CHRISTINE McARTHUR
KITCHEN STORIES & GARDEN NOTES 15 MAY - 1 JUNE 2018
KITCHEN STORIES & GARDEN NOTES
This exhibition is a diary of the last 2 years.................. I like to paint things that catch my attention-make me laugh, cry,, think. I tend to paint in groups of work. One idea leads to another and then, inspired and edgy, I can’t sleep at night for wanting to wake up in the morning and get started again. This is the best feeling in the world for me. It often means I am working at 3 am and everything else in life seems a bit unimportant - a nuisance even. Sometimes the “flow” stutters and takes me nowhere and then I am looking at one painting, in isolation, that confuses, even disturbs me a bit. I am put off my stride, get into a bad mood and I have to remind myself that it’s just a painting and not the end of the world. Lots of things get discarded. Ripped up. I’ve rarely regretted doing this. This can lead to a period of no painting. I used to feel miserable about this but I’m learning that it’s maybe a good thing. Another thing I’d like to mention is that for me a good idea doesn’t always make a good painting. When painting, it’s a different world - a world of colour, form, shape, tone, texture and instincts. To get there I need to be able to concentrate and forget certain practical things in life that are distracting.... A pre-conceived idea limits what I do and decisions are more inhibited because I am trying to follow a thought instead of seeing where the painting takes me. When things are going well the painting seems to emerge all by itself. You just know that you need blue or a certain shape or a line of dark or light. If you stop and question it??? Well, don’t. Inspiration is what I believe in most. It hits – bang! – and can be a sudden feeling, a moment of complete clarity, music that chimes inside, magic. It doesn’t last forever so I have to act very fast and sure. I find my friends and family inspiring....music, films, poetry, food markets, making bread, reading about making bread and people who make bread, flour mills, gardens, old swimming pools, people who keep bees, people who grow vegetables .......that kind of thing. I always worry that I’m going to sound pretentious. I hope I haven’t.
Cover: The Necessary Bay Leaf - oil on panel - 74 x 99cm
christine mcarthur 2018
The Necessary Bay Leaf oil on panel - 74 x 99cm
This Summer, Last Summer oil on panel - 74 x 99cm
In Rainy Autumn mixed media on panel - 74 x 99cm
Kitchen Diptych I mixed media on panel - 76 x 152cm
Kitchen Diptych II mixed media on panel - 76 x 152cm
Kitchen Diptych III mixed media on panel - 76 x 152cm
Mezze by the Sea mixed media on panel - 76 x 76cm
El Magnifico mixed media on panel - 76 x 76cm
The Liquorice Club mixed media on panel - 76 x 76cm
Dark Grapes I acrylic on card - 25 x 30cm
Dark Grapes II acrylic on card - 25 x 30cm
Mayfield Farm Flowers I acrylic on card - 20 x 20cm
Mayfield Farm Flowers II acrylic on card - 20 x 20cm
Mayfield Farm Flowers III acrylic on card - 20 x 20cm
Mayfield Farm Flowers IV acrylic on card - 20 x 20cm
Mayfield Farm Flowers V acrylic on card - 20 x 20cm
Mayfield Farm Flowers VI acrylic on card - 20 x 20cm
Mayfield Farm Flowers VII acrylic on card - 20 x 20cm
Mayfield Farm Flowers VIII acrylic on card - 20 x 20cm
Earlybright mixed media on panel - 76 x 76cm
New Cutlery mixed media on panel - 76 x 76cm
Verde mixed media on panel - 76 x 76cm
Lemon’s Poem mixed media on panel - 76 x 76cm
Golden Garden mixed media on panel - 76 x 76cm
Trying to grow certain herbs in Winter mixed media on panel - 76 x 76cm
Uncle Whittie’s First Midnight Dream mixed media on panel - 76 x 76cm
Uncle Whittie’s Second Midnight Dream mixed media on panel - 81 x 46cm
Uncle Whittie’s Third Midnight Dream mixed media on panel - 81 x 46cm
Uncle Whittie’s Fourth Midnight Dream mixed media on panel - 81 x 46cm
