The Ropey

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The walkway in the old ropeworks, Montrose where the film ‘If we should meet sometime’, played during the show – ‘Baltic street notebooks’ – June 2016.

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Still from the film.

 

 

 

 

Stories in all shapes and sizes.

Whilst painting my studio yesterday I listened to a radio 4 adaptation of Strindberg’s play ‘Miss Julie’. Astonishing and brave, it left me feeling empty, bereft almost. So in order to lighten the mood I then played a couple of episodes of ‘Still Game’,  which still make me laugh loudly and stupidly.  I admired the juxtaposition of these two fictions.

This morning I walked out of the village past the cabbage field and up to the recycling centre to do some drawing. Rab and Pete and Jake the Scotty dog said it was ok as long I didn’t get run over. So I drew part of the model village they have created which is a wonder in itself, and the portakabin where they issue forth instructions. Rab brought me a cup of tea which was most welcome after battling with the strong winds. After, I showed them my sketch, and I somehow became involved in agreeing to paint a backdrop for their model village. Not sure how that happened, anyway it’ll be a nice thing to do. I asked them about the people they get coming here and was told that they’ve had Archie McPherson visit as well as the one off of Harry Potter, but couldn’t remember his name and they two from ‘Still Game’………!  Jake the scotty dog had his photo taken with the tall one. Celebrities, rubbish, a Lilliputian village complete with zoo, and a nineteenth century Swedish playwright. What would Isa make of those stories….

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Back road Catterline.

 

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Garages and sheds, mixed media on ply.

Doors open into a gloom of stored yesterdays. Gently mouldering boxes of half tins of paint leftover from the days of tangerine and mint green silk emulsion. Toys that cannot be discarded, not yet anyway, because…..A broken deckchair, and a thing for, you know, for…., aye well it might still come in handy. Wellie boots with holes in, hanging basket planters, when we thought it might be nice to look as if we cared, an Atari games console complete with pac man game, a tin of bent rusty nails and a pogo stick.

Wooden garages Catterline.

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Mixed media on paper. 73 x 47 cm

Summer .

Memories of  bitumen and creosote being painted on wood, and the smell with the heat of summer. My feet finding soft, sticky patches of tar on the road and pushing my toes into the black glue. Of course I would walk it into the house and spend days trying to scrub the tattooed molasses from my skin. By August my legs bruised, scabbed, tarred and sunburnt.