Leith must be the place

From the window of Custom House Leith

Hello Dear Readers, 

I hope December finds you well and cosy. This post practically wrote itself last Saturday. When I left you last week, I mentioned I was going to meet Julia to explore the Leith Creative Trail and that is what we did. 

Julia and I met in front of the Leith Library at 11am and we wandered the streets all day in search of everything the artists and makers of Leith had on offer. It was a full day of adventure, beauty, and community. Leith is definitely the place. 

We visited the following fantastic Leith venues:

Art Glass Studio 34 / SilverHub Studios / Mote 102 / Ground Floor EHFM / Coburg House / Cyan Clayworks / Custom House / Brown’s of Leith / Away Industries / Populus Cafe / Bethany Shop / Leith Makers Open Studios & MULCH:Collective Exhibition / Sebs Urban Jungle Winter Makers Market The excitement continues this weekend so do check the trail guide for all the details.

Happiness is a blue wall

While we were out walking the Creative Trail, Julia spied this blue wall and thought it would make an ideal backdrop. I was proudly wearing my new brooch designed by Julia and happy to pose for a few photographs.

I am lucky to have a friend that I feel so comfortable around and who has a great sense of colour. I really don't like having my picture taken so it says a lot about the photographer when I look this relaxed. Her brooch made me feel like a million bucks. I do hope you will check them out. As I have said many times, colour is medicine and good friends are the best. Find your new brooch and view Julia's art here: https://julialaingstudio.com

I need to get ready to meet a pal for a Friday morning walk. There are other things going on behind the scenes of course, but more on that later. 

Wherever you are, don't let the bastards get you down. Keep fighting and shining. 
We need you and the gifts you bring. X.

Exhibition news and a bit of backstory

Time spent as someone else

Mixed media on canvas

40x50cm

Megan Chapman

£645

On Thursday night, I was "making the scene" at the 30th Anniversary Celebration of the Out of the Blue Drill Hall in Leith. It was a large event celebrating the history and just some of the talent that has been a part of making the Drill Hall a storied arts venue.

There were loads of people and lovely food and drinks provided by the incredible cafe staff. The event focused on a stage offering up a rousing performance by All or Nothing aerial dance company set to a remixed cover of Lesley Gore's You Don't Own Me, there was a scene from "Made to Connect" a play written by Duncan Kidd and performed by Active Inquiry. There was ethereal music provided by a talented member of the Clarsach Society. And of course, there was a DJ. New celebratory banners hung high above, created by the Out of the Blueprint, and buckets hung from the ceiling in a bright display. There was also an art exhibition by several resident studio artists. 

The participating artists included:

Felicity Inkpen @felicityinkpen

Solen Collet @solencollet

Cluster Studio 

Elaine Wilson  @elainewilsonvisualart

Daniel Murray @danmurrayartist

Megan Chapman @megan.chapman.artist

Mairi MacSween @mairimacsweendesigns

Catherine Giselle @catherinegiselleart

Precious Metals Workshop: featuring work by Amanda McGrattan, Cameron Murdoch, Eve Smith, and others. 

It was good to see my peers and have some laughs. The residents' exhibition was installed this past Tuesday & Wednesday and it comes down on Saturday, June 1st at 5pm. Blink and you will miss it - so don't blink! 

My blog is being posted a bit late, so if you are reading this on Saturday, June 1st and you are near Edinburgh, you have from 10am - 5pm today to enjoy the show. Pop in, have a coffee, and see some art in a bright, airy, and historic place. 

Out of the Blue Drill Hall, 36 Dalmeny Street, Leith, Edinburgh, EH6 8RG

Now that we have the particulars squared away, I am going to tell you a little about the work I decided to share in the exhibition from my series All The Ways.

Stolen moments

Mixed media on canvas

40x50cm

Megan Chapman

£645

I wrote this about the work at the time.

"Colour has always been extremely important to me. Even though the bulk of this series seems to be covered over with a neutral grey, there are ochres, greens, blues, pinks, Payne's grey and charcoals dancing or wrestling together. The colours are flickering, sputtering, jumping, and clawing their way up out of the grey. There is a faded beauty, something beneath the surface dripping and aching yet energetic, always making its way through the grey. Sometimes the grey is well-known and comforting in its nothingness. This is a series about resilience." 

