Tram Drawings

In my current work this term I have been creating drawings of the tramworks at the West End of Edinburgh. I went to Haymarket area one day a couple of months ago and was shocked at the scale of the disruption and mess of the tram works there. It was a kind of awe inspiring chaotic-looking mess and this is the feeling I have been trying to capture in my drawings. I started with two ink & pastel drawings based on some on-site sketches which looked quite traditional. So then I decided I wanted to try something more contemporary. Using an overhead projector, and inspired by the work of the artist Julie Mehretu, I produced these two pieces: 

 

First Public Success!

Hello again Blogger readers. I haven't blogged for a while - life keeps intervening, you know how it is - but I wanted to update my post with some good news. I submitted a small oil painting of mine to the RSA Open Exhibition this month and lo and behold I actually got selected! .Yahoo, it's very exciting having your first work accepted for a public exhibition.

The exhibition opened at the RSA building (lower rooms), on Princes Street, Edinburgh (slap bang in middle of the city, next to the Christmas Market and Winter Wonderland, for those who are not local) and I went to the Opening Night (invitation only!) on Friday. It was so great to see my work up there on the wall, along with paintings from many contemporary artists I admire. Here's a small shot of the wall at the exhibition - mine is on the top row, third one from the left. It's a small oil painting in expressionist style, called "Island Landscape" . Even better, someone has bought it already. I hope they will really enjoy it.