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A sad bit of news ……’the gallery on the corner’ to close

Posted by admin on December 18th, 2015

Yesterday evening Nita and I travelled through to Edinburgh to attend what was the final event at ‘the gallery on the corner’.

As you’ll remember this magnificent little gallery was set up by the charity ‘Autism Initiatives Scotland’ back in April 2010. The gallery had a dual purpose; to work as a professional gallery supporting artists affected by autism or other health issues …..in short, the idea was for it to be an inclusive gallery. Its second role was to provide training, in the form of apprenticeships for young people affected by autism. The apprenticeships were based in either the main gallery, learning the retail side of the business or downstairs in the gallery workshops, (learning new creative skills).

art gallery

Gallery on the Corner, Edinburgh

Over the last five and a half years the gallery has performed well and has been very successful……having held numerous exhibitions and trained many young people through its apprenticeship scheme. Some fabulous artists have emerged with the help of the gallery and are going on to develop careers in the arts, whilst others have gone on to college or to do other jobs.

As patron to this gallery, it has been a real privilege to have been part of this (albeit from the side-lines). I have, as you know, been lucky enough to have been invited to show my work in this great gallery and have held two solo shows there ….. the second one being back in August this year. It’s been a great window for my work in Edinburgh and I really appreciate the opportunity.

So then, it was with great disappointment that I learnt a couple of weeks ago that the charity was closing ‘the gallery on the corner’. I really don’t know the reasons for this decision and don’t want to speculate here …..but it seems a great shame after it has done such good work and after all the hard work by the staff, volunteers and trainees over the years. There was a great sense of sadness yesterday evening. That said, the evening was one to celebrate the great work that the gallery has done since 2010 and there is talk of bringing some of the artists together again in the future to hold exhibitions in different venues. This would be great and would be a fitting way to celebrate the success of this unique gallery and project.

Art Gallery

Art from the gallery on the corner

My thanks to everyone at ‘the gallery on the corner’ for their hard work over the years and my very best wishes to you all in your future careers. Thanks finally to all of you who have visited and supported ‘the gallery on the corner’ …..I hope you enjoyed the experience.

Posted in Art and Autism Tags: , , No Comments »

10 hours of quiet after 2 weeks of running around!

Posted by admin on August 18th, 2015

It has been an exceedingly busy last couple of weeks and to be honest I’ve been struggling to get everything done that has needed to be done. … hence the lack of a blog recently.  I spent a lot of time getting all the work ready for my exhibition at “the gallery on the corner” in Edinburgh that opened on 7th August.  In the end I took 24 framed pieces along with 9 small unframed graphite sketches.  It’s amazing just how much time it takes getting everything into frames and wrapped.  Even making the labels is a very time consuming business although I was luckily able to sub contract this and other computer based jobs to my unpaid assistant and partner Nita.  Without her help with these projects, I don’t know how long it would take me to get everything done.  We got it all completed and on the morning of Saturday 1st August we packed it all into the car and headed across to Edinburgh.   It was such a relief when the work was in the gallery and I could pass on responsibility for the show to assistant gallery manager Paul Penrice and his assistants.  They did a wonderful job of hanging the work and the gallery looked great when we arrived for the preview the following Friday evening.  The exhibition continues until August 29th so you have plenty of time to get along there if you live in or are visiting the city.

Other jobs have included visiting the Isle of Arran Distillery, (I know, it’s a tough job but somebody has to do it!)….. in order to finalise arrangements for exhibiting the big Glen Rosa drawing there in September and October.  Everything appears to be on track with this project and I’m really looking forward to going over with the work on 1st September.   As this is the final part of the story about this drawing project, Dan Thornton and his assistant Cindy are returning to Scotland from Seattle at the end of the month in order to film the drawing going to Arran.  This will be the final part of the documentary Dan is making and then it all comes down to getting the hours and hours of film he has taken over the last two years, edited.  This is not just an important part of the process; it’s also quite an expensive one.  As such, Dan and his colleagues have been working on a promotional ‘Seed & Spark’ campaign to help promote awareness of the film and to raise some of the funds needed to complete it.  Details of this campaign along with a link to the short trailer Dan has made can be found on the homepage of this website.  I also had 500 flyers printed with the same information and Nita and I spent a day last week distributing them around venues in Ayrshire and Arran.  Anyway, please check it out and please spread the word!    Thank you.

