THE SHOW Well. Times have changed since my last show, Road Trip in 2008. Some of theses changes are universal, some are personal. These changes are reflected in my work in various ways. For a start, as you can see, there is no fancy-pants catalogue for this show. My attention has also shifted from far away to a place closer to home. The paintings in this show, Down by the Sea, will also look a little different to my previous work. The subject matter remains the same on many levels but I am now approaching it from a slightly different angle. Before, I used a photographic style, mainly to distance myself from the physical in an attempt to see past it, now I am using the shapes, lines, energy and the colours of what I am actually painting to try and get to the same place. The pictures for the most part are getting bigger and the painting style is becoming looser. I think it is more usual to exhibit pictures in a group that are executed in the same style but here its still possible to see a tightening and loosening of style from picture to picture. Its could appear to be a bit incoherent in one sense but I like that, and that is quite different from my previous shows which tended to be more ordered. None of this negates my earlier paintings, everything I do is as true as I can make it at the time and in a sense that truth is timeless its just the representation of it changes as we alter our perspective. So Down By The Sea is a transitional show and I'll outline a few of those reasons for that transition now.

LIFE IN THE BEANO In October of last year a Repetitive Strain issue I had had for a couple of years flared up to the point where I could no longer use my right hand and arm. It resulted in 5 months off work. It looked for a while like I might have to find a new way to pay the rent and I decided that my painting which wasn’t physically possible at that point anyway would have to be shelved. Not too long after I made this depressing decision I realised that it hadn’t taken. At all. There was a large part of me carrying on regardless. I was planning a new show, formulating future projects, checking out galleries, identifying new skills to master. You remember the Beano? I was like the man in The Numskulls. Not in charge. I really didn’t know what to make of this but I realised with some great relief that painting is not something I will be able to shake off.  After a couple of months of rehab(the physical kind) I tried my hand at a few paintings. It became apparent pretty quickly that I could no longer depend on always creating small and intricate detail in my paintings and also that sitting down while working was problematic. This led to a few changes. I began to paint standing up which in turn led to bigger strokes and that in its turn led me to larger surfaces. And so painting became more relaxed and less intense for me.

“MODERN ART” This change in style has been welcome in another, unexpected way. I have always been a fan of all sorts of Art and it disturbs me that so many people are still, after half a century dismissive of "modern" art, (by this I mean anything from the Picasso at the start of the 20th century to Dorothy Cross in the present day.) It may surprise some but Pollock, Rothko and Hodgkins are high on my list of favourite painters and there has always been an intention explore the path between the figurative and the abstract in my painting not just for myself but maybe in an attempt shine a little light for anyone who cared to look. This change in circumstance has given me a nudge to move a little in this direction, a step away from the figurative, albeit a small one, and a larger step towards colour and movement.

DOWN BY THE SEA So much for the work. Why here, why am I painting a Surf Centre Cafe? Well part of my physical rehabilitation was to find some exercise to strengthen my back. A friend with some busted discs found body boarding to be good and to me the combination of being in the sea and lying down alot immediately appealed. I would say at this point that I suspect that the body board is not held in as high esteem as the surf board by some in the surfing fraternity but everyone around here has been far too nice to say anything and so the Surf Café became a natural place to chill after sessions in the sea. Sitting here in the winter and spring sunshine which pours through the glass walls that enclose the spiralling, shell like heart of the Surf Centre, inspiration began to strike. Maybe it was my unsure future or maybe it was the buzz of being in the sea. Maybe it was the quality of the southern light that suffuses this building season after season but I was forced more into the present, forced to look at what was in front of me, right now. My carefully researched project about the unchecked development during the Celtic Tiger went out the window and the present moment of light, shape and colours came in the door and this show came into being.

EVERYTHING CHANGES, EVERYTHING STAYS THE SAME So things have changed. I am enjoying the process of painting more and I think that shows. I have become quicker to step up to the easel, because I hold the ability to paint all the more precious now that I know I can lose it. This was driven home yet again with the premature loss this winter of a great spirit I was lucky to have known: life is ephemeral, time is short. SALUTE is a tribute to that spirit. But some things are the same, I’m still peering through windows and doors, still gazing through cups of tea. I didn’t plan this show and when it became apparent it was a show I didn’t analyse it too much beyond what I have written here. I hope you enjoy it as much as I’ve enjoyed creating it. What happens next I have no idea, that’s up to the Numskulls. I do know finally that I am, after this long dark winter, for better or for worse, an artist for keeps.

MATERIALS AND PRICING I have as usual been using oil paint and for the most part it is artist quality though I have been using some student quality white and mixing in some hues, which are made with less expensive pigment, with the more expensive version of some colours e.g. cobalt blue and cobalt blue hue. I have also used artists turpentine as a mixer rather than linseed oil. Some of the paintings are oil on oil primed board and some are on ready made canvas as I cant really make up my own canvasses right now. The ones on board, I have mounted on 9mm MDF to save on framing but I would recommend that these are framed at some point. The ones on canvas can be hung as they are but again framing is probably desirable. These measures saved costs for me so I am can to pass on savings to you so a framed picture form my previous show will be comparable in price to a painting twice the size but unframed in the current show. I have also begun experimenting with block printing, I have hung three samples in this show and I will be selling them framed and unframed at some point. If anyone is interested in getting a print please email me at clare@clarescott.ie and I will put you on my mailing list.