Urban Decay
About the Series
I grew up in Govan, Glasgow in the 70s and 80s as did my parents and my grandparents before me. Its a 'Salt of the Earth' community - people may not have had much but, if you lived in a vertical village (or tenement), the neighbours all looked after one another. Hard Living, Hard Loving. It shaped my attitudes and the opinions which I carry to this day.
Coming from Irish/Celtic heritage, roots were always important to me - you need to know where you came from to understand who you are. Over the last three years, when I've gone back to visit, I found little bits of my childhood disappearing - the schools I attended, the shops I spent my pocket money in, the church, the house I had grown up in and the houses my grandparents lived in. Familiar streets gone.
Last time I visited my old neighbourhood was in Spring 2013 and for some reason it was a huge emotional blow to see the high flats (Iona Court) being prepared for demolition. For me, they were the three beacons signalling 'home' that I looked for when arriving at Glasgow Airport and the landmark on the skyline I always tried to see to get my bearings. My granny lived in one of those 'flats'. My own family and my paternal grandparents lived in the houses at the foot of them. I've watched from afar as people post pictures on the web of them being demolished and while part of my soul weeps, another part sighs and thinks 'progress'. People shouldn't have to live like that - but we did and we survived and we thrived.
Almost all of the landmarks of my childhood are gone and, as they have been disappearing, I've been painting. Completing this series was a very personal journey for me and I think its given me some sort of closure.
Rest assured, you can take the girl out of Govan, you can never take Govan out of the girl.
Creating the Paintings
All of the building are painted in my own simple, whimsical style and, as I wanted to get an earthy feel to all of the work in this series, I textured with a plaster undercoat before painting and, as each layer was built up, I dirtied down the colours. When I think on my childhood my memories are almost always like an old faded photograph which led to a lot of scrubbing back on layers to get that used and abused feeling.
Coming from Irish/Celtic heritage, roots were always important to me - you need to know where you came from to understand who you are. Over the last three years, when I've gone back to visit, I found little bits of my childhood disappearing - the schools I attended, the shops I spent my pocket money in, the church, the house I had grown up in and the houses my grandparents lived in. Familiar streets gone.
Last time I visited my old neighbourhood was in Spring 2013 and for some reason it was a huge emotional blow to see the high flats (Iona Court) being prepared for demolition. For me, they were the three beacons signalling 'home' that I looked for when arriving at Glasgow Airport and the landmark on the skyline I always tried to see to get my bearings. My granny lived in one of those 'flats'. My own family and my paternal grandparents lived in the houses at the foot of them. I've watched from afar as people post pictures on the web of them being demolished and while part of my soul weeps, another part sighs and thinks 'progress'. People shouldn't have to live like that - but we did and we survived and we thrived.
Almost all of the landmarks of my childhood are gone and, as they have been disappearing, I've been painting. Completing this series was a very personal journey for me and I think its given me some sort of closure.
Rest assured, you can take the girl out of Govan, you can never take Govan out of the girl.
Creating the Paintings
All of the building are painted in my own simple, whimsical style and, as I wanted to get an earthy feel to all of the work in this series, I textured with a plaster undercoat before painting and, as each layer was built up, I dirtied down the colours. When I think on my childhood my memories are almost always like an old faded photograph which led to a lot of scrubbing back on layers to get that used and abused feeling.
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On Summertown Rd could be found the pensioners flats, school, public swimming baths and church - all are now gone. On the day I visited, I did not see a soul as I walked and the place felt abandoned and forgotten. This is the first painting in the series and the signature piece. |
SOLD. Abandoned. 40 cm x 60cm, Mixed Media on Canvas.
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RESERVED. Town Centre. 40 x 50 cm. Mixed Media on Canvas.
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Going 'Doon the Road' with my grannie on a Saturday was always a highlight of my week with a wee Knickerbocker Glory at Amy's Café. I never remember it being a sunny day, only cloudy and grey. There was no shopping centre then and we went to many a 'wee' shop with the trolley as well as the Coop! In every shop I would get the coins or change to put in my pocket. St Anthony's chapel was always a landmark for me as a kid - especially on the Burleigh St side where the chapel house was. I always thought it was a huge building! At least something still stands! |
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I started working at weekends in a local Nursing Home at the tender age of 13 (no one cared in those days) and didn't part company until I was a grown woman. It was a unique place and a beautiful building with a connected Convent and Nurses Home. Lots of blood and tears over the years - we helped to see in the new souls and see out the old. I remember it with a warm heart and made friends there who stayed with me for years. Its now been 'recycled' as apartments and a purpose built Nursing Home built at the end of the same street. |
SOLD: Gone But Not Forgotten. 30 x 40cm. Mixed Media on Canvas.
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SOLD. The Good Old Days. 30 x 100 cm. Mixed Media on Canvas.
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My granddad worked in the shipyards in the days of Fairfield's. As a kid I always remembered where it was by thinking on the road that St Anthony's church was located and just keep walking. As well as representing the yard I've tried to capture a pretty plain church steeple.
This one is for Francie! Hope your propping up the big bar in the sky with a half n half! |
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Walking down Broomloan Road toward the Potted Heid bank we passed by the back of Orkney St police station. There used to be lots of tenements there and I was convinced that all the people who lived around there could see into the 'jail' and the bad men getting tortured and decided I never wanted to live there - yup, I had a great imagination even then!! |
SOLD: Numbers Up. 30 x 50cm. Mixed Media on Canvas.
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SOLD: Playground. 60 x 80 cm. Mixed Media on Canvas.
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I grew up at the foot of three high flats or multi-stories. Part of the complex was a group of shops and my mum worked in the chippy and also in the newsagents. On the other side of the flats was a rather famous, or infamous, housing scheme where my father grew up and his parents lived for many, many years. This was my playground as a kid - Charlie's Angels in the entrance to the high flats, taking my bike around the car park. |
The New Builds
In the 70s most of the slum tenements were being torn down and the 80s saw 'new builds' popping up - Riverside and Burndyke were the talking points - who