An interview between Christina Jansen and Anthony Baxter

Eye of the Storm

AN INTERvIEW WITH ANTHONY BAxTER

Poster for Eye of the Storm Previous page: The artist’s house at Craigview, Montrose Eye of the Storm was broadcast on Easter Sunday, 9pm, 2021 while the uk was in its second national lockdown. As Anthony Baxter’s film was viewed on BBC2, thousands of viewers took to The Gallery website to find out more about the artist they were watching, sending enquiry after enquiry until eventually our site crashed from the weight of over 60,000 visitors simultaneously contacting us. The following week was an extraordinary collective outpouring of grief and love and we found ourselves listening to and giving counsel to many who had been moved by the portrayal of James Morrison. We have subsequently been contacted by viewers across the uk and worldwide. Eye of the Storm is a sensitive portrayal of an ageing artist losing his eyesight, giving an account of a life dedicated to the landscape and his environmental concerns. We are delighted to share an interview with Scottish BAFTA award winning director and cinematographer Anthony Baxter to give further insight into the making of Eye of the Storm and the relationship which developed between them. CHRISTINA JANSEN The Scottish Gallery

CJ When did James Morrison contact you and what inspired you to make a documentary film on James in particular? AB I first got in touch with James, after he wrote me a very moving letter after watching my 2012 feature documentary You’ve Been Trumped. Jim had been disturbed by the destruction of the landscape in Aberdeenshire that Donald Trump bulldozed to make way for his luxury golf resort. After speaking to James on the phone, he suggested meeting. But it was my uncle, Denis Rice – a lifelong friend of James – who facilitated that initial get together. I remember stepping out of the car with Denis at James’s home near Montrose, Craigview House, and looking out towards Scurdie Ness lighthouse. Denis told me that he had always seen the landscape differently, after viewing his first Morrison painting decades previously. And standing there looking up at the dramatic

sky that day, I knew exactly what he was referring to. Once inside, I had my first meeting with Jim and he talked about his years painting in Glasgow, his life in the landscape in Catterline, where the iconic Scottish painter Joan Eardley also lived. And then his move to Angus and adventures painting in the Arctic. At that time, Jim had been struggling with his eyesight and Denis was encouraging him to pick up his brushes once again. Jim explained he had been planning to get back to doing some painting in the studio, and I asked him if I could film him over a couple of days with a view to possibly making a documentary about his life and work. Jim said he thought it was a ‘marvellous idea’, and so it began.

CJ What is your personal connection to Angus and Montrose? AB My mother, Maureen Rice, and her three siblings were all born in Montrose. My grandfather, William Rice, who himself was a keen amateur artist in later life, was the second vet in the town. We often went to Montrose on holiday as children during the 1970s and early 80s. After becoming a broadcast journalist, I had been living in Blackheath, southeast London for 10 years, when I made the decision to move to Scotland. And in 2005, I bought what would become my home just off Montrose High Street. At that time, I had many relations in the town – three first cousins all married with young children. And the internet was making it possible to work away from traditional media centres such as London. And so I established my production company here in the town, Montrose Pictures.

CJ What did you set out to capture? AB When filming documentaries, I mainly work alone without a crew. And so it was in this case, as I wanted to intimately capture James as he returned to painting after a break enforced by his fading eyesight and a recent double hernia operation, and follow that process. I decided to limit the time I spent filming with James so as not to tire him out. And I would tend to sit first with him and his partner Ann Keddie over a coffee – and then do an hour or so of filming following that. Jim would often take a break from painting to tell a story. It might have been about his time at The Glasgow School of Art or his painting trips to the Arctic. All were enlightening. And as he talked, I began to think further about how I might illustrate the more dramatic events in his life, in the film.

CJ How did your relationship with Jim develop? AB As time went on, I found I developed a trust with James, that enabled him to feel comfortable discussing various chapters of

Following page: stills from Eye of the Storm. his life. Jim enjoyed the opportunity to put on the record some of the experiences that he’d been through. I think all of us who have elderly relatives often feel it would be wonderful to have written down or recorded chapters and events that helped shape their lives. And James seemed to feel, this was a good opportunity to do just that.

CJ Your choice of animation is fascinating – could you tell us more about that particular aspect of the film? AB Originally the film was commissioned by BBC Scotland as an hour. But I have always felt cinematically, a feature length documentary allows more freedom. And so we applied for some further Screen Scotland support to enable us to bring to life James’s experiences in the Arctic and to also envisage his time at The Glasgow School of Art, painting in that city and his time painting in Paris as part of a longer film.

Getting to the Arctic and filming there would have been impossible even with some additional resources. And so, I thought about the possibility of animation – and had seen one of Catriona Black’s previous works through my friend Mike Nicholson in Edinburgh – a very moving short animation about the sinking in 1919 of the HmY Iolaire as it struck rocks approaching Stornoway harbour on the Isle of Lewis. More than 200 men lost their lives as their overcrowded ship attempted to navigate a difficult route in exceptionally dire weather conditions. The sensitivity Catriona showed in crafting her beautifully made short film on this terrible disaster, made me think she would be the right choice for working on Eye of the Storm. When I approached her, she was very excited about the prospect of bringing to life James’s works, and his trips to paint in one of the world’s most challenging environments. As an art historian and former art critic herself, Catriona also came with a wealth of knowledge about painting techniques and in the early drafts of the Arctic sequences, I was convinced she was the right person for the job.

CJ Can you tell us more about the choice of music? AB Karine Polwart is, of course, one of Scotland’s finest musicians. Her songs can be incredibly moving. I have worked with Karine before – she penned a beautiful song for the end credits of You’ve Been Trumped called Cover Your Eyes. And so, I asked Karine whether we could use several songs that had already been composed for Eye of the Storm. Fortunately for me, she agreed. I have also worked with Dr Who composer Dominic Glynn on several

of my previous films and Dominic was excited about the prospect of working on this project with me.

