Burns seasons and Art events

The Burns season passed with its usual collection of moments, the high points for me being delivering Burns’ ‘Address to a Young Friend’ to a young boy of 11 on the steps of reception of the Brig o’ Doon Hotel, capturing a silence at the end of the Burns’ evening to an audience of the glitterati in Dubai, the wonderful warmth and humanity of the evening at Crail, and the free exchange of Burnsiana with the audience in the night by the banks of Loch Lomond. The season ended with a moving memorial concert given for Alex Clark, the late Equity organiser for Scotland, a man who loved Burns and his fellow man.

I was then able to get back to the desk and finish writing the Mackintosh solo script, who was an artist turned architect, who ultimately became a great painter. While on art matters, I have to report that I’ve sold another painting, the triptych in oils dealing with ‘The Last Supper’, which now hangs in Maybole Catholic Church, Our Lady and St Cuthbert’s. To celebrate the event, I delivered a lecture on ‘Faith in Art’ to the parishioners at their Church Hall as a gesture of thanks.

It was another art event took me to The Auld Kirk gallery at Kirkintilloch, where I opened an exhibition, Art and the Architect, featuring the work of my good friend, John Coleman. This was an interesting link to my previous work on Mackintosh. What was particularly exciting about this exhibition was the span of it, from soft pencil drawing, through water colours to oils and the very latest high technical graphic architectural illustration. It was gratifying to see such a large crowd attend an art opening of such diversity.

 It’s back to the drawing board for me now, whether word or images will depend on the muse.