Uncle Whittie’s Fifth Midnight Dream mixed media on panel - 81 x 46cm
Uncle Whittie’s Sixth Midnight Dream mixed media on panel - 81 x 46cm
Deep Pot, Salt & Pepper oil on board - 16 x 20cm
Glass Dish oil on board - 16 x 20cm
Saute Pan oil on board - 16 x 20cm
Shallow Frying Pan, Spatula, Egg oil on board - 16 x 20cm
Two Handled Shallow Pan, Wooden Spoon oil on board - 16 x 20cm
Sutton Seeds Flowers embroidery on linen - 15 x 10cm [x12]
Sutton Seeds Herbs embroidery on linen - 15 x 10cm [x12]
Sutton Seeds Vegetables embroidery on linen - 15 x 10cm [x12]
BIOGRAPHY Christine McArthur was born in Kirkintilloch, near Glasgow in 1953. She studied at The Glasgow School of Art between 1971 & 1976, which included a post-diploma year. After graduating she taught and produced book illustrations until the demand for her work enabled her to paint full time. Her early work was primarily in oil and she became well known for her large-scale still life paintings on canvas. In the late 1980s she began to work in oil pastel and watercolour but more recently she has reverted to oil, as well as acrylic and collage. Christine McArthur was awarded Scottish Education Department travelling scholarships in 1975 and 1976 and was elected a member of the Royal Glasgow Institute of the Fine Arts in 1990. In 1995 she was elected a member of the Royal Scottish Society of Painters in Watercolour. In 1997 John Lewis commissioned four large murals – each 6ft x 15ft - for the Glasgow store in 1999. In 2002 she received a commission from John Lewis for murals for the extension to their Peter Jones store, Sloane Square, London. COLLECTIONS INCLUDE: Lord Irvine of Lairg; Scottish Arts Council; Glasgow Caledonian University; Arthur Anderson; Scottish Nuclear PLC; University of Strathclyde; Amerada Hess Corporation; Craig Capital Corporation; Lillie Art Gallery, Milngavie; Argyll Group PLC; United Distillers PLC; Clydesdale Bank PLC; Macfarlane Group (Clansman) PLC; Royal Bank of Scotland PLC; Export & Import Bank of Japan; John Lewis Partnership PLC (Glasgow, Nottingham, Edinburgh & Peter Jones, London); Gertsev Gallery, Moscow; Gertsev Gallery, Atlanta, USA; Pernod Ricard; Brian Maule, Chardon d’Or, Glasgow; Edinburgh Tapestry Company; Aberdeen Asset Management; Jamjar Restaurant, Bridge of Allan; Gamba Restaurant, Glasgow; Café Parma, Glasgow. AWARDS: S.E.D. travelling scholarship 1975, and 1976. Arts Council Award 1979, and 2004. Glasgow Soc. of Women Artist’s Trust Fund Award, Lauder Award; R.G.I., N.S. Macfarlane Award; Alexander Graham Munro prize, RSW
SOLO EXHIBITION 1984 Peter Potter Gallery, Haddington 1986 Sue Rankin Gallery, London 1988 Sue Rankin Gallery, London 1990 Fine Art Society, Glasgow; Sue Rankin Gallery, London 1992 Portland Gallery, London; Roger Billcliffe Gallery, Glasgow 1993 Ancrum Gallery, Roxburgh; Open Eye Gallery, Edinburgh 1994 Roger Billcliffe Gallery, Glasgow 1995 Thackeray Gallery, London 1996 Open Eye Gallery, Edinburgh; Roger Billcliffe Gallery, Glasgow 1997 Courtyard Gallery, Crail 1998 Roger Billcliffe Gallery, Glasgow 1999 John Martin of London 2000 Roger Billcliffe Gallery, Glasgow 2001 John Martin of London 2002 Roger Billcliffe Gallery, Glasgow 2003 John Martin Gallery, London 2004 Gertsev Gallery, Moscow; Gertsev Gallery, Atlanta, USA; Roger Billcliffe Gallery, Glasgow 2005 Lemon Street Gallery, Truro 2006 John Martin Gallery, London; Roger Billcliffe Gallery, Glasgow 2007 Lemon Street Gallery, Truro; New Ashgate Gallery, Farnham 2008 Roger Billcliffe Gallery 2010 Lemon Street Gallery, Truro 2011 Ainscough Gallery, London 2012 Lemon Street Gallery, Truro 2014 Thackeray Gallery, London 2015 Ainscough Gallery, Dartmouth 2016 Thackeray Gallery, London 2018 Thackeray Gallery, London
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