BLOG: On the road in Aragon, summer 2023

Categories: Inspiration

In June/July 2023 I went solo on a self-directed residency to work in the landscape of Aragon a region in northeast Spain bordering the Pyrenees. My son lives in Banaguas, a tiny ancient village (the church dates from 1100) outside of Jaca, the medieval capital of Aragon. He travels in the summer so I decided to sublet his studio flat and take my painting on the road. Working outdoors is an important part of my art practice and I often walk carrying my materials, to work in remote countryside or abandoned places. Because of logistics and weather, painting outdoors focuses…

Life experiences inspire my artwork

Categories: Inspiration

LIFE EXPERIENCES inspire my artwork.The river is still burning (our house), 2021, oil & acrylic on The Financial Times, linen. This painting was inspired by the Cuyahoga River fire in Cleveland, Ohio in 1969 I AM A PAINTER based in Edinburgh, Scotland making contemporary art, that includes painting, collage, video, and installations. Inspiration happens throughout the creative process. Like many artists I am a magpie, inspired by colour, found objects, memory, real and imaginary places. My creative process is simple: I go to the studio (or go outside) and I get started. I don’t wait for inspiration, for it is…

What is the strangest thing you have ever found on a beach?

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  BLOCK ISLAND, RHODE ISLAND, USA The 4 miles of beach past Southwest Point on Block Island in the summer is hot, littered with trees, boulders, the detritus of the shipping industry it is also empty of day-trippers and family beach parties. The wild ocean facing side of the island here evidence and artifacts lie everywhere but the people are far away, the arc of existence described by a million pointless objects. Decisions that were made elsewhere and long ago. GYRE, The piece I created for Reuse, Reinvent Reimagine started with the beachcombing ; the process of acquiring junk, trash,…

A room of one’s own

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For years I have had a recurring dream. I am alone in an old house (or is it a flat?).  With a dark central hallway and a number of closed doors  it feels haunted,  intimidating but also exciting and full of potential.  I think I have been here before.  Should I be here? I start to open doors into dark empty rooms. Bedroom? Living Room? I feel an odd sense of propriety – I would like to  live here – but also that somehow I am trespassing.  I walk into the kitchen which is large and old fashioned and hasnt been…

The impossibility of memory

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In the late 1980’s at a time when more than 2000 people a year were murdered in New York City, Southside Williamsburg, in Brooklyn was an extremely hot and heavy neighbourhood and was also where I lived from 1986 – 1990. In April 2012 I went back there with my camera to capture the past, but where was it….? The video shows me in the studio working on drawings for the upcoming blood/MarcyAV exhibition and talking about the inspiration for the show. blood/MarcyAV is  me visual artist Michele Marcoux, sound artist Lynne Thermann and poet Sheila Black and explores the nostalgia…