Along with all this, Nita and I are spending quite a bit of time helping to organise this years Open studios Weekend at the Courtyard Studios.  It’s looking like it should be a good one this year with all 17 artists taking part.  There is a really excellent group of artists working here at present and there is a wide range of top quality work being produced here, including paintings, photography, drawings, ceramics, music, hand book-binding and jewellery.  The event takes place on Saturday 3rd and Sunday 4th October 2015 and will also include collaboration with the Harbour Arts Centre where we’ll be holding a group exhibition to celebrate 21 years of artistic practise at the Courtyard.  I’ll be posting full details of these events nearer the time ….but for now …just pencil in the dates!

There have been lots of other things happening recently, all taking up much needed painting time.  There is good news on two of the most important projects.  The Brazil commissions got bogged down somewhat since I completed the work at the end of February.  Difficulties arose with shipping the artwork to Brazil and over the last five and a half months Nita and I have spent hours it seems writing emails in order to resolve this.  It has been a bit tiring but I’m pleased to say things are starting to happen…..so then, watch this space!  The other project related to the big Glen Rosa drawing, was the planned production of a full size reproduction that was to be sited in the centre of Irvine.  Well, as you may have seen from my Facebook page….. the work is now finished and sited.  It was great going to see it the other evening and if you’re in Irvine or travelling on one of the many buses entering and exiting the town …do look out for it.  My thanks must go to Lesley Forsyth at North Ayrshire Council for first coming up with the idea and then bringing it to a successful conclusion.

As I say, it’s been a hectic time and on Thursday last week we were both feeling pretty worn out.   With a fine weather forecast we decided that we just had to get out into the wilds and have a day relaxing.  We went to Glen Coe and spent 10 hours wandering around some of these fabulous mountains.  We only saw two other walkers all day and although our legs were sore at the end, it was a very much needed rest.  No more words about it…. here are a few quiet and calming photos instead.

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On the north side of Glen Coe

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Towards Am Bodach from P.907m

Scottish mountains

Am Bodach and Glen Coe from our lunch spot

scottish mountains

Towards sron Garbh …. our final top of the day

scottish mountains

Ben Nevis from the summit of Sron Garbh

-o-o-o-o-o-

Posted in Brazil, Commissioned Artwork, Courtyard Studios Open Weekend, Documentary, Exhibitions, Harbour Arts Centre Tags: , , , , , , , , , No Comments »

Selection Time

Posted by admin on July 25th, 2015

There is just a week to go until I deliver the paintings to “the gallery on the corner” in Edinburgh, ready for my exhibition, “Highland walks” which opens on Friday 7th August.  This of course means that I’m currently in panic mode!

To be included in "Highland Walks "exhibition

To be included in “Highland Walks “exhibition

I’ve spent the last couple of weeks slowly deciding which paintings to include and panicking that I might not have enough work…..despite the fact that I know that I have ample.   I always want to include the newest pieces and so have been trying to finish several paintings and drawings and get them framed ready for the delivery date. After much thinking and looking I’ve got it down to 29 framed pieces of which I’ll probably take 25 in the end.  It’s so difficult to decide and I find the best way is to copy images of the paintings into a separate file on my computer and then just keep on viewing the selection.  If helps me root out pieces that look great on their own but might not work with others in an exhibition.  It’s very time consuming and I’m a terrible one for changing my mind!  I put this down to the visual impairment but in all honesty I’m just terrible at making decisions!

To be included in "Highland Walks "exhibition

To be included in “Highland Walks “exhibition

Selling three pieces over the last month has actually made the decision making process slightly easier and I now think that I’ve got a good selection.  When I last had an exhibition at “the gallery on the corner” a few years ago, the emphasis was probably on the more traditional landscape views.  In “Highland walks”, the emphasis will probably be on the slightly more abstract work.

I’m also planning to include a good range of sizes of work, from one of my 125 x 85 cm graphite drawings of Glen Rosa, to five of my small post card size, (210 x 148 mm) paintings.  In between, there will be several of the 30 x 30 cm pieces, two 40 x 40 cm pieces and a number of the long thin 76 x 23 cm paintings.  Finally, although I haven’t yet decided which, I’ll be taking three of the 80 x 80 cm works.