This series was created in 2017 during the first year of Donald Trump's presidency in the United States. 

The pink was unusual within my more standard palette and its use was a form of rebellion. Trump was in the white house and wreaking havoc. As the world seemed to be getting darker by the minute, I grabbed the pink.

At the time, I didn't talk about this series being a direct reaction to what was happening in American politics - couching it in terms of resilience was easier and seemed more palatable. I think I told a few close friends and trusted patrons, and then I kept it to myself. 

Back to the present - I arrived home from the event and checked the news. There was another reason to celebrate. Donald Trump was found guilty in a court of law. 

It seems more than fitting that these are the selections on display. 

The art never lies.

To hide the best parts

Mixed media on canvas

40x40cm

Megan Chapman

£550

Divinations, declarations, and whispers

Divinations, declarations, and whispers
mixed media on unstretched canvas
160x106cm/62.9x41.7"
Megan Chapman  

I spent the rest of last weekend making the seals for the bottom of the painting. Each one is hand stamped and painted. This week I went into the studio to apply them along the bottom of the piece. I also added any glue that was needed on the collage bits and did colour matching where the tape had been holding the canvas up against the painting wall. After that, I spray varnished the painting to protect and seal all the mixed media elements. You can watch the Tuesday Studio Video Visit below for a more in-depth discussion about this if you missed it on social media.

  

Today, I went back into the studio to check the varnish and give the piece a last once over to make sure the charcoal was properly sealed. I also wanted to go over it again with another coat of matte finish varnish. I recorded a couple of quick supplemental videos today that you can see here.

  .

And here

   

After I decided that I was pleased with the varnish and that everything else was in order, I decided to take the painting for a walk through the studio and take a couple of photos of it temporarily installed to get a better sense of it out in the world along with a few detail shots below. 

Thank you again to everyone who has been so interested and enthusiastic about this latest painting. It has been fun sharing this piece and the experience of creating it with you. 

When I go there

Created by master miniature artist 'Ryu Seung Ho', South Korea.

I was waiting to go to a meeting this morning and the news of the world was getting me down and social media was doing no better. I switched over to Pinterest which at times can serve a bit like a weighted blanket for my psyche. The AI curated images filled the page and the above image was one of them. My jaw clenched in excitement and my palms began to sweat. I had to look closer... oh my heaven what is this? For a minute I didn't know what I was looking at - is this a painting? Is this a photo, wait - what is this? I slowed down and realised it was a miniature, a 3D model, and then expertly photographed to imply scale, space, and atmosphere. 

I had to share it on Facebook because to me it felt good, it brought me joy and nourishment. I wrote "...a wondrous image... The light and everything in the space sing songs back and forth to invite you in. What a composition." And then I got on with my day. 

Later (after another superb Scottish Artists Union meeting), I checked Facebook and my friend and patron, Rosa Macpherson (who once inspired a whole body of work simply with a comment) had written under the above image, "Could you give a little explanation of your views on your weekly blog? I’d love to know more and what you see in the light that makes it sing songs… how this miniature world speaks to you?"

And so here we are. It is a good exercise to put these feelings and thoughts into words - to slow down and explain myself. 

First, let's go back to my initial reaction to this image. This for me, is a gut punch to the senses because I don't just view this world- I get sucked into it and suddenly I am in the light, I am in the space, I feel the air - I feel the heavy shadows. These lines are crisp- they are talking. The miniature modelling is done to perfection, but the photography and light really bring the scene to life so that we can go there. Viewing this image is like playing with a dollhouse as a child but we don't play with a dollhouse, do we? We go inside it, move the furniture, and live there as long as possible. These types of images have an incredible effect on me. 

For me, the light is sentimental, hot, and harsh. I feel nostalgia for a place I have never been. Ryu Seung Ho's work calls to my mind several of my favourite artists shown below. Can you see or feel a connection?

Wayne Thiebaud (American, b. 1920.) 24th Street Intersection Study, 1978.
Watercolor on paper, 10 x 14 in./25.4 x 35.5 cm. © Wayne Thiebaud.

