ART OF THE REAL: ‘Art of the Real’ a realist revival? by Tara McCar...

ART OF THE REAL: ‘Art of the Real’ a realist revival? by Tara McCar...: "‘Art of the Real’ a realist revival? Throughout the last three centuries like-minded artists have chosen to converge to form movements in a..."

RWS in Malta

 I recently (last week) went to Malta with 6 other members of the RWS (Royal Watercolour Society) with a view to creating some work, which will be exhibited next year in England and Malta (Valetta). It was an extremely fruitful trip and I came away with a sketchbook full of ideas and many photographs. I thought it would be good to show some of the sketchbook here together, rather than in dribs and drabs on FB. Myself (Angus McEwan), President David Paskett, Jenny Wheatley, Michael Chaplin, George Devlin, Richard Bawden and Dennis Roxby Bott set about making sense of our surroundings. I was impressed by the variety of work, professionalism and general enthusiasm everyone displayed. It was a real pleasure to be involved with this small select group and I look forward to seeing the results next year. As you may notice this work is a lot looser for me due to the heat and time constraints, but this is a stepping stone to further work.

Art of the Real Blog

Art Of The Real

We have now created a focal point for all information relating to the Art Of the Real Collective. Over the next year we shall post any pertinent information regarding our Exhibitions. This is where you will be able to follow our journey.

Art of the Real

More information to come..............

www.angusmcewan.com

is now back in action. So you can access my website through http://www.angusmcewan.com/ or http://www.angusmcewan.co.uk/. If you havent already checked it out please do! If you dont have flash it may look like theres stuff missing, in particular the galleries, but you can still view work in the shop;)

As I've intimated there is a big announcement coming so keep checking in!!!

The New Improved Website!!

"Shed some light"- watercolour 2010

www.angusmcewan.co.uk

My new website is now up and running. For the eagle eyed amongst you, you will have noticed an address change. There is now a new web address and once the transition period is over, my previous address will take you to this site also. Hopefully you will also notice that its faster and less 'clunky' than the last one. Lots more images and a shop facility which uses paypal. If you come across something you like, let me know. Your feedback would be appreciated. I shall be adding galleries which will be grouped in terms of subject, but for the moment I decided to keep it nice and simple; work which is available to purchase and archive pieces. If you think something is missing, let me know. Anything you would like to see?

Hopefully this website will shed some light on what I've been up to recently.

There are lots of exciting things on the cards. The next couple of years are going to be extremely busy, hopefully very productive and very interesting!!!

Looking forward to it.

Website

Well after many months, nay, years of neglect the website is finally getting an overhaul. It will be launched soon and there will be a discount of mammoth proportions for invited guests. If you would like an invite, please forward your email address to me and you will have the opportunity to take advantage of this limited time offer. The offer will last one month form the official launch date.

Get typing, this is the Electronic studio sale!!!!

Resonance

Hi, I thought I would post a few images from my current show. This is especially for those who cant make it to Edinburgh for one reason or another. The show looks good. Well spaced, with lots of light, and this current collection will not be seen again in its entirety. The show finishes on the 12th of October and I really recommend you take a gander.

http://www.openeyegallery.co.uk/Open+Eye/Angus+McEwan/

Is that a watercolour?

Shadow boxer- Cuba, watercolour on collage, UF- 59 x 46cm

the start of shadow boxer

Yes!

Occasionally standing in front of my paintings I am confronted by that question. Even standing peering at the image, I am surprised and delighted that the viewer cant quite ascertain how its been produced. Perfect! I wouldn't want to produce an image that can be easily picked apart.

The two images at the top reveal how i build up the surface before adding drawing, then watercolour.

Its a long and laborious job, with lots of tiny brushes, but the effect is worth it! Well, I have to believe that, or I wouldn't be able to justify the pain and long hours at the easel to myself .

I shan't reveal anymore than that.

Something Different

"Cool Breeze", watercolour on collage, 80 x 104cm, 2010.

This exhibition offers something different to my usual fare, although I hope, still recognizable as being from my hand.

I have been experimenting with building up the surface of my painting with watercolour papers, tissue, mulberry, hemp etc, (to create a textured surface) on which I am using watercolour. It, of course, creates its own set of problems, but I believe the end result is worth the extra hassle. I have also started to use figures in my work. Not much of a revelation I know, but something I have been wanting to do for some time. I must say, both of these introductions have offered something new to my work which, I hope, will be welcomed by all who see the show.

http://openeyegallery.co.uk/Open+Eye/Angus+McEwan/

Resonance

New Show

The Open Eye Gallery

34 Abercromby Place

Edinburgh EH3 6QE

Friday 24th September - Tuesday 12th October 2010

Angus McEwan, RSW ARWS



Resonance 2010
As I brush past old walls, doors & alleyways, I imagine sounds of past lives, like whispers in the wind, The walls resonate in my imagination; music, crying, weeping, celebrations, singing, bullets zipping, shouting, laughter, etc, all woven into the fabric of the buildings, untouched by a restorer’s hand.

