Gerard M Burns Newsletter Jan/Feb 2001

A Happy New Year to one and all!

Hope you had a good festive break.

2001 appears so far to be shaping up as the year of "Portrait painting". Certainly the first six months are set to be dominated by three or four fairly large commissions. These, coupled with a commitment to participate in a four man show in the Richmond Hill Gallery in June, should ensure that I will be busy between now and the summer.

The portrait work seems to be falling into a couple of broad categories:-

Formal portraits, by which I mean paintings in which the subjects are posed in the traditional manner and in which the sitters are unquestionably the focus and purpose of the work, and portraits where the subjects are painted within the context of a theme or situation. I've included an example which falls into the first category above left. Although there are, in the second category, several "works in progress", the intended recipients have not yet seen their paintings so it is probably not a good idea to put them on the web just yet. Instead I've included "Two Women with Umbrellas" (also work in progress) which features my sister-in-law Roseanne Johnstone and which illustrates the point well enough.

"Emma and Hannah Quayle" (shown above left), commissioned by parents Tony and Dianne Quayle, was begun before the end of last year and falls into the first category. It shows the two girls relaxed in their own home, and if I have got the painting right, it should be a very natural depiction of the two girls within familiar surroundings. This painting is "about" the two girls and as such there is virtually no other criteria by which its success or failure can be judged. In complete contrast the painting featuring Roseanne is a painting very simply of a woman on a typical Glasgow day. Unlike the painting of the Quayle girls, the fact that this also happens to be a painting of Roseanne is of almost secondary importance as far as the finished work is concerned.

As you can imagine, each of these approaches brings with it its own share of problems and difficulties, the least of which you may be surprised to hear, is obtaining the likeness itself. I'll try to include some photos of some of the other portrait work which is presently under way in the next newsletter.

Sales this month include "The Herald" (shown right) and the "Study of a Young Woman in an Interior". "The Herald" was snapped up by David and Debbie Yeoman, after they had seen the piece on display at Flora and Sandy's Christmas bash. David and Debbie have also commissioned a portrait of themselves and their son "Harris".

"Study of a Young Woman in an Interior" (Glasgow Art Club) sold to none other than Marrianna Penturo (owner of the Richmond Hill Gallery) and the fate of "NSEW" still hangs in the balance. (The question is of course:- "Can Sandy bear to part with such a flattering image of himself?" -Watch this space)

As well as the wealth of commissioned work which is presently under way, I am trying hard to keep as much of my own work alive as possible.

"Proserpine" (work in progress shown left) is the largest of the new works at almost 7ft x 5 ft and is destined at some point for "Groucho Saint Judes" in Glasgow.

I have also begun work on a series of "Winter Landscapes" ("Woman in a Winter Landscape" shown right) and some new "Rainy Day" paintings, all inspired by the sight of the same sister-in-law Roseanne who arrived on Christmas Day dressed in her black winter coat and hat.

If things go as planned these paintings will feature in the Richmond Hill Gallery in the near future.

I am also promising myself that I will begin work on "The Road to Calvary" a fairly monumental piece which has been in my sketchbook for a number of years now. It should rival "The Cross Triptych" both in terms of scale and subject matter. However this may be a bridge too far in the midst of all the other work which is currently underway. As well as planning the painting itself I have spoken to Chris Kay (cousin and Director) about the possibility of filming the progress of the painting. The idea would be to produce some kind of short documentary around the development of the piece. At this stage the whole idea is still very much in its infancy. Chris however seems fairly enthusiastic about the idea so we'll just have to wait and see what happens.

Charlie Springall's commission on behalf of DTZ is nearing completion. Unfortunately I ran out of time with regard to featuring the work in this newsletter. However with Charlie's permission I think I'll devote most, if not all, of the next letter to the DTZ commission. The first phase - consisting of "Goldfish and Koi Carp" watercolours - are at time of writing about to be installed and the large oil for the boardroom should be in place over the next two weeks. Charlie himself seems not to be able to get enough of a good thing and both he and Monica are in the process of commissioning some work for their new house. - Not quite sure at this stage what exactly he is going to opt for but apparently he has some big walls which are just crying out for paintings.........He has of course come to the right man!

One new feature of the newsletters will be the "featured painting" (suggested by Steven Murdoch) in which I will try to look at a painting in a little more depth.

This month I am featuring "Orpheus" (shown right) presently hanging in "Groucho Saint Judes" in Glasgow.

P.S. Please remember - let me know what you think. Any thoughts, comments, and observations - gratefully received.
G.B.