The rest is just detail

Split, mixed media on panel, 50x76cm / 20x30in

Just like the start to every year in recent memory, this one seems to have arrived rather sooner than is believable. And now we're living in the teens and that seems, well, a bit odd. Do we now have to start being grumpy and staying in beds far too late? I hope not!

Anyway, enough of that silliness. First up, I am very happy to announce that I have completed five new paintings. With the exception of Split, which is shown above, these pieces were all ones that have been in progress for a few months. It seemed for much of that time that I might never find a resolution for these pieces, so that they could take their place as part of my Elegy for the end of an empire series. However I persevered, stopped being precious the parts of these not-quite-right paintings that I liked and managed to make them work.

By a thousand cuts
Mixed media on panel, 30x30cm / 12x12in

Finishing these pieces was a good way to round off a very full year and it was a year that was my most successful as an artist (so far). I'm planning, this year, to build on that success and although I haven't exactly worked out quite how I am going to do that, as far as I am concerned that part is just detail.

Some of the details that are already in place are three exhibitions that will be including my paintings throughout the month of January. As I have already mentioned, I currently have two pieces on show in the Snowflake Salon biennial in Philadelphia and one in the prestigious RSA Open 2012 in Edinburgh. Added to this, soon, will be six pieces in Edinburgh's Union Gallery. Their new exhibition, It's The Little Things, begins this Thursday, with the opening from 6-8pm. Sadly I won't be able to get along to the opening, as I will be 4,300 miles away, once again visiting Fayetteville, Arkansas!

My flight there leaves in a little less than 60 hours. As you might imagine, I have a lot of preparing to do for my trip and so I will bid you adieu now and be back here in a week time, a long way from here! Adieu!

Worlds Apart - the book

In October of last year Alison Auldjo of Union Gallery approached me to be part of an exhibition, Worlds Apart, with Kevin Low. I agreed straight away and was very, very excited. I could not believe I would get the chance to show so much of my work at once in Edinburgh!

It seems as if this happened just yesterday and yet today that seemingly long-distant exhibition will close. The journey to this point has been at times a delight and at others a trial, nonetheless I would not change one moment of if.

I'm very grateful to everyone who helped me on the way to make the series of paintings that were my half of the show: to my supporters and patrons, to my family and friends, to Kevin, Alison and Rob and most of all to Megan. Being an artist can be a lonely calling. Without this network of special people, I might never have completed a series that contains some of my strongest work to date. Thank you all.

From today onwards, a book containing my complete Worlds Apart series goes on sale. It is a square book of 74 pages with a clean, modern design, that includes close ups of what I regard as the key works. As a bonus, the book also features an edited selection of my journal entries made as I created the series, giving an insight into the whole process. I am particularly pleased with the colour reproduction of the printed photos, that make these images look very close to my original paintings.

For those who made it to the exhibition, or those too far off to drop by, this will make a great souvenir of a key moment in my painting career. I really hope you'll pick up a copy – please let me know if you do, as I would love to say thanks!

Worlds Apart by Stewart Bremner | Make Your Own Book

Ps. until May 2nd, you should be able use coupon code IHEARTMOM to get free shipping

Worlds Apart opens!

It doesn't quite seem real yet, although at the same time it all feels very ordinary: my latest series of paintings, the series I have worked on for the three intense months, is on show. It opened last night.

The opening was a hectic affair, a crowded room full of family, friends and numerous others. For almost three hours I talked and talked and never stopped. I love being able to share my work and one of the best things about having such a great opportunity as last night is being asked questions about my paintings. Be it a question about meaning, or a question about technique, it is just a thrill that people are interested enough to ask!

In the past few months, I have worked hard to create the body of work for this exhibition. I have produced some of the strongest paintings of my career and have enjoyed the experience thoroughly, for all of its highs and lows. Last night was an intense night and, on a deep level, a very emotional one for me. This soon afterwards, I can't quite sift through the complex web of thoughts and feelings, that such an evening leaves behind. I do know, however, that somewhere in there is acceptance and I value that more than I can express.

Thank you all of my friends and family who have supported and encouraged me. Thank you Kevin, Alison and Rob for giving me this opportunity. Thank you especially to those who came along last night, to Mum, Julie, Dad, Steven, Raymond, Adam, Annabella, Craig, Dave, Elaine, Fiona, Graeme, Iain, James, Janet, Jonathan, Joe, Kenny, Lou, Neil, Ruth and especially the amazing art star herself, Megan. It is through all of your support that I am able to do what I do. Thank you.