Human lives lived and lost, a narrative unfolds as I wander with my senses heightened. History is absorbed and reflected by the walls around me. Resonating, past lives speak to me through the textural marks on the surfaces, as I carefully observe and transcribe. It is my duty to pass on their stories. Conjecture, interpretation or even embellishment, sometimes when a painting is bereft of human presence the piece speaks volumes about human lives and their struggles. The occasional human figure in a painting allows us to empathise on an emotional level with their predicament or surroundings, our imagination is thus engaged. Through my paintings I try to imbue some of the characteristics of each object/surface, while reflecting upon the scene in front of me. If I am partially successful I will have left the viewer with the impression of more than just textured surfaces, perhaps on the odd occasion familiar sounds and smells may be triggered. Maybe a memory of something or somewhere personal may be triggered by the image. Your participation and imagination, as viewer, is a vitally important component for the story to take flight.

Saatchi Disclaimer

I received a phone call tonight from someone (C?) claiming to be from the Saatchi gallery with the claim that I was being outed as a particularly nasty character in the chatroom (Gouki?). I havent been on the Saatchi website for a considerable amount of time (12 to 18months) and my address etc has been posted in the chatroom. I am particularly annoyed as my reputation as an artist is clearly being undermined by a user called Z (I can supply the full name).

I cant get into the chatroom to verify this and I also tried to delete myself from the Saatchi website (with no luck) as i do not want to have any association with any part of this nonsense.

If anyone can help I would really appreciate it.
cheers

Queens Gallery show update

I thought I would post some images of the exhibition for those who cant make the show for one reason or another. There are 36 pieces of which a sixth have sold so far. Not panicking yet, as there are number of people still to visit and a few mulling over a sale, so hopefully the bottom line will alter with time.

Over all I am fairly pleased with the way the pieces interact, and the general idea behind the show works quite well. There are plenty of opportunities to see the connections between quite a number of pieces. Whether these are all obvious on the first glance I'm not sure, but they are there so look closer. The drawings and sketches are there to support the work, but a number of people think they stand up on their own right. I just wouldn't feel completely comfortable about putting them on the wall as items in their own right but if buyers do, then fine.

I hope you can manage down to see the exhibition, as I think the work stand closer scrutiny. I shall let you be the judge.

Hanging of Queens Gallery show

Example of the new framing.


Preparing the room.

Well its 2 days to go till my Queens Gallery show opens. Worried? Well perhaps more than normal. Not because the work lacks something. On the contrary, I am more than pleased with how the show is looking (although only at the initial hanging phase), and very pleased with the new framing. A very well done to Hugh Goring again.

Its just this economical climate that has put the chills up me! The work is very reasonably priced and I have made sure there is a huge range in sizes this time with the emphasis on slightly smaller and therefore more affordable. In this day and age its terrible that a compromise has to occur between work that will be comfortable to the viewer and therefore more saleable, and work that is more difficult to live with. Obviously the quality on show has to be up to standard, but the mere fact that an image may not appeal, actually enters into my thinking cant be a good thing. I most definitely try not to let it influence me, but it does nag away at the back of your head eating away at your decision making. All, is self doubt and natural.

If you can make it on saturday I will be more than pleased to see you. The work looks fine on the internet but getting up close and really scrutinising it is much more satisfying.

Wish me luck!

Insights

Angus McEwan RSW ARWS
Insights

Private view- Saturday 26th September 11am -2pm
The exhibition continues until Saturday 17th October

The Queens Gallery,
160 Nethergate, Dundee DD1 4DU
Tel:01382 220600
Email: info@queensgallery.co.uk

Work is for sale on receipt of this invitation and can be viewed on and purchased from the website
http://www.queensgallery.co.uk/


Artist statement

When putting together an exhibition for the purposes of selling in a gallery, there are a few self imposed “rules” which I normally adhere to. Call it convention, if you will. Keeping apart a number of works which appear similar, because they have been developed around a subject or theme is one. Not showing preparatory sketches, drawings, collages, false dawns, blind alleys etc, would be another.

You, the viewer, are being offered the rare opportunity see where ideas take off and change direction as new possibilities reveal themselves to me. Working in this manner, ideas flow continuously and there is never enough time to explore every facet. Some good ideas are never pursued and some are when they shouldn’t be, but that’s what keeps things interesting. That is also why the drawing, sketch, Maquette, is an essential part of the working process of an artist.

By omitting certain pieces from an exhibition, the idea or thread contained within a body of work can sometimes be missed or miss construed. It was my intention to allow the viewer an intended “Insight” into some of my preparatory ideas, sketches, etc as support for the main paintings. It is hoped that a little bit of the “hidden” workings will be revealed in the process.

