Glasgow Art Club Award RGI 2012

It has been an emotional week.

Last Wednesday I found out through facebook that the postman had delivered the letters from the Royal Glasgow Institute Annual Show. I couldn't go home straight away, so had several hours of agonising until I ripped the letter open. Inside were three letters - the first, rejection of two paintings. I had expected that. In fact I had expected worse - which is why I hadn't told many people that I had entered this year. Next letter was an acceptance for two paintings - jubilation!

But the last letter was the best - so much so, I didn't actually read it properly . . . what it said was that I had won the Glasgow Art Club Award for The Little Mermaid. A prize! Me!

It is a particularly suitable prize for me, as a couple of my friends are already members and I had been talking about joining for a while. The Glasgow Art Club has been around for a while, with many great painters as members both past and present, so being given the award is a real honour.

Unfortunately the bit of the letter I didn't read was a warning to keep the information confidential. Oooops.

I did read about the photo-shoot and with a lot of trepidation agreed to go. This involved seeing the exhibition (lovely), meeting other prize winners (also great) - including Helen Flockhart , Jayne Stokes , James McNaught and Sheila MacMillan, who has been showing at the RGI for several decades. But I also had to get my photo taken. The photographer was friendly and professional, but had me standing on a chair as I am so short and my painting hung so high. (Which is why I don't have a better photo of it than the one above- sorry folks!)

Next, the award was given to me at the varnishing dinner. This is held in the Art Club, so I got to have a wee noisy around - the gallery spaces are (as you would expect) very well-lit. At my table was the club president and ex-president, both lovely, friendly men, with many stories of previous members. Greeting us at the door for the dinner was Karin Currie and Hazel Nagl of the RGI , both of whom looked amazingly glamourous - it is rare for me to feel under-dressed, but I did then.

Anyway, I better stop as this is becoming a long post - more later. The exhibition preview is tomorrow, with it opening to the public on Sunday at noon. It runs until the 6th of October.

RGI 2012

Well, this year has been a little frantic, what with planning the New York trip, and then trying to internalise all the new stuff I learnt and saw while there - a process that is still very much ongoing.
So when this years Royal Glasgow Institute Annual Show entry date came around, I wasn't really prepared. Fortunately, with the help of Donna Nicholson Arnott , we managed to choose which paintings, got them all titled (although one has had a title from the start - more on that in my next posting) and labelled and then delivered to the Mitchell. Then it was time for (a very leisurely) tea at Tchia Ovna, a place that oddly I had never been beofre.
A few days ago I got the dreaded letter through the post - I hate waiting for news - and it was good! Two of my paintings have been accepted - Mimi above and The Little Mermaid - I am so looking forward to seeing them hanging up. The Mitchell is a lovely space and every year there is some amazing work on display, so it will be heart warming to see mine amongst them.
Everyone is, of course, invited along - the show opens on Sunday and runs until the 6th of October.