Exhibition + Event News
I am excited to say that my exhibition at The Scottish Gallery is now online and all works are available to purchase. I have been looking forward to this show for many months and I am thrilled that it is now actually happening! I have been on tenterhooks all year not knowing how the show would take shape but I needn’t have worried as the gallery is open. For a sneaky peak please take a look at the catalogue below. I have added my artist film on my film page but have also added it below for ease.
A catalogue to accompany Realist and Lyrical Landscapes Realist and Lyrical Landscapes brings together six artists from very differing backgrounds but who all address landscape in their work and share a sense of awe for the natural beauty of a northern environment and the power of nature to transform.
At the beginning of July I will be taking part in a group show at Tatha Gallery, Newport on Tay alongside John C Brown, Nerine Tassie and Eva Ullrich and ceramicist Barry Stedman. This exhibition will be online soon and invitations will be sent in due course. The intention is for the gallery to open its doors in phase 2 of lockdown. We are unsure of the exact dates just now so please watch this space for more details.
Shallows • Oil on Board • 45x65.5cm
I have been continuing with the artists support pledge paintings behind the scenes and I will release 10 more 20x20cm paintings on Friday 12th June at 8pm . They will be available directly from my buying page. This project has been a life line for many artists over this difficult period.
#artistsupportpledge is a movement founded by artist Matthews Burrows to support artists and makers during Covid-19. Artists post pictures of their works for sale for no more than £200 plus postage. Everytime an artist makes £1,000 in sales they commit 20% on purchasing the work of another artist using the hashtag. There are no enforcements, it is a system based on trust where everyone, at every level can contribute in supporting artists and makers.
There have to date been over 200k posts by artists world wide in support of this pledge.
Whilst buried neck deep in paint last week my phone pinged, I sighed and decided to ignore the message and continued to concentrate on the piece I was working on. Later when my hands were cleaner and my head a little freer I checked my e-mails to find a wonderful message saying my painting Vision had been shortlisted. Such exciting news!! Weeks before I had entered the 1 metre square painting on the very last day of the entry deadline, Valentines day as it happens. I had been swithering for a while about the painting, for me it is a special one, I didn’t quite know which forthcoming show it would feature in until I realised it was perfect for the Castlegate Art Prize. A newly launched competition which supports the mental health charity Young Minds by donating the entry fee to the charity. A very worthy cause. So many prizes and open exhibitions now a days charge a fee for a digital entry and pocket the money. I immediately warmed to this new approach. The prize asked for a painting inspired by the word ‘Hope’. As many of you may know my work circumnavigates many emotions, the landscape acts as a foil by which these emotions are conveyed. The initial concept of ‘Vision’ was to create a calm and uplifting sense of light. Winter can send many personalities of weather our way but occasionally in-between the storms and high winds there are those perfect moments where the air rests and rare warm light breaks through. We naturally stop and take a breath in these moments and our psyche reminds us spring isn’t too far away; Hope. I will keep my fingers tightly crossed over the next few weeks in hope that Vision makes the final cut, an exhibition of works by the finalists and perhaps I dare to even wonder if the painting will even secure the big prize? I will keep you posted as soon as I hear any news.
Vision • Oil on Board • 100cmx100cm
The Summer months turned out to be really exciting for me. Immerse opened in June and from then onwards it was a whirlwind of joy. The show received a 4 star review from Giles Sutherland at the Times Newspaper and a wonderful write up by Jan Patience arts critic at the Herald. Art North magazine featured my work in their second issue and again on-line. I couldn’t have been happier with the generous words of these well respected art journalists. The good news didn’t stop there with the show in full swing and many sales to boot The Mcmanus Galleries in Dundee told me of their wish to acquisition a piece for their public collection. I am thrilled to share the news that the painting ‘Immerse’ is now in their good hands in perpetuity. The solo show really has made a difference to my outlook and future ideas and I wish to thank all who came along and supported my endeavours.
It has been quite interesting for me to experience making such a huge body of work that meant so much to me. As a result I felt really quite devoid of ideas for quite sometime afterwards but I can say I am now back in full swing of things and raring to find new ways of communicating through paint. Recent research trips to Rannoch Moor and Fife beaches have inspired once more to capture what I feel in paint. The more I look the more excited I become about shaping new ideas and finding new ways of sharing them. The studio is full once more with empty canvases, primed and ready for new work and I have more exciting exhibitions coming up next year and I look forward to telling you more about them in due course.