Six days to go…

When we float
© 2012 Stewart Bremner
Mixed media on board
£650 – at Union Gallery

In less than a week Worlds Apart opens at Union Gallery. The exhibition features a new body of work that I created especially for this show and another similarly created by Kevin Low. We've been working on these our respective pieces for many months now and we're both very excited about finally seeing them out in public.

The exhibition is likely to be quite unusual and it's title was chosen for this very reason. Kevin and my work differ considerably. However, as Alison Audjo of Union Gallery points out, our work is "tied together by the thread of outstanding quality."

Alison also had this to say about my work: "I have worked with artist Stewart Bremner for many years now. Previously as agent in another gallery, but I am now very proud to be launching his first major exhibition in Scotland at Union Gallery: something of which I have always considered Stewart Bremner to be an intrinsic part.

"Trained as a graphic designer, the last two years has seen a major departure from his previous style, which I have been lucky enough to watch develop and, I hope, encourage.

"Not afraid to put himself through the paces to make what I believe to be his strongest body of work to date, it is no surprise to me that Stewart gravitated towards an abstract style of painting: where the possibilities are endless and match his über-creative brain.


"Abstract painting is sometimes considered a ‘difficult sell’, yet it can evoke the strongest of emotions from the viewer like no other style. There is spontaneity, a rawness and sense of urgency in Stewart’s work which is enthralling and addictive.

"Already gaining recognition in the States, I am sure that Stewart Bremner’s work will be well received closer to home."

My work will be on show from April 5th-30th. I am absoutely thrilled to have this opportunity and I believe the work I have produced is my strongest to date. Please drop by the gallery and take a look for yourself.

A game of many hats

Sometimes, the days just slip by, however this week it has felt like they have been roaring by, leaving me spinning and disoriented in their wake. It seems only a day since I started what will be the last painting in my current series, yet when I look at the calendar, I see it has been five days. Five days! How can that even be possible? I've not touched it in all that time, although I have been busy preparing all my other paintings for the show, as well as ordering the last of the supplies that I will need.

In the middle of the week, in order to calm myself, to try to smooth the eddies, I made a list of Things To Do. One part of it dealt with my life, which has largely been on hold while I have been immersed in this work, the other part listed what I still need to do for the upcoming exhibition (Worlds Apart with Kevin Low, Union Gallery, April):

1. finish the last painting
2. pick up five new cradles
3. varnish the last three paintings
4. put hanging on the last five large paintings
5. photograph all of the paintings (some of them for the third time!)
6. create titles for the last three paintings
7. write a statement
8. sign and title all of the paintings
9. make a list of people to invite to the opening
10. create and send out invites (do you want to come?)
11. add a new series page to my website
12. add a résumé page to my website
13. add the new series to my Facebook page
14. put out a press release (and find addressees for it – are you one or do you know one?)
15. work out prices for my paintings
16. send statement and painting list to Union Gallery
17. make opening night Facebook event and send invites
18. deliver paintings to Union Gallery
19. make a book of the series
20. update accounts to cover expenses incurred in making the series
21. tidy up the studio

The above list has fifteen more items on it than the one I wrote midweek and these are just what I need to do before this exhibition. Admittedly, it is the biggest exhibition of my career to date, however it is not the only one (see below). As you can see, being an artist means more than just making art. A lot more. I am also a picture framer, photographer, writer, designer, accountant and cleaner at the very least. I also need to be an entrepreneur, to do my own press releases and to provide my business with motivation.

Doing all of this and doing it well is an enormous challenge. Happily, these days it is a challenge that I relish and as with most things, I expect that the more I do it, the better I will get at it (even if the stress levels don't diminish)! I had better get on with it!




I thought I would find you here

We took the quiet roads
© 2011 Megan Chapman and Stewart Bremner
Mixed media on canvas, 30x40"
$1,350

In all of the rush and excitement in making my new series of paintings, I have been somewhat remiss in mentioning another exciting event that is taking place right now. Megan Chapman and I are having a joint show through March and April in Arkansas! This is the first time that we have shown both joint work and solo pieces together and I just wish that I could transport myself to Bentonville for a few hours to have a look at it. If you are in the area, please do check it out (and take some photos if you can, I'm dying to see it!).