Richard Diebenkorn’s Cityscape #1, 1963. Illustration:
2014 The Richard Diebenkorn Foundation

Gregory Crewdson, Starkfield Lane, 2018–19,

digital pigment print, 56 ¼ × 94 ⅞ inches (127 × 225.7 cm)

Edward Hopper, Rooms by the Sea, 1951, Oil on canvas

29 1/4 × 40 in. (74.3 × 101.6 cm)

Bequest of Stephen Carlton Clark, B.A. 1903

Yale University Art Gallery

I feel that these pieces share a certain lineage and understanding of time, space, and light as well as shadow and line. The artists use these elements to pull us into the image and help us to create a narrative.

Looking back to the original image and the "singing" that I referenced... 

Ryu Seung Ho

This artist knows the power of the diagonal and the photographer and or the person responsible for this crop knows the rule of thirds. The metal frame chair in the foreground pulls you into the scene and then shoots you from the foreground to the desk chair and then up the blue wall to the light cutting across into another diagonal. These are all brilliant methods of encouraging our eye to move through the space which then allows our brain to inhabit it as well. The harsh shadows and lines are pulling and (yes I would say, singing, vibrating, calling, summoning us) to come in in in. I have to write it like that in hopes that it helps you feel the way it might feel in my brain when I see this image. In, In, In, - to this emphatic, yearning, real-time - space. Look at the slant of the shoeshine box - pulling you in. Look at the shadow of the safe, pulling you in. The line across the blue and white wall is pulling you into the back corner. 

Now we have to remember that this is actually a 3D space in miniature, that has then been reduced to a photograph, but it has such painterly attributes that it is very hard for me to not think of it as such. The colour is doing double duty here as well. Look at that orange oxide in the right corner and then skip over again to the warm colour of the wood in the shoeshine box and then the cool grey-blue of the metal desk and then bam! back up the blue wall. In, In, In. This piece serves as a colour study as well, and nothing is an accident. I mean that green box on the corner of the desk - it just makes me want to cry - it works in tonal perfection with the desk. 

These lines and shadows are songs, these are stories, and these colours are sensibilities served with particular punctuation. Composition is key in this world yet just dishevelled enough to be believed but also meticulously planned so that it hits all the sweet spots in our brains. Well, in my brain. But also can't you just feel it? Or hear it? 

Singing, crackling, and dynamic - in this work I have gone somewhere unexpected, and through it, I can see my own world anew.

Resilience factory

Yesterday's parties
mixed media on 200gsm acid-free paper
42x59.4cm/16.5x23.4"
©2020 Megan Chapman
£475

To be left untethered
mixed media on 200gsm acid-free paper
42x59.4cm/16.5x23.4"
©2020 Megan Chapman
£475

This is how we tell the story
mixed media on 200gsm acid-free paper
42x59.4cm/16.5x23.4"
©2020 Megan Chapman
£475

Resilience factory
mixed media on 200gsm acid-free paper
42x59.4cm/16.5x23.4"
©2020 Megan Chapman
£475

Dancing in the old house
mixed media on 200gsm acid-free paper
42x59.4cm/16.5x23.4"
©2020 Megan Chapman
£475

Where we left off
mixed media on 200gsm acid-free paper
42x59.4cm/16.5x23.4"
©2020 Megan Chapman
£475

We took a wrong turn
mixed media on 200gsm acid-free paper
42x59.4cm/16.5x23.4"
©2020 Megan Chapman
£475

States of being
mixed media on 200gsm acid-free paper
42x59.4cm/16.5x23.4"
©2020 Megan Chapman
£475

Could I tell you anything more

mixed media on 200gsm acid-free paper

42x59.4cm/16.5x23.4"

©2020 Megan Chapman

£475

Under the surface

mixed media on 200gsm acid-free paper

42x59.4cm/16.5x23.4"

©2020 Megan Chapman

£475

The maps have changed

mixed media on 200gsm acid-free paper

42x59.4cm/16.5x23.4"

©2020 Megan Chapman

£475

False dynasties

mixed media on 200gsm acid-free paper

42x59.4cm/16.5x23.4"

