Leaf Clearing - The post Opening Lull.

Those of you not lucky enough to live in Aberdeenshire are I believe, suffering from dull weather. A bit grey, a bit damp, a bit cold. But we are not. It is the time of year when even I - not an early to rise but a late to fall sort of person, get to see the sunrise and I have been rewarded with some splendid visuals. Not only that, the sunsets have been equal to none, each day succeeding to outdo the last. Very early in my painting life I realised that Turner and Monet were the men for a sunset and that us lesser mortals should leave that scene in the moment. To view and be in awe of natures clever play and not to try and trap it onto paper. Though of course the skies inevitably find their way as backdrop to the painted world. During this November run of benign natural beauty I have had the Opening of painted works at the Theatre in Aberdeen. It is not a grand space, neither prestigious or large, but it has been focus my thoughts and efforts for the past year. That line is now crossed with or without success and I have dropped into the void, the time and space beyond the deadline. So leaf clearing. Perfect for such time with its endlessness and lack of mental challenge. And the weather is kind, mild and dry.

RSA Edinburgh. Small Works Exhibition

Dear Dad... I was so resistant to enter you for this open show. But I knew you were my best chance - fearful and not wanting to push the luck - I did send you down to the selection. And the beat goes on, its been a good year and you are now showing in Edinburgh at the RSA. I can not wait to go and see where and what company you are keeping. All good>

Susie Hunt at His Majesties Theatre

But - maybe - in the next two days, all will come together and the ladies will be paddling in the water while folk drink their interval drinks in the Dress Circle bar. Opening 6.00pm on Tuesday 26th November and staying on show for a couple of months.

Exhibition - GHAT at His Majesties Theatre - Aberdeen

Having had weeks to prepare, I have delivered paintings to be framed with very little time to spare. I am cobbling together the framing for a large work with the help of Jim Livingstone - which is problematic all round. I have send an incomplete list of works, titles and prices to the most patient Tamsin (GHAT exhibitions manager). I am a complete ding bat.

Greece 2014 and GHAT

After much cufuffle and human error; predominantly mine - we have finalised the dates for Greece next year.
Going in September (oh yes, warm warm sea) for two weeks.  Thursday 11th - 18th and 18th - 25th.
I have double checked the flights ...( At first attempt there were none! ) there are plenty of charters with Monarch - Thomson's etc, but easy jet give up mid month so that option is gone.

Phil Thompson has been at the receiving end of all my malarkey, he has repaired my endless mistakes and has been charmingly patient - thanks mr t. All that training dealing with data from hundreds of NEOS artists has paid off.

I have to get my head down now and finish off works for showing at his Majesties Theatre - Grampian Hospitals Arts Trust ( GHAT) have space to exhibit on the walls of the bar and for three month over the pantomime season there will be mine.

A long Sweet After Taste

It is a sip of pleasure that has gone on, and on.  The purchaser of my RA accepted picture is a super actor with his own star shining bright and and this has added another lift to my own pleasure - seeing his name in lights... And to think I was just happy to get past the first selection. The seconds of exposure on Culture Show, big bonus.  Selling... Great. Enquiries from more interested parties and further interest in my work, finding out who the purchaser was.  What a lovely time it is.

I have now been re visiting the film that inspired the work and am finding even more to glean from it.  I have also reflected on the series of small but relevant keys that unlocked the possibility of it.  So I will write the story to keep it safe.

It was ten years ago that my 75 year old father received an intriguing letter from a curator at the East Anglian Film Archives. Some home movies/ films were sent for dad to view. they may be of interest; Could he be the Graham Hunt mentioned in one of the black and white captions and if so, did he know who any of the other characters in the series of short films?

Dad was an only child.  His mother died in childbirth when he was three and after that time for a few years he was looked after by his father and a housekeeper. His mother Blanche was a tiny woman - possibly only 4ft 10 inches, her family blamed my grandfather - Charles Hunt for her death, and so there is little or no contact with them again.  The old movies were made around this time - when dad was about  four to seven years old. (1933/6) they were made by his Uncle on fathers side.. Earnie.  Dad is very recognisable in that although often blurry and very young - he has prominent big ears and skinny little limbs.

There are four  sections of film with dad clearly present.  A walk in the country, then, a most poignant sequence of play with grandpa (who I knew as a rather austere man) mucking about in a hay field, a birthday party for Esme dads older cousin - which has vignettes of little acting scenes as entertainment and also a sequence where Graham and Charles are getting into the car and to drive away.
It is all revelation, as after this time Charles married Paddy and for what ever reason, this family was lost. The obvious close relationship at such a delicate time withered with her joining the family.

