellence awards

In the Fire service it often feels like an uphill struggle, the retained service personnel give a huge commitment as does their families. We struggle to stay within the station area and find enough other work in remote villages, we struggle with old equipment, only 2.5 hours a week to maintain and test equipment, to train, to stay up to date, to stay fit and the computer work, the paperwork. the memo's, targets, quotas, contradicting rules, all rain from on high, It presents no career path, with the retainer fee at £2.5 K per annum, we're certainly not in it for the money. This is why I am a Union rep to try and make sure the issues at station level get heard higher up and to look after my crew. In this climate then, I was rather surprised to receive notification that I had been shortlisted for a commitment to excellence award in the community and Youth Engagement category. So myself and Rich headed to the awards ceremony last night, slightly cynically and awkwardly in my ill fitting uniform.

The Inverness Town house venue was also intimidating, with a host of Councillors, the Fire chief , lord lieutenant and lord provost to meet us. There were some amazing artifacts and paintings there including a lovely bronze Roman horse head. We were however immediately made welcome with the speakers and Chief mingling and chatting. Talking to them it became apparent that they understood the pressures that we are under and were well aware of the issues we face, the impact our job has on everyday life and our loved ones. The people there were not the upper managers whom I expected to see but many retained Firefighters, men and women, from the far corners of the Highlands and Islands. All the speeches reflected admiration and appreciation for our work.

During the evening the 20 year service medals of good conduct were given out, one was to my Watch manager. these guys definitely deserve a medal, the average term of retained service is 7 years. 20 is quite an achievement.

Then the awards, the nominations were read out for each person and why they'd been nominated, every single one was much deserved and we heard stories of great bravery, tenacity and efforts beyond the call of duty. I am very proud to have met these men & women and more so to have been nominated too. I had been nominated for the work I did over the last couple of years creating a partnership between the Fire service and a Young Carer support charity, It was of course a team effort with other people still working on it now. We raised awareness, taught the fire service how to help young carers and their families, taught the children Fire safety, produced resources, power-points, information cards, and eventually a children's Fire Safety book which I illustrated and has been distributed to all highland schools.

It was for me, simply a matter of putting my different jobs together and it worked brilliantly. It was wonderful to hear about the other projects that had been going on and see them justly awarded. I was quite happy not to 'win' the category but still didn't escape escape the embarrassment of having to take to the stage for presentation and photographs however.

Everyone I spoke to felt the same as me, while we were proud to have our achievements recognised we were all also rather embarrassed and wished that all the other Firefighters and support staff could have been there to have experienced the appreciation and gratitude for the work that EVERY firefighter does.

If I get any official photos I'll post them up. All in all a great night was had, It was lovely to get a chance to meet & talk to so many great people. Then of course there was the after party... but thats another story!

Russia trip approaches

The BBC have done an article today about Lynn Bennett-MacKenzie and my trip to the International Art symposium in Elabuga, Russia. excitement mounts.The story looks like its been picked up by some papers too, we'll keep you posted.

Going to the symposium and the inspiration of Lynn's work is giving me a confidence boost to follow my own artistic path and not get swayed by everyone else's expectations. Especially in the current economic climate, I've made very few sales locally this summer from tourism, there are no easy markets, so nothing to loose by ploughing on & doing what I want art wise. Its taken a while to get here.

meanwhile I am desperately trying to update my neglected website, bare with me, in the meantime the blog is the best place for the latest news and work.

should work time directive apply to artists ?

working flat out at Colours for 'Slaughtermans Creed' a book by Cy Dethan, pencils ( and some inks & colours ) by Stephen Downey, inks by Andy  Brown, design & letters by Nic Wilkinson ( too tired to look up links for everyone...next time ! ), book being published by Markosia..soon. Not for children or Veggies ( except me as I'm a tough childish Veggie ).

I haven't any fluffy kittens to offset Cy's dark imaginings, but instead and to unseize my desk bound bones I'm also working on this historical mosaic.The whole thing will be over 3.5 metres long eventually & will go on the outside wall of the Lochcarron Smithy Heritage Centre. panel 1 is ancient and natural history. It's made of scrap glass kindly provided by Muirne of Arrina's 'Shards' go visit her lovely stained glass workshop if you are ever up North Applecross.

I'll blog about the rest of Junes adventure, and Russia Soon !  oh and I've been short-listed for a Fire service 'commitment to excellence' award, community and youth engagement. I presume to do with the Fire Safety book I illustrated, ceremony on Friday more news later.