341 'From Gael Charn, the Drumochter Hills.jpg', Acrylic & Pastel, 2015, 210 x148 mm

To be included in “Highland Walks “exhibition

As well as the framed pieces, I’m also creating nine small graphite drawings on board which we plan to display unframed.  This is another cause for my current panic…..I have completed six of these but still have three more to do!

Thankfully, Paul the gallery assistant manager, has said that he is happy hanging the exhibition and so once I’ve delivered everything I can start to relax.   That said however, I’ve agreed to saying a few words  on the evening of the Preview and as I don’t want to say the same thing as I did at my previous show, I’ll have to write something fresh and then get it into my head ….. I can’t read notes, so any speaking at events like this, has to be done without them.

To be included in "Highland Walks "exhibition

To be included in “Highland Walks “exhibition

I’ll probably start wrapping the work early next week so there is no mad rush on Friday.  All I need to do then is send out the email invitations to the Preview on Friday 7th August.  This always takes a lot of time and I usually call in my secretary Nita to help.  As you are aware, Nita has lots of different hats, including those of art critic, frame painter, secretary, and chauffeur among many others!  She tells me that the pay is awful but is always there to help.  I really couldn’t do all this without her….so a big thanks to Nita.

Posted in abstract scottish landscape paintings, Drawings, Exhibitions, Visual Disability Tags: , , , No Comments »

Busy, busy…

Posted by admin on April 25th, 2010
Gallery on the Corner - Opening Event

It’s Sunday and I’ve only just got around to writing this weeks blog. Suffice to say it’s been a very busy week!

I managed to get some painting done on Tuesday and had a very good day. After many weeks of working on fairly small paintings, I finally got to work on a slightly bigger piece …and it went very well. Monday though was spent getting the last of the books ready for the years end and taking them down to the accountant – a couple of weeks ago I’d received a letter from the revenue, reminding me that a tax return would be required later in the year. The rest of Monday and most of Wednesday was spent doing urgent paperwork and making sure I had everything ready for The Gallery on the Corner Official Launch Event …to be held on Thursday, Friday and Saturday.

As I’ve already reported, the gallery opened a number of weeks ago, giving everyone involved a chance to find their feet and get any last minute tweaks made before the official launch. As patron to the gallery I planned to go along to all of the events taking place over the three days.

The first session was due to run from 10 am until around midday and was for the press. I was up at about 5am and felt very odd in my new suit …I’m more of a jeans and t-shirt bloke really! I caught the 7 am train from Irvine and arrived at the gallery in Edinburgh around 9.15am ready for the press hordes …only to find that they’d all cancelled ….due to the general election coverage! Great, everything stops for the general election.

Gallery on the Corner - Edinburgh

Such a shame because the gallery looked fantastic. Susie Anderson the gallery manager and her boss Aileen had done a really tremendous job in getting everything ready. The main gallery is light and airy but full of a wonderful range of work, paintings, prints, drawings and craft …all of a very high standard. Sourcing all this work and hanging the exhibition was an art in it’s own right and Susie has put together a diverse, challenging and beautiful exhibition ….I heard one local gallery goer say as she walked in, “ wow, this is a real breath of fresh air”…..and it really is.

The press I think missed a real trick, along with a great story. Anyway, I guess it’s understandable and hopefully this exciting project will catch their attention once the immediate political mayhem is over …..it ought to as this gallery is going to be of interest to all those who love seeing and buying art and craft.

All the other events went off perfectly and were admirably supported by folk from all walks of Scottish life. It was black ties for the evening event on Thursday and around fifty people enjoyed superb hospitality and had a chance to see the work on show ….much of which was sold. I had been invited to display several of my paintings and I’m pleased to say that three of these sold too.

So then, an excellent start for this very special gallery. The real business of the gallery will start shortly with the first of the businesses apprentices starting work in early May. Others will join her shortly. In the large area downstairs, there are to be I think four studio spaces to be rented out to artists and crafts people.