Autumn Equinox • Oil on Board
Invitation to Immerse • 21st June 6.30-8.30pm • Tatha Gallery • 2019
Immerse is an exhibition of over 45 paintings completed over the last 12 months.
I am excited to announce the launch of my solo show at Tatha Gallery. It is a little daunting to be doing a solo show at Tatha and to have produced this amount of work is no mean feat but one I have relished. I hope you can come along and enjoy this final part of the journey with me.
Helen Glassford inhabits two parallel worlds: the public world of the Gallerist and Curator, and her private world as a Painter. As a Gallerist she seeks to uncover and bring into public view her own sense of some of the very best of Contemporary Scottish Art.
Alongside this public face, there is an Artist fully immersed in the processes of her own creativity, stealing time in her studio, to make paintings that reveal her innermost meditations of what it is to be a woman interacting with her own experiences of being in the Landscape.
Once a year, in the Open Studios Weekend, Helen welcomes visitors into the sanctum that is her home and studio. This is a much-anticipated annual event for her, as an opportunity to engage with her audience in the quiet surroundings of her living space. It is always wonderful to meet again with old friends and acquaintances, and also to make new relationships with new visitors. Transforming one’s house into an exhibition space creates a different environment; one in which new paintings might be encountered in a way that is different from the more formal atmosphere of the Gallery simply because it is more personal. For the viewer, to be allowed to cross the threshold into an Artist’s residence and studio is to be permitted to see at first hand the place in which it all happens. There is evidence everywhere. Stained easels, ranks of colour-encrusted brushes, palettes mounded with old paint, partly crushed tubes of pigment and linseed oil. Bookshelves crammed with reference works. On the walls, of course, is the output. There is something different about seeing paintings surrounding the Artist who made them, in the place where they are made. One is able to understand, perhaps with a small shock of comprehension, that the Art, the Artist, and the Studio are in fact all parts of the same thing.
Alan Greig
Over the Open Studio weekend Helen will welcome and talk to every visitor about her new work and concepts. It has become quite an event over the years attracting many art lovers and followers. Buying a piece of artwork or simply enjoying new work is indeed very special; discussions and conversations and stories shared become part of the enjoyment of the wonderful experience. It is an opportunity not only to meet Helen but to also meet the Paintings. Perhaps you will stay long enough to talk and share something memorable together. You will be most welcome.
Open Studios is part of North Fife Open Studios and is held on the first May Bank Holiday every year. If you would like more details to this event please join Helen’s mailing List.
4th / 5th / 6th May 2019 10am-6pm
Gentle Night • Oil on Board
At the tail end of January I escaped to the North. I spent five wonderful days exploring the Assynt Peninsula, drawing and walking. A planned research trip can often come with expectations that potentially won’t be fulfilled, but I was not disappointed. The weather behaved. By that I mean it was wild, cold and snowy. The light changed every few minutes. Just perfect for my work. My winter visit also meant there were very few people around. I found the quiet and solitude needed for the natural world to sink in. Sketchbooks were filled and words were written all in preparation for new work when I returned home. Research trips are essential to progression. To put it simply they are inspiring. I am often happy enough with staying closer to home but a completely new place opens up new ideas. The mind can find new ways to make marks and can lead you away from your usual perhaps comfortable colour combinations and inspire to try new ones. Compositions can be explored. The rocks, the beaches and the hills felt fresh and exciting since I am used to seeing the eastern vast stretches of sky and sand. Mark making changes accordingly. It is necessary to take your time, a day would not be enough to soak the landscape in. I was reminded of Jon Scheuler’s work as the weather wraps itself around you and seeps into every pore. Being in the landscape is essential for me. I don’t wish to just observe but to experience the weather that nature decides to throw at me. Hail, snow, freezing winds and brilliant sunshine. I love it all.
My days took me to Alchiltibuie via the multiple stopping points and vistas. Achnahaird was wild and well worth the drenching I got whilst walking to the beach. Trips further North and through deeper snow revealed deserted roads and windswept beaches. The colours were magnificent set against the cool snow white shades; Slate Greys, peat bog browns and blacks with occasional glimpses of the hopeful translucent sea blues and greens. This was the true Scotland.
With a solo show to prepare for I was in full flow, translating ideas and experiences into marks, paintings and writings. Consumed and happy I immersed myself for five days in painting the landscape.
My forthcoming show ‘IMMERSE’ will be at Tatha Gallery in June.