Time, percussion, movement and light

Time moves onwards. Weeks seem to fly by and the long months I had to work on my show slip by quicker than I can comprehend. This has been a stretch of time that has been dotted with intense moments of painting, like bulging knots tied randomly in a long piece of string. In between those moments, I think and I plan and I prepare and I worry.

Those moments have stretched out now over seven weeks. Seven weeks spent working on my latest series, for Kevin Low and my joint exhibition in April at Union Gallery (regular readers will have noticed that I've mentioned it already). For all that the time has flown by, it has also been hard work and I can feel my momentum nearing its end. I have one painting currently on my board and three more that I plan to start. Reaching the end of these last four will be a relief, a break from the pressure that has been constantly on my mind since late November. It will not, however, be the end of my preparations for the show.

With six weeks to go, my vague internal estimate says it will take me almost approximately four weeks more weeks to finish all that I need do. Even though it is a very comfortable margin, I still hope to finish sooner because the sooner I finish, the sooner I can relax.

My recent move onto bigger panels has therefore been timed well. After over a month of working on panels of one square foot each, I was beginning to flag, finding the small space was becoming constrictive and so my desire to reach the end of this work was growing. Happily, the larger panels have rejuvenated me for my final push to the end.

As a consequence of both this increased area and energy, my latest paintings have become a good deal freer than the earlier, smaller ones. My marks are bolder and more expansive and, when the polyrhythmic percussive pandemonium of Pharoah Sanders, Archie Shepp or Sun Ra is filling my head, the world almost entirely slips away. Low winter sunlight is diffused into my studio through sheets of bubble wrap, taped over the windows to obscure the distractions of the outside world. In the light, with full ears and upon a paint-spattered pink bed sheet, I move and I paint and I lose myself in the work for a while. Nothing is better than this.

Soon those bulging knot moments of otherness will pass and my work will be hanging in Union Gallery. I hope the time keeps on speeding towards that moment, for I long to relax again, almost as much as I can't wait to see my finished work on the wall. Yet at the same time, those moments of loss of self, when I am simply existing in that almost sublime moment, are what I live for and I do not and never will want them to end.

Slight return

I've really been enjoying popping into Union Gallery this week, to look at the three paintings of mine that are on show there this month. It is a joy to see the pieces away from the clutter and mess of my studio, framed and mounted in pristine white. In fact next week I will be looking after the gallery on Monday and Tuesday and I just know I am going to spend a lot of my time standing in front of my paintings, looking in wonder at the marks that I made all those months ago, being ever so slightly amazed by their complexity and thinking, "I made this?". The time that has passed since I created them, as well as their physical distance from my day-to-day reality, has been enough to allow me to appreciate them more fully.

Back in the studio, I completed my first solo painting since my return from Fayetteville. It was strange to return to the physical and mental space I created in February, as well as working on this series which also started then. All the time there was an awareness in me of where I had been and what I had painted since then, that seemed to want to pull my arm and shape my intentions. However, I resisted the temptation of the new, in order not to create a series with an obvious fracture.

Sadly, I will not be sharing my new painting because the paper it was painted on warped badly, to a degree inexplicably more than any other of my paper pieces. I'm going to attempt to rectify that situation and, with luck, there will be more than one new painting to show next week!

Now We Are Two

© Magpie at Blipfoto

Last night saw the opening of Union Gallery's Now We Are Two exhibition, a joint show in which I have three pieces from my series Life is the process. I began this series back in March, when I last had time and space in my studio to paint. A lot of other jobs and, or course, my trip to Fayetteville have all occurred since then. Yesterday, therefore, returning to these pieces having not seen them in six weeks and seeing them not just hanging in a gallery but framed really well was a genuine pleasure. I spent so much time looking at them that I began to feel that I was maybe being insulting by not looking much at the other work in the show.

The gap between me and this body of work also seems to have kept away that common ailment, the post-show blues. Rather than wondering what I am going to do next or if, even worse, I will ever paint again, I am feeling excited about returning to Life is the Process and completing the series. My original plan was for it to contain nine works and at present there are only five finished pieces. Next week I will put my studio back together and re-learn how to paint by myself. The pieces in the show are the best things I have ever painted (alone!) and I really looking forward to trying to match that feat.