Ewan John

Strawberry picking

2011-08-07T10:06:00.000-07:00

Last weekend we went strawberry picking. In Scotland, I know. Very warm day, perfect strawberries in abundance. Beautiful day at Craigie's Farm between Crammond and South Queensferry.

Georgian maps

2011-08-07T10:01:00.000-07:00

New passion to explore I think... Maps, Georgian maps. Don't know if you can make out the detail but each house has its own personality. This one was in the Starbucks on George street, Edinburgh. Nice.

Hill Top Farm - Home of Beatrix Potter

2011-07-07T03:25:00.000-07:00

Went camping in the wet and beautiful Lake District last week and took the opportunity to go and see the home of Beatrix Potter. The house is so popular that you are allotted a time of entry. It is so dark in there, to preserve the paintings and artifacts, that when you come out the garden is white. Yes I did see rabbits in the garden, a lot of them. Went on to the Gallery in Hawkshead which was well presented and again, completely dark inside.
http://www.nationaltrust.org.uk/main/w-beatrixpottergallery

Search for inspiration

2011-05-07T00:54:00.000-07:00

Went on a bit of a jaunt around the borders last week. Apart from being told to take my backpack off by a National Trust Nazi, like I were a jittery 14 year old on a school trip (I'm 38 and have never knocked an antique vase from a table on to the floor by any accidental or deliberate means, with or without a backpack) it was a great day at Culzean castle...http://www.nts.org.uk/Property/97/

Anyway... on to Burn's birthplace. Simple. There's a well conceived collection of period items and 'Burnsabilia' in the new purpose built museum and the little stone farm building, where he lived in his early years, has some nice graphic touches. Hats off to whoever was bold enough to suggest these items featured below instead of plumping for the predictable 'tartan and haggis'.

The Burns children's bedclothes floating above the cabin bed

Nice font, Sir!

Pittenweem

Another day out and about looking for inspiration. Pittenweem, fife. It was established as a fishing port in 1228! 

Remarkably, they still have the same public toilets.

My dad used to sing this to anyone who'd listen...

Pittenweem Jo
I’m gaun wi a lass frae Pittenweem,
She’s every fisher laddie’s dream;
She guts the herrin doon by the quay,
And saves her kisses just for me.

Oh last July it came tae pass,
I met this bonnie fisher lass;
Wi her een sae blue and black her hair,
I met her doon at Ainster Fair.

Chorus:
Pittenweem, Pittenweem,
She’s every fisher laddie’s dream;
She guts the herrin doon by the quay,
And saves her kisses just for me.

I says tae her “Can I tak ye hame?”
She says “Oh fine I ken yer game;
But ne’er the less ye’re awfy kind,
In fact I widnae really mind.”

I took her hame that Saturday nicht,
The moon was shinin oh sae bricht; 
And as we lay there on the grass,
I says “Hey Jo, wad ye be ma lass?”

She’s my lass noo, and weel I ken,
She disnae gang wi ither men;
For I was quick where they were slow,
And that’s how I won ma Pittenweem Jo.

Chorus:
Pittenweem, Pittenweem,
She’s every fisher laddie’s dream;
She guts the herrin doon by the quay,
And saves her kisses just for me.

Just in case you were unsure as to this buildings function.

Culross, fife...

2011-04-23T09:49:00.000-07:00

And, as if it had never existed, 

back in to the coastal mist, 

vanished the magical little port

on the Fife coast, Culross.

Work Bench

2011-04-23T09:44:00.000-07:00

I don't think of myself as a

messy worker, however,

this photograph might

make me change my mind.

Boxed in

2011-04-03T03:32:00.000-07:00

Was feeling a bit boxed in, tried screen printing on my recycled boxes for The Red Door Gallery and some old boxes I had lying around.

The Olden Days Part iii

2011-02-27T01:51:00.000-08:00

Here, is where I would like to live. Walking out under big skies with a dog. Victorian water-colours. Funny how the older you get the more you turn to the things you would never have considered appreciating. These Victorian Water-colours for example. I love them. Not because they are the most beautifully executed little paintings with dabs of white gouache and the occasional pencil mark but because I can see how time has faded the paper and transformed it. If you look at the edges, where the mount has protected the paint and paper from sunlight, the colours are far more vibrant than in the center.

The Olden Days Part ii

2011-02-27T01:43:00.000-08:00

As I get older I want a decent photo of myself, not for vanity, just that I usually look a mess. But if I ever needed a photo, which one would I use? One of me in a tight fitting T-shirt with food stains on it and sporting unwashed hair presumably, not looking my best. So why not get a professional photograph done? Everyone used to do it. In the Victorian era, everyone was at it, including animals.

I've started to collect these portraits for inspiration, perhaps it will filter through to my drawings.

The Olden Days Part i

2011-02-27T01:33:00.000-08:00

Obviously I wished I lived in the olden days, but here we have the dilemma. As an artist I would presumably be poor so therefore not be part the society I would aspire to be included in. So there ends the dream, as I sit in the gutter peeling rotten veg for supper and talking to myself. Or does it? Do I work hard and rise above my station and become Lord and live in a moderately enormous stately home? A small country house would do, I'm not greedy after all.

Anyway, here are some small portraits I found this week. John player Cigarette Cards 'Miniatures' reproduces with a little description of the sitter and the Artists.

The Society of Scottish Artists Annual Show 2011

2011-02-12T10:52:00.000-08:00

Amazing. I have won a prize at the The Society of Scottish Artists Annual Show, 2011. It is the Mansfield Park Gallery Prize, a solo show at their gallery in the near future. I am absolutely delighted.

Valentines Day Badge Packs!

2011-02-01T11:39:00.000-08:00

Just thought I'd share my Valentines Day Badge Packs!

Available to buy now from The Red Door Gallery, Edinburgh, Boo Vake, Perth, Cuckoo Cuckoo, Hastings and my own Folksy Shop...