Designer Desire: William Scott

Since relocating to rural Wales, we feel as though many of the paintings we have by Northern Industrial artists just don’t suit the interior or new locale. I was doing some research online for artists whose work I felt would be more in keeping, when I discovered William Scott (1913-1989).

I love Scott’s style, composition (the repeated use of still life objects such as pears, fish and pots & pans) and palette. His pared back approach really works in simple, rustic, minimalist surroundings.

Scott was born in Greenock, Scotland and moved with his family, at the age of 11, to his father’s home-town of Enniskillen, Northern Ireland. He attended Belfast College of Art where he won a scholarship to the Royal Academy Schools.

This is what he says of his work:

I am an abstract artist in the sense that I abstract. I cannot be called non-figurative while I am still interested in the modern magic of space, primitive sex forms, the sensual and the erotic, disconcerting contours, the things of life.

Some of his later pieces really remind me of the work of Mark Rothko (see the two portrait shaped ones above). Coincidentally, here’s William Scott with the latter (Rothko stayed with the Scott family in England in 1959) in a short film produced by the Tate to accompany their Scott centenary exhibition in 2013.

As well as the Tate, his work is in the collections of the Ulster Museum, Fitzwilliam Museum, National Galleries of Scotland, The British Council Collection and Kettle’s Yard.

I’m not surprised that Kettle’s Yard has examples of his work; it’s very reminiscent (to me, anyway) of that of Ben Nicholson – another artist in the Kettle’s Yard collection.

His work often comes up for sale; from original oils for hundreds of thousands of pounds to limited-edition prints available for the tens of thousands. We may have to settle for a collection of postcards from a museum shop!

Image credits:

Artnet | ArtUK | Bonhams

Designer Desire: Faith Ringgold

A few weeks ago, we caught an episode of the BBC’s imagine… series entitled, Faith Ringgold: Tell It Like It Is. We were immediately captivated by the woman and her art. The signed version of the programme is still available to view on the iPlayer for the next 2 weeks (as of 23.08.19).

Ringgold (b.1930) paints strikingly beautiful and colourful wall-hung narrative quilts. Her works are highly prized, selling at auction for up to the hundreds of thousands of US dollars.

The programme shared the fact that she protested about the discrimination against women in exhibitions and museums, and was successful in opening up the New York art scene to more women and minority artists.

She is also a very successful children’s book author and illustrator. Her first book, Tar Beach, published in 1991, won awards.

About her work, Faith explains:

“I read feverishly, especially everything that James Baldwin had written on relationships between Blacks and Whites in America. Baldwin understood, I felt, the disparity between black and white people as well as anyone; but I had something to add — the visual depiction of the way we are and look. I wanted my paintings to express this moment I knew was history. I wanted to give my woman’s point of view to this period.”

She currently has a major exhibition running until 8 September 2019 at Serpentine Gallery in London.

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Additional image credits:

Artsy | Invaluable | Sothebys | Swann Galleries

Designer Desire: William Turner

William Turner (1920-2013), or William Ralph Turner to differentiate him from his more eminent namesake, is considered the last of the great Northern Industrial artists.

Famously, Turner was the only person to have painted L S Lowry’s portrait from life.

We have had a fair few of Will Turner’s paintings pass through our hands; all of them are pictured above. We bought them from Dave Gunning, the art dealer with a gallery in Todmorden who is credited with ‘rediscovering’ Will.

In 2005, there was a long overdue retrospective of his work that took place at Gallery Oldham for which an accompanying book was published – William Turner, An English Expressionist. Another monograph by Stuart Archer & Bill Clark was published in 2010.

Here’s a rare interview with the artist done by Granada’s North West Tonight news programme.

4 tips to make painting a room easy every time

When your home is looking a bit tired, the easiest way to freshen it up without spending a lot of money is by giving it a fresh coat of paint. It’s one of those jobs that you can do yourself and it should be easy. Unfortunately, it’s not always as easy as you think it’s going to be and sometimes, you regret getting started in the first place. However, painting can be really easy as long as you know how to do it properly and you use a few small tricks to make things simpler for yourself. Here’s how to take the stress out of painting a room and get it done quickly.

Move the furniture out

A lot of the time, people move a few things out of the room and then cover the big pieces of furniture with a dust sheet to protect it when they paint. That’s fine and you can do it that way if you like, but that furniture is still in the way when you’re trying to paint and there’s still a chance that it will get damaged. That’s why you should consider renting storage and just moving everything out for a few days until you’re finished. It’s an added cost but it will make life so much easier for you while you paint the room and you can be sure that you get a great finish on the walls.

Go for slightly darker colours

When you’re picking colours, you might want to consider going for slightly darker colours because they’re more forgiving. You don’t really want to go for beige because it’s a pretty boring colour and it shows up every single tiny mistake that you make, and it gets dirty easily. Your house will look way more interesting and you’ll get a better finish on the paint if you choose a different colour. Just make sure that you don’t go for anything too dark, otherwise, the room can look cramped and gloomy.

Buy good brushes and rollers

When you’re doing any home renovation project, you always want to keep the costs low, but don’t make the mistake of going for cheap brushes and rollers. You might save a bit of money but it will make the painting a lot harder than it needs to be. Paint goes on so much better and you get a more even finish with good quality rollers and brushes so it’s worth spending the extra money. As long as you clean them properly straight away and look after them, they’ll last you a long time.

Don’t skip the prep

Sanding off any lumps and bumps and then cleaning the walls properly is a bit of a pain but if you decide to skip this step, it’ll be harder to get a good finish when it comes time to paint. But if you prep the walls properly before you get started, the paint will go on easier and bond to the wall more effectively so painting is easier and you get a better end result.

Follow these simple tips and painting a room doesn’t have to be a chore any more, it’ll be a pleasure.

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Tag: painting