CJ What was the most difficult aspect of filming? AB Perhaps the most difficult aspect of making the film was the Covid lockdown in 2020. By that stage, James was in a care home in Montrose and so I was unable to visit him further. It was tough to know he was just a stone’s throw away from where I live, but the pandemic meant it was impossible to visit him. I used this time to concentrate fully on the post production instead.

CJ Eye of the Storm looks at Jim’s career in Scotland and his residencies in the Arctic – how did this impact on the film and inform your film making? AB Sometimes a story tells itself and this was certainly the case when following James as life and work. From his time at The Glasgow School of Art through to his adventures in the Arctic there is a light and shade to James’s life and work. James talks in the archival material in the film, of how when he was a teacher at Duncan of Jordanstone College of Art & Design in Dundee, that he didn’t want to ‘limit’ his students. And perhaps it’s this unique ability James had, to be so open, that made my job so much easier.

CJ What other aspects of his career appealed to you? AB One of the most striking things about James Morrison’s work is the fact that he painted en plein air. Although a painting might have been finished in the studio, the hard graft would much more often than not (until ill health forced him to stay indoors) begin out in the landscape. And another aspect was that he didn’t include people in his paintings. He would sometimes be asked why there were no people in his landscapes. And in the film he talks about how people are an ‘irrelevance’ to what the landscape is doing and what the landscape is about. That really struck a chord with me. James would devote himself to capturing nature in all its glory – which often meant he would be lashed by the elements of an unforgiving north east coast!

CJ Did you start viewing the landscape differently after spending time with Jim?

AB Absolutely. I think it’s one of the striking things about James’s work and his lasting influence. And that seems to have struck a chord wherever we have shown the film. For example, we

interviewed members of the audience who went to see the film at the Shanghai International Film Festival – and they also remarked on this. So it would seem it doesn’t matter where you are in the world – watching the film and enjoying James’s extraordinary vision – enables you to then view the landscape differently.

CJ What was accidental and deliberate in your film making?

AB I suppose accidental are the off-the-cuff comments James made while I was speaking with him. But that enabled me to bring humour into the film and also added to the light and shade.

CJ What is your abiding memory of working with and filming Jim?

AB The main memory I have of working with and filming Jim is that he was just a lovely man. I had been told that Jim never courted the spotlight he would inevitably receive from his admirers at the opening of an exhibition for example. And in fact – those moments were his least favourite about being an artist. Jim was far happier out in the countryside painting. And I could see that in the way he interacted with me. He wasn’t one to court attention in any way. And I know he was very giving to young and aspiring artists who might come to him for advice and help. He certainly made time for people – and all those who were taught by him that I have had the good fortune to meet at Q&A cinema screenings – have spoken so highly of him.

CJ Please tell us the difficulties you faced whilst the country was in lockdown and how did the airing of the film come about on BBC2 over the Easter weekend in 2021

AB As mentioned earlier, the Covid-19 lockdown impacted any possibility of further filming with James prior to his death. But fortunately, as a filmmaker, they did not restrict me from heading out to capture the stunning Angus landscape on film – and to try and celebrate it with my camera, in a similar way that Jim did with his paints. It was just the excuse I needed, in fact, to spend time in Catterline and to visit the stunning beaches and farmland near to Montrose to film at key locations where Jim had painted.

As I understand it, the broadcast of the film on BBC2 came about as a result of the very strong response to the initial broadcast on BBC Scotland. And I was delighted when a primetime slot was found for its broadcast on Easter Sunday. There then followed a broadcast of the feature length version on BBC4.

Still from Eye of the Storm, featuring painting by James Morrison and illustration by Catriona Black.

CJ Can you tell us what happened after the film aired? AB I was really taken aback by the response to the film. Viewers wanted to know more about Jim and his work. One artist on the Isle of Skye contacted me to say he was watching the film every day as motivation to get back into the studio and paint. And I understand it, The Scottish Gallery were inundated with people who had been moved by the film – putting your website under extreme strain from the volume of enquiries! Perhaps it was something about the moment the film was aired – touching a chord with the audience during the pandemic – a traumatic time for so many.

CJ Congratulations on winning a Scottish BAFTA. What does that mean to you? AB It was something that I would love to have been able to share with James – I think he would have really enjoyed the success of the film and the impact it has made to date. Filmmaking is most certainly a team effort (despite what I said earlier about tending to film alone) and so it was humbling to receive the award with animator Catriona Black at the ceremony in Glasgow – and to reflect on all who helped to shape it. Among many others, these include writer/producer Richard Phinney, colourist Colin Brown, sound recordist John Cobban, and composer Dominic Glyn. All of us I think feel very proud of what we achieved. The Award will also give further momentum to the international distribution of the film, which has already been translated into Dutch, French and Chinese, and which will have its North American release later this year. We are finding that James’s timeless work has appeal around the world.

CJ What is next on the horizon for Anthony Baxter? AB I am planning a feature documentary about another extraordinary Scottish artist who is no longer with us – the late great Joan Eardley. Joan has been so influential on Scottish painting and her life is one that certainly merits a major film – but it’s never been made. Although the centenary of her birth was marked by a wonderful exhibition at The Scottish Gallery in Edinburgh, I think her work deserves to be recognised through cinema. This will be a project that involves the whole of Scotland – as we collect all archive materials that are known about and those that aren’t known about. And so, if you as a reader of this, or anybody you know has any photographs, filmed footage or perhaps a story connected with a Joan Eardley painting or paintings we’d love to hear from you. We will be setting up a special website very soon – so please watch this space!