©2020 Megan Chapman

£475

This is where it starts

mixed media on 200gsm acid-free paper

42x59.4cm/16.5x23.4"

©2020 Megan Chapman

£475

Way down inside
mixed media on 200gsm acid-free paper
42x59.4cm/16.5x23.4"
©2021 Megan Chapman
£475

I know the way
mixed media on 200gsm acid-free paper
42x59.4cm/16.5x23.4"
©2021 Megan Chapman
£475

The above works are now all varnished, titled, signed, and dated on the back. I really enjoyed creating this collection of bold drawings and paintings on paper in 2020-2021. I think they are quite special and I hope you will too. There is strong alchemy weaving through all of these. I am packing them up in clear sleeves and backing boards and getting them reading to share, show, and ship! 

I will be participating in the Christmas Exhibition and Makers Market at the Edinburgh Palette on London Road in Edinburgh, the 11th and 12th of December from 12-4pm in the 3rd-floor galleries at St. Margaret's House. I will have three paintings on the walls of the gallery and I will also have loads of works on paper and canvas in the Makers Market along with my fellow Abstractionistas at our stall! So put it on your calendars now and plan to come and see us and our dynamic work (covid restrictions permitting of course). We look forward to seeing you! 

Here's my Tuesday Studio Video Visit showcasing a few of the small works I will have available at the Abstractionistas stall.

Don't forget I am also having an ONLINE STUDIO SALE with ten of my paintings listed at 50% off. Click to SHOP the sale here. Ideally, you can come and collect these works from my studio but if you are in the UK and want them shipped please don't let that stop you from contacting me. I am sure we can arrange something.

That's it for the Friday studio blog this week. Thank you for joining me - hope to see you out at the market and exhibition and of course always online. Take good care - Megan 

Inception opens TODAY!

Inception opens today Friday, September 10th from 10-6pm and will be open again on Saturday, September 11th and Sunday, September 12th from 10-5pm at the incredible Dalkeith Palace. If you haven't bought your tickets yet you still have time to snap some up and make a weekend of it!

I installed my work on Monday and the five paintings fit the space perfectly and the colours harmonised. It was a magical moment. You'll have to come and see it for yourself.

Join us for ‘Inception’ at Dalkeith Palace at the Dalkeith Country Park.

Participating artists:
Frances Bell
Kelly Anne Cairns
Megan Chapman
Christine Clark
Walter Dalkeith
Domenica de Ferranti
Katy Eccles
Ripley
William Foyle
Jonathan Freemantle
Taisir Gibreel
Claire Gillie Thompson
Frippy Jameson
Nancy Macdonald
Hatti Pattisson
Craig Rae Ferguson
Elaine Speirs
Christiana Spens
Gill Walton
Julia Trotter

I’ll have these five works on two walls on the first floor upstairs in what was once the palace nursery and I’ll have five smaller framed pieces available in the pop-up shop on the main floor. Looking forward to meeting all the artists and greeting the patrons! 

Tickets: https://www.dalkeithcountrypark.co.uk/events/inception-art-show/

Lots more exciting news next week! Stay tuned! See you this weekend!

Wish list

You can find my work at the following galleries and websites.

The Velvet Easel Gallery

Portobello, Edinburgh

Scotland

You can catch my work in the Of Night and Light Exhibition until the 1st of March 2020.

Dancing Light Gallery

Edinburgh

Scotland

You can catch my work in the Winter Warmth Exhibition until the 29th of January 2020.

Fenix Gallery

Fayetteville, Arkansas, USA

Ask to see my available small works and limited edition prints

Small works shop: 

https://meganchapmanart.wixsite.com/shop

On all your favourite channels!

Web: www.meganchapman.com

IG: instagram.com/ethermaven

FB: facebook.com/megan.chapman.artist

Twitter: twitter.com/ethermaven

And of course, at my studio G23, located at 36 Dalmeny Street Leith, Edinburgh EH6 8RG, I will gladly open by appointment. 

Walls too crowded, budget tight? You can still support my work. Click the link to buy me a coffee. Consider becoming a one-off or monthly supporter for exclusive content. Thanks! Support Me on Ko-fi