BP portrait competition entry 2012

It's that time of year again when the competitions across the country start calling for entries. My choices for February are the BP Portrait Award, the Lynn-Painter Stainers Prize, and the Royal Portrait Society Annual Exhibition. They are all due in at pretty much the same time and are all London based, so the considerations are mainly the cost of sending the work down there from Glasgow rather than having enough work to go round.

I have been working on a series of portraits of the incredibly beautiful Missy Malone. I love every painting I make of her, and I was very honoured when she agreed to come and model for some paintings. She has given me a painting challenge in return, to portray her sitting on an elephant, so watch this space during March for progress. The pose I chose for the portrait is a demure one, where she is at rest sipping a nice cup of tea. I have been moving towards portraing the burlesque performers, not only in the throws of a performance, but also at rest. The final one is an oil painting, 100 x 80cm large, and is simply called 'Missy' and I hope she likes it as much as I do.


So back to the competitions; the Royal Portrait Society has started an interedting idea of judging works online, so you still pay your £12 per work, but you only send it down if you get picked. This is a great bonus for artists living outside London. The Stainer-Painter prize always has interesting mix of work, but as I want to try and  promote myself more as a portrait painter, so the other two win my money this year. Wish me luck!

New Year, New Studio

For over 6 years I have been working out of a bedroom studio in my home. My house was getting more and more full of paintings and art paraphenalia and I was also concerned that the house smelt of turps constantly. So, with trepidation, I put my name down on the waiting list for a WASPS studio at the beginning of the year, not expecting anything to happen for at least 3 years.
 
With all the new refurbishments going on with the WASPS studios around Glasgow, there were a lot of artists moving from one studio to another and I got the fabulous opportunity of a proper artist's studio in the refurbished Briggait building in the Merchant City, a very bohemian end of Glasgow. I was offered the studio in December and started the long task of moving in my equipment and furniture on the 4th January.

Here is the studio before I moved in. It didn't look so big when it was empty.

I have now moved in a small amount of my stuff and the place is looking quite homely and nicely minimalist (for me). I am not sure how long that will last, but I will enjoy it while I still have plenty of floorspace. I love it there as the light is amazing; I have a wall that is completely glass plus some of the ceiling too. I cannot wait until the summer when I will get so many more hours of daylight. My husband is worried that he will never see me!

So now, if you want to see my work, I will also have a continuous little show of paintings, framed, and in progress, in studio 203. Come and say hi (but call first to get let in)!

Shoredich Street Art Inspiration!

not quite a tropical holiday

In November, my husband and I toyed with the idea of going on a wee holiday to somewhere warm, but for some reason we were drawn to London, as we hadn't been down for a while. We decided to go for a long weekend and booked into the swanky Hoxton Hotel in Shoredich, and area we had never been to before.

ROA rat artwork

On getting off at Old Street, I spied this brillaint piece of street art, and knew we were staying in the right area for an artist and a photographer to visit. The area of Hoxton and Shoredich has changed from a down at heel place to one of the hippest areas I have been to. They even have their own fashion style, and they are called the Hoxton Hipsters.

poster street art seen from the hotel window

Art behind a steel fence, near the Hoxton Hotel.

Near the hotel were two great cafe bars. The Breakfast club with a distinctly 80s vibe and The Book Club on Leopold Street, that had wonderful illustrations painted onto he walls as well as a fab exhbition of drawings (sorry, I didn;t write down the name of the artist). The food was great too.

the Book Club, Leopold Street, London

Scarey Bridge Art

painting under the bridge on the other side.

On Sunday, we headed down towards Brick Lane for the market, and took in some of the great street art on the way, as well as on the street.

 This one was created by chipping the plaster away from the wall to make the tones in the face. From a distance it just looked painted!
All along Brick Lane, gems of urban art could be spotted behind the busy stalls selling vintage clothing, antiques and knocked off bike parts.

Picasso lives!

Muerte Boy

A real banksy? Who can say

The Big Chill Bar

 Every street corner was an inspiration for this artist who is tired of seeing the same old commercial and classical art out there. This art was raw, exciting and urban. It often had something to say and was free for all to enjoy. Some may hate it and see it as simply vandalism, but art like this, for me, is nothing short of absolute inspiration!