Though I now know that there was some contact by letter and I think my sister and I met Ernie and Minnie (his wife - also very recognisable in the movies with solid dark framed round glasses - and a certain stylish quality) for a brief lunch visit with Paddy and Charles. Sarah and I were very young, but the event stayed in the memory due to a caterpillar in the lettuce and tension that we did not understand.

So moving on.  Dad is now over eighty.  I am living in Scotland and have friendship with Mary Cane, we both attend the MFA at Grays School of Art.
Mary has restored a series of buildings - a substantial Victorian house and its outbuildings and stables,
All done with quirky style and comfort.  Some hand rendered care and some fashionable furnishings - it is a mix of personal arts and craft creativity and grander design - I find it very appealing.

About two years ago, Mary  extracted a nostalgic and intriguing image from a 1930's movie about the House (Ardo). It showed two indistinct figures, that I read as female.  What was distinct is the period of clothing and hats and a visible body language of companionship.  Within that fleeting snapshot was a wealth of possibility.  I used the image many times.  It inspired a rich seam of pictures and they also had an appeal to others, which I did not expect.  The universal desire for nostalgia and its richness in the pre war period was being tapped in these images.

It took me another year to think of re visiting the images of my father and his pre war family. The film is on video, so it is lucky we have been too idle  to throw out the redundant machine. And my pathetic techno ability took even more time to realise the potential of the 'rapid' take  facility on my camera. Even though back in my MFA days I had delighted in the movement it could capture with a quick succession of stills.  But this is what I reference to as a trail of little clicks or chicks (or is it ducks) in a row to realise the possibility of some new work.

So I started a series of six paintings depicting my father as a young boy clambering over a hedge on a country walk. I put gentle colour into the faded black and white shots.
One of these I took out of the series as I felt it had stand alone appeal, the almost silhouetted figure looking straight out of the frame at the viewer.  I titled it 'still, looking back at me looking back'
And with a feeling of trepidation that often accompanies sending work to open shows... I took it to the Royal Academy in London where it Joined the stacks of thousands of hopeful submissions.

Hedgerow Art and Alchemy - Strathdon July 13th

HEDGEROW ART AND ALCHEMY contact Susie: or Judy or Frances. One day workshop discovering and exploring through art and herbalism the wildflowers and herbs of beautiful Strathdon Saturday 13th July 2013, 10 - 4.00pm £50 including lunch and refreshments This unique workshop tutored by artist Susie Hunt and herbalist Judy Patterson will take place in and around a well situated art studio on the edge of the Cairngorm National Park, enjoying panoramic views of the Deskry River valley. The aim is to enjoy a gentle, heart-lightening day “getting up close” to the wild plants we live amongst and normally take for granted. We will be guided through various techniques to visually record and discover the properties of the plants we find. For more information contact francescrawford@yahoo.co.uk 019756 51719

Thanks Dad...

It was a thrill to attend with all the successful artists. I found three other first timers along the route to viewing our work. (I think we latched on to each other, all looking a bit bewildered.) Procession along Piccadilly to St James Church and then back to The Royal Academy to see for ourselves that the work really was hanging and it wasn't all a joke.

The Varnishing Day

Picture In the Royal Acadamy Summer Show

For over two weeks I was in a lovely bubble of possibility. Having recieved the letter saying that my work was still under consideration for the R.A Summer Exhibition. I also had been contacted by the Culture Show and that was all wafting about my head. So arriving home, no sign of the letter... until I went into the Studio and saw it on the shelf next to the telephone. Opened and sighed with relief. Because that it what is it, after all the effort and hope.

RSW at RSA

Well, lets be honest... It is a real phillip to get a picture accepted for a big open show and particulary splendid for it to be hanging in one of the rooms of the Royal Scottish Academy. I dropped the pictures off in Edinburgh on Wednesday 13th Febuary having driven through some pretty grim snowy conditions - so it would have been doubly galling to not get one through the selection. A self imposed anxiety, to shake myself out of the Studio confort and see how the work fares in the outside world. I have a stack of totally reasonable reasons why any work does not get hung, but the bottom line is... it is good if it does.

Tolquhon Gallery Spring Exhibition

And delighted that Tolquhon Gallery will have two or three of my paintings in their spring exhibition opening on Sunday 3rd March.
Now I am out for a walk with Maybelle and Mattie.

Hedgerow Art and Alchemy 26th and 27th April

Lovely workshop with Judy Patterson (herbalist;) - For a second workshop which will include walking along the lane next to the river Don, drawing, sketching, brewing and delving into the hedgerow herbs and medicinal flora that we find along the way.

Spring Sunshine

February is just drawing to a close and some of the pictures that were on their way to show at Touched By Scotland in November are due to be picked up to return home at the end of this week.
I have driven to Kent and back delivering work to RSA on the way for the RSW open submission.  Glad and relieved that one will be showing when the exhibition opens tomorrow.