Dates for your diary • Preview 21st June
Exhibition continues 22nd June - 24th August
My latest body of work is now online and available to purchase. Take a look on the Portfolio page 2018. I am happy to chat through any of the work and studio visits are always welcome if you can’t make up your mind. Many of the pieces will be shown in Tatha Gallery in the forthcoming Winter Exhibition ‘Even More Alchemy’ Preview 10th November 2-4pm and runs until 24th December
The Summer months have now made way for Autumn winds and chilly mornings and fresh new look at work and inspirations. Through July, August and early September I took opportunities, where I could, to venture further afield. With innocent anticipation I packed my tent, walking boots and midge repellant and set off to explore the West.
No matter what my ideas for future work are there is always a pull to Rannoch Moor, and I am never disappointed. It was so exciting to see the light and colour changing so rapidly and I found myself not knowing in which direction to look. Once I had wandered far enough and for long enough all my thoughts for work had changed. In fact, the expectations had dissipated completely. This is a lesson I learn every time I am researching and finding new painting material, but it’s a mistake I always seem to make. Set goals and ideas dissolve away with the passing shower and time and place become dominant. Nature quite elegantly reminds me that there is no set subject, no one way of seeing and certainly no same way of experiencing; nature has the incredible ability of resetting the internal compass. The heather and hills in late summer seemed to be enriched with an ever-changing filter which left me in awe of the magnificence unfolding in front of me to the extent that I found myself often questioning what I was seeing. Now I am home the mystery of the hidden and the subtlety but sureness of the visible seeps through my work once more. It is both captivating and inspiring and will feed my next series of paintings from the west.
Looking Towards Rannoch Moor from Glen Coe
I am delighted to be showing in an Exhibition at Tatha Gallery alongside artists Kate Downie and Paul Furneaux. It was featured in the Dundee Courier and the Glasgow Herald on the 22nd June.
Tatha Gallery Depth of Field with Kate Downie and Paul Furneaux 23rd June -18th August 2018. View Exhibition
On the 4th August I will be giving an informal demo and talk at Tatha gallery. To be perfectly honest the thought of showing people how I work fills me with a certain amount of trepidation since my painting process is usually a very private pursuit. The state I need to enter when painting is one of feeling removed and losing myself, so I can feel free enough to recreate the sensations of my subject yet simultaneously finding an almost hyper state of awareness. The painting then flows and becomes about that very moment I find myself in, feeling energised by the complete absorption.
Painting in front of a room full of people will therefore present new challenges. But I hope that it will spark new conversations and ideas and perhaps add another dimension to the experience of making work.
If you wish to attend the talk please contact Tatha Gallery 01382 690800. Spaces are limited.
Helen Glassford • Studio Shot
Origami Landscape • Oil on Board • Helen Glassford
I was thrilled at the fantastic response to my work at the Affordable Art Fair in May. Some of my more abstract pieces were on show, such as Origami Landscape, Emerge and Edgelands. Choosing work for these events is always proves to be a challenge. The market continues to fluctuate and is affected by the political and economic climate, with the seasons, the weather even, so it is nearly impossible to second guess what clients might like. Having said this there are always people who want to immerse themselves in the Arts and enjoy and invest in something that will add to their lives. As artists, we rely on that surety that art, like music, stays with you. That it becomes part of your everyday life, catching glimpses, perhaps seeing something new each time you pass. What we choose to add to our lives is, therefore, an important decision. I have painted now for 20 years and I can quite honestly say that and every sale is as delightful as the first. Thank you to all who visited and showed interest and passed comment.
Over the past few years I have come to realise how important a good website is for an artist and I can honestly say that I am absolutely delighted with my new site. The journey of creating a site is very interesting and one that I would recommend every artist should go through. It helps you define and focus on your work and allows you to see it from a different perspective and therefore drives you to engage with every part of your practice from the studio through to public engagement.
It speaks of me and can perhaps be seen as another canvas or a window into my practice and research. My recent work will be on view for all to see and I have been able to include my important sketchbook work, quite often a private pursuit of many artists, but one that I feel is paramount to developing my practice. Instagram is a tool I find very useful, so I have provided easy links to my daily posts. There are so many ideas and new paintings waiting in the wings that I want to share and the addition of this eJournal allows me to do just that.
The idea is that this site functions as a journey: leading you through my background and artwork history, right up to the present day and my current exhibition and studio activities. Please enjoy navigating through the pages, share with your friends and remember to pop back for any updates and of course sign up to the emailing list if you don’t want to miss out on a new post.
Thanks goes out to David Cass for building this site, his wonderful aesthetics, expertise and patience!
Use the buttons below to explore further. Selected photography by Alistair Kerr | Website built by David Cass / CreateCreate.co