New Online shop for Giclee Prints

We have been very busy over the last few days, completely revamping my 'Cheap Thrills' online shop.

a screen grab of the new shop online

 The reason for making the shop is that I receive so many positive comments on my paintings and drawings through online admirers of my work, but very few of those people have the kind of money to spare that an original oil painting costs.

The shop will initially be for the sale of reproduction prints of my paintings, made at a professional art print studio usng the Giclee print method. The papers are all archival as are the inks, making this no ordinary inkjet print. The images are roughly 25cm along the shortest side (plus a white border for easy framing) and start at £60. They all come signed and numbered by myself at the bottom.

I have limited the print runs to only 30 prints, and as the runs sell out, the cost will increase. This means that early bird buyers get the most rewards!

I hope soon to add new sections of drawings and small artworks, so keep your eyes peeled.

www.fionawilson.net/cheapthrills

LUXE MIDWINTER show at BON PAPILLON, Edinburgh

I have just returned from a long daytrip out to Edinburgh, to deliver new work to Bon Papillon for their new xmas show titled: ‘LUXE MIDWINTER’ opening this Saturday 26th November from 2-5pm.

A little cup of tease, oil on canvas, 20 x 20cm

Trevor and I turned up like a whirlwind at Bon Papillon, with my usual array of colurful bags full of art. There was quite a lot, so Ingrid had the daunting task of quickly deciding which pieces were best for the show. There will be about 19 pieces of mine in the show, ranging from £1395 to only £70, so a lot of pockets are catered for!

unglamorous baggage

  There will also be work by two of my artist friends, Emma Mount who has submitted her fabulous pin-up painting called Kemper the Impervious, and Fiona Watson who is one of the top printmakers at Glasgow Print Studio  who has framed up 'There's a tattoo of you name across my soul'.

  There are of course, many other great artists showing including our lovely hostess, Ingrid Nilsson, who runs the gallery as well producing these imaginative paintings.

work awaiting places in their  new home for December

As well as popping along to see the art, it is well worth visiting for a delicious lunch or a warming hot chocolate and some of their excellent home-made cakes. A meal in themselves!

The show will run until Christmas Eve, then the gallery will be closed for the holidays until 13th January next year. Maybe see you there!

BON PAPILLON  gallery – café – framing

15 Howe Street, Edinburgh              
 www.bonpapillon.com

International Art Shipping

I think what I love about being self-emlpoyed as an artist the best, is the bizarre range of jobs you end up doing. A lovely gentleman from London enquired about one of my large paintings, Lemon Petticoat, and was happy to purchase her if I could ship the painting to France.
The professional courier cost half the cost of the painting plus insurance, so my hero or a husband, who happens to be a dab hand at DIY, came to the rescue with his box making skills.
This is the package that will be going with a courier tomorrow. I just hope they have a screwdriver at the other end!

Tunnocks, Aye Doll!

I was invited to submit work into a small group show called Gandolfi Loves Tunnocks. The show was a spin off from the larger event at the Glasgow Print Studio in the spring of this year, where my saucy tunnocks inspired painting flew out the door the day after the opening.

Since it was a show by printmakers, I decided to try my first piece of digital art. I had a couple of old Barbie dolls lying around my studio so I thought about making a pin-up girl for the Tunnock's brand. I used the wrappers to make swimming costumes, then painted the doll's faces to be more 50s inspired. The hair was styled and a backdrop of the seaside was painted before organising a shoot with my professional photographer husband, Trevor Wilson

I wanted the image to be like an old fashioned postard so I found a card with the fancy edges and scanned it to make a mask over the image. I then added a Glasgow postmark, since Tunnocks is based just outside the city. I got the giclee printed by Ian at Lighthouse Photographics who was very patient in achieving the washed out colour effect that I was after.

Here is the finished print with the model and a teacake. I also submitted a mini version of the painting that sold at the last show. Sadly, the print was not hung as part of the show it was intended for as there was, apparently, not enough room for both pieces and the painting went better with the other work.  It was still very disappointing after all the work in getting it produced, but I am sure she will enjoy her debut as part of the show at Bon Papillon opening at the end of November.

I am also hoping to have my new online shop ready in early December, so keep your eyes peeled, or sign up to this blog for updates.