Gallery on the Corner - Edinburgh

I had a really great few days and met some amazing people including several of the artists. In setting up this business, Autism Venture Scotland have set the bar very high. I’m sure it will be a great success both as a business and in it’s primary function as an employer and provider of real work based training for young people affected by autism. If you’re in Edinburgh, do get along to see the work and please spread the word …you wont be disappointed.

more Gallery on the Corner

For more information about The Gallery on the Corner, along with Autism Ventures Scotland, click on the link at the side of this page. You could also visit their Facebook page: http://www.facebook.com/#!/group.php?gid=390968703244

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Deadlines!

Posted by admin on March 5th, 2010
'Heavy weather, Drumochter', Acrylic & Pastel, 2010, 76 x 23 cm

'Heavy weather, Drumochter'

It’s a busy time at Studio E and this last week has been no different.

I have to get work ready for three exhibitions before I go away to Speyer in early May.  I’m taking three paintings over to the Fisher Gallery in Pittenweem in Fife for their first show of the year.  This opens on March 27.  I’ll be exhibiting three new paintings all of which are finished, framed and ready to take to the gallery in a couple of weeks.

The next deadline after that is to get seven paintings ready for the Spring Exhibition at the Atholl Gallery in Dunkeld. This opens on April 17th and runs until June 7th.   Of these pieces, three are still to be completed but one of these is almost finished.

'Blackmount', Acrylic & Pastel, 2009, 30 x 30 cm

'Blackmount'

My final deadline is to get 10 pieces ready for my joint show with Alison Thomas at Blairmore Gallery. This will open on 18th June and run for six weeks through until 28th July.  This though is while I’m away in Germany, so everything has to be ready before I go away.  My partner Anita has said she’ll take the work up to the gallery as I’ll not be able to get back for the show unfortunately.

So then, a lot of painting still to be done, but I do already have some work finished and ready for this show.

'On Rannoch moor', Acrylic & Pastel, 2010, 30 x 30 cm

'On Rannoch Moor'

The week started off though, with my meeting a deadline …which is always good.  As I’ve already mentioned in an earlier blog, I’ve been asked to act as a patron to ‘the gallery on the corner’, a new project being established by Autism Ventures, Scotland.  The gallery is in a prime location in Edinburgh and will be opening towards the end of March.  Its official launch will be on 22nd, 23rd & 24th April.  For more details about the gallery and Autism Ventures, Scotland, see below.  Suffice to say, they kindly asked me to exhibit a few pieces of my work in their new gallery and so I’ve been trying to get a few new paintings finished for them.

On Monday two of the people involved in setting up the gallery, visited my studio to pick up the five pieces of work.  Three of these are new paintings, two of which are 30 x 30 cm and one being 76 x 23cm.  I’ve also included a brand new small drawing and a pencil drawing I did last year.  I think the five pieces should work quite well together and I’m looking forward to seeing them on the walls of the new gallery.

The Gallery on the Corner

The gallery on the corner is the first social firm from Autism Ventures Scotland (AVS), part of the Autism Initiatives Group. AVS has been established to create employment opportunities and experiences for young people with Autism Spectrum Condition (ASC) in Scotland.

The gallery on the corner is an inclusive, fine art gallery situated in Edinburgh’s New Town. It provides artists who have a disability, mental health problems or those from a disadvantaged background with a platform to exhibit and sell their artwork in a high profile location in the heart of Edinburgh’s gallery district. Beneath the commercial gallery space we have four studio spaces that will be rented to practicing artists who will work with apprentices with ASC.

A third branch of the business will open later in 2010. We are in the process of securing premises for a creative studio where young people with ASC will produce original artwork for sale, using an ‘art as therapy’ approach.

AVS will be offering apprenticeships and other opportunities to 16- 25 year olds with Autism Spectrum Condition (ASC) in both retail and art. The apprenticeships will include on the job, and vocational training, resulting in a recognised qualification.

Contact details:

The Gallery on the Corner

34 Northumberland St

Edinburgh EH3 6LS

Phone numbers:

Gallery:    0131 557 8969

Studios:    0131 557 8921

Opening times: Tuesday – Saturday 10am – 5pm

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    Contact Details

  • Tel: 07568 380552 or 01294 216427
    E-mail: keith@keithsalmon.org