Sunday
Jan102010
Happy New Year 2010
Sunday, January 10, 2010 at 06:31AM 
It's that time of the year again and Robert Burns looms large in the Cairney life once again. It will begin appropriately in Alloway for a charity dinner and will continue in Dubai of all places for a special performance of 'The Robert Burns Story' with Alicia Devine. This will be repeated again in Crail and Edinburgh and the haggis season will end in the west, as it began, on Loch Lomondside then at the Oran Mor in Glasgow in a memorial concert for the late Alex Clark, the Equity man in Scotland.
Meantime, I am scripting a pair of solo scripts based on the Mr and Mrs Mackintosh. The first one on Charlie, commissioned by the Charles Rennie Mackintosh Heritage Trust, is in second draft. Margaret, commissioned by French interests, is still in first, and both are going ahead strongly. 'Stage Whispers', my book on the inside story of actors, has now reached the final draft stage and has been submitted to Luath Press for proofing prior to printing. It means I can now get on with the next book on the contract list, which has been waiting at the side of my desk for more than a year now.
2009 ended strongly with a performance at Henderson's Restaurant in Edinburgh of 'A Classic Christmas'. This is a combination of Dickens and Dylan Thomas. In the famous 'Christmas Carol', I transposed the setting to Edinburgh. Scrooge had his home in the New Town and his office in George Street and his nephew and niece-in-marriage came from Glasgow. 'A Child's Christmas in Wales' spoke for itself and was well received. I'm now considering what I might do for Henderson's in 2010 particularly at the Edinburgh Festival.
But what I have to report from that same venue is that the Henderson Art Gallery sold 'Deus Aeterna', an oil painting of a cathedral interior (see Gallery). This is good as part of the proceeds go towards The Pyjamas Foundation raising money for The Kids' Hospital in Edinburgh. The sale has encouraged me to think again of my art work and plans for a later exhibition this year at The Ceilidh Place in Ullapool. The only question is when will I find the time to paint, which is a good position for any actor to be in.
Reader Comments (2)
Hello John,
Just to report that I have read of your painting year with interest and that "Deus Aeternus" is displayed on a wall in our sitting room and is much admired by friends and family.
-Montblanc Swiss watches replicasospital in Edinburgh. The sale has encouraged me to think again of my art work and plans for a later exhibition this year at The Ceilidh Place in Ullapool. The only question is when will I find the time to paint, which is a g