Jennie Lee II

The variety of Jenni Lee's produced was stunning. Often, as I have seen throughout my teaching, the portrait is a combination portrait of the artists and the subject. I now have over 250 of these works to puzzle together and sew into a series of wall hangings for exhibition at the Lochgelly Centre February 24th and 25th.

Jennie Lee Residency I

For the past few months, I have had a residency project in a school. Part of this residency has involved taking two-hour sessions with each class to create portraits of Jenne Lee, a politician who came from the Lochgelly area in the early 20th Century and was a powerful force for equality and opportunity for all, helping to establish the Open University and working tirelessly for the rights of the miners. The children were to create a portrait of Jennie Lee on fabric using my special paints which I arrived with, in an oversized tool box. It was always deliciously messy and fun, lovely to be working with young children again.

David Lockhart

Over the next ten weeks, I am working in Benarty Primary School in Fife, as part of a project highlighting the work of the late Jennie Lee.
Earlier this week I went into the school for a meeting and in the reception area was this large 19 x 12 foot mural 'Many Mansions' based on a biblical text 'In my fathers house are many mansions . . .' 1961. Designed and executed for the new school building by artist and musician David Lockhart (1922-2014).
I like to think of it as being about the many doors that open to you when you educate yourself, or the way you can visit different times, people and places in your thirst for knowledge.

Heinz Kasper

Throngs of people flocked to the beach in Kinghorn in Fife last night excited to see the work of Austrian artist Heinz Kasper. Heinz works with light and colour in many forms including theatre, musical events, galleries, industrial and urban environments.

 Heinz is currently an artist in residence at the Robert Callender International Residency for Young Artists, sea loft in Kinghorn and was experimenting with light in the environment.

Last night was a prelude, an experiment, and I am looking forward to seeing how his work develops during his residency.
I hope that we will be treated to a spectacular event later in the year.

"Heinz Kasper is dedicated to exploring light in relation to colour, form and environment as a medium of creative expression. Aside from his light design activities in the spheres of performing arts, exhibitions and architecture, the oeuvre of Heinz Kasper also includes abstract colour compositions and digitally reprocessed photographic pieces."

 Above: The Sylvan Gate, Jerusalem project for the 2013 festival of lights.

Paintings in the sand

It has been a busy weekend and is set to be an immensely busy month, but I wanted to get out into the sun and open spaces and I stole away twice to blue skies and beaches yesterday. This was the sand and coal sand of Pettycure Bay near Kinghorn, Fife yesterday morning. The water was flowing over it as the tide withdrew, pulling at patterns, stretching, layering and distorting them, very beautiful.

. . . at break of day

Thank you everyone for your holiday well wishes. I have had a fantastic two weeks, not quite swimming with manatees but quite close, as you can see. These photographs are from just the last two days at home! The bottom one 'Seals sunbathing in front of Edinburgh Castle' from a trip to a beach just below Burntisland in Fife, and the top image of seals from a boat trip to Inchcolm Island yesterday, there are alot of seals in the forth just now.

Hilke MacIntyre

Above: The Tale Of The Crail Whale, Below: Harbour

Below: Crail

I am really enjoying monotone, woodcut style work at the moment, so the work of Hilke is just perfect. Hilke is another illustrator and ceramicist you can see more of her and her husbands work here: http://www.macintyre-art.com/

Mermaid

Sorry, I have had two days and nights animating frantically for a competition dead line. I was allowed out today for a wee while and I took the opportunity to do my pebble beach art work, it is amde from coal stones as alot washes up here.