An interesting aside to showing these support works is the fact that they can be viewed for the first time as works in their own right. There is often energy and vitality within a sketch or drawing that can be missing from the more polished variety. It is the carefree rather than careless mark that can imbue liveliness and simplicity that may be sacrificed in the making of the larger studio paintings.

If nothing else hopefully you go away with a little bit more of an “Insight” into the process involved in creating a work of Art.

Queens show looming!

" The stone speaks", watercolour,

" Vying for attention", watercolour

"Billbord altarpiece", Watercolour

Well my new show is almost ready. Do I know how it will look? In a word, No! I can only hope that it hangs together. The title of the show will be- "Insights". The basic premise of the show is to have a rare opportunity to see sketches, drawings, and collages alongside the finished item.

Some have more working drawings than others, some have none. Some are drawings in their own right and some are finished works without support material. I am hoping for around 35 pieces and rage from tiny to quite large for a watercolour (3' x 4').

As you can see the three paintings above all relate to each other. The first is my original idea for the billboard Maddona theme. The second explore the billboard as a collage of ripped poster then painted with watercolour. The last piece amalgamates the two elements together to create the large painting. Hopefully when hung together the theme of the show will work. Will it look ok? mmmm! your guess is as good as mines, ie I have no idea. I can only live in hope, again!!!

Who doesnt work from figures?

Strike a pose, graphite on paper

Art to wear, colour pencil on paper

Dutch shawl, neocolour on paper

Most of you who know my work, know that I tend not to include figures that often. Primarily because it doesn't always fit in with the subject matter I'm dealing with. It doesn't however mean I don't like to work with the figure but it tends to be a separate thing altogether. Recently we had a day at college where the lecturers worked with the figure without students. It was an excellent and productive day and allowed us to gain a little insight into the pitfalls of being a student. After all it has been a long time for most of us.

Here are a few pieces from that day. The first piece took 10 minutes, working with two models using line. The second and third pieces were 30 minutes in length and allowed me an opportunity to develop the images a little further. The second piece was produced with coloured pencil and the third made use of watercolour crayons (neocolour) which I am really enjoying at the moment. Anywhoo, I teach life drawing a lot, so this keeps me on my toes!

Eh! I'm still alive!

OK, Its been a while. I have been working quite hard actually, and just finished teaching on Tuesday for a while at least. Well the most significant piece of news, I believe, is my nomination to the Royal watercolour Society, London. So I am at the moment now an ARWS as well as an RSW (confused?). This will now involve me in being a lot more active in showing down in the Bankside Gallery, London.

I also met Prince Charles in Holyrood earlier this month in conjunction with the RSW. I managed to chat to him for a while about watercolour which was very insightful.

At the moment I am busy working towards my next show which will be in the Queens Gallery, Dundee on the 26th September 2009. The show will be entitled "Insights" and will include drawings, collages, sketches and finished pieces. I wanted to show some of my support work which normally never sees the light of day. Anywhoo, I will be back..........honest!

Curiosities Book

A small piece in the press an Journal, Scotland

I have put the "Curiosities" Catalogue (A4 book) on eBay in the "buy now" category if anyone would like to purchase one they could use pay pal. It means if I have some in the studio it could be winging its way to you ASAP, if not it takes about 3 or 4 days for photobox to produce it and send to me. Either way its probably a more convenient way to purchase the catalogue.



Here is the URL for the eBay page:



http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/Angus-McEwan-Curiosities-Art-Book_W0QQitemZ130265412549QQcmdZViewItem?hash=item130265412549&_trkparms=72%3A1301%7C39%3A1%7C66%3A2%7C65%3A12%7C240%3A1318&_trksid=p3286.c0.m14

Drawing near

...............the show in the Open Eye Gallery that is. I am still trying to finish the last and probably largest piece for the exhibition. I have less than a week, but I think it will be enough. Although I always seem to need a day or so more than I think, to complete a painting, so It could still be touch and go. Oh the excitement, or is that fear? I am not sure, perhaps both.

Fear that this credit crunch thingy will have drained the enthusiasm as well as the pockets of those who may have been interested in purchasing some of my latest work. On the plus side I have a lot of small paintings for sale. But, that has been niggling away at me as well. Will I have enough to fill the gallery without it looking avant garde. Will my nerve hold? mmmmm!

I have also produced a "catalogue" for the show. It is, perhaps, more of a little book (A4) than a traditional catalogue. I decided to go for the really nice looking but expensive option this time. The books are produced on line through photobox and cost roughly £20 each. I am going to sell them at cost to anyone who wants one. I just need the name and address of each person that is interested and I can produce them as and when I need to. It therefore gets rid of the, where do I stash my 500 catalogue, syndrome? It also looks pretty nice.