“In the month before going to Glasgow, I visited Amsterdam, Berlin and London, which are all pretty urban landscapes. Running away to the Scottish wilderness was exactly what I needed. The landscape in Scotland is totally gorgeous with tons of waterfalls rolling over stones – and luckily I hit the country right when all the leaves were starting to change. But it was cold, very cold. Glasgow, a stone cold beauty. I never really thought about the Scottish dialect before going to Scotland, but it’s so freakin’ cute. I love their little words and phrases for things, for example this wood burning stove I found, which had a cute sign saying “careful really burnie” or the fact that they call you “petal” if you’re a girl. It always gave me a smile and a good laugh.

I wanted to portray the feeling of how it is to be in awe of the place you’re visiting. The boy and girl have a look of wonder, portraying that feeling of constantly seeing interesting things. One of the images that appears in the print is of a half sunken boat, which I saw a lot of driving around outside the city. Glasgow is like a metropolis on the edge of the wild. There is nature just minutes away.”

Travel diary

Wednesday, October 23, 2013

Made the long trek from London to Glasgow via van yesterday…hippies in a van.   Did one more street piece in London while Hyland was busy dropping off artwork from Moniker Fair, check out the suits pinging and ponging   The drive up was pretty once we crawled out of London saw some green along the way.   We stopped in New Castle and had dinner / and maybe too much to drink ;) with Hush.  He’s such a solid artist and nice guy. The Geisha piece above is one of his at the New Castle Arms pub. He has an upcoming solo show at Lazarides Outsiders gallery next week.  The shot of the bridge is from New Castle an amazing city of bridges to see a nice sunset.   We’re off to find some nature outside of Glasgow today. 

Thursday, October 24, 2013

Got up real early, saw a concert from a sweet smooth voice Scotsman. Saw some soldiers in great hats.  Then headed out to the country where the poor Blasta Van promptly broke her old clutch.  Walked to a cute country store where they ordered the tow in their amazing Scottish dialect and lingo.  Rode bikes to the station and hopped on a train in Balloch, and moped back to Glasgow, and ate an overly expensive but totally awesome Thai snack at a super fancy restaurant.  Got sleepy.  Took a long nap in the superfuturistic Citizen M hotel!  Try the luck tomorrow 

Friday, October 25, 2013

Today was a mazillion times better.  Guess how you get mechanics to fix your car faster?  First, you bring them their own lil box of McNuggets, and then you play tug-a-tire with their giant dog Jacque, and then you make a massive embarrassing paint fiasco muddy studio in the middle of their parking lot. Then, All of a sudden your car gets fixed first!  Blasta the Van is back on the road, and got to see a pretty sunset in the Highlands.  Started work on these two paintings.  Had a nice breakfast.   Ate dinner at a Chalet style bistro with amazing taxidermy.  Did you know sometimes foxes need glasses?  That’s probably what got him killed.  I don’t know, What’s the Firkin Point?

Saturday, October 26, 2013

Today was a pretty darn amazing last day of my jaunt.  It was divided into two clear halves.  First another drive, this one complete with car ferry on ‘The Sound Of Shuna’, over to some more unbelievable site seeing in the Argyll Forest.  Back in Glasgow got a super tip from a London friend to go and check out the Inpublic space if you’re in Glasgow and in need of a studio spot for a short bit.  I was in need of a studio spot for a short bit so it worked out good.  Also took a snap of a statue with a cone on his head on the way to coffee and a warning on a door with very clear instructions.   This has been a super fun adventure and I’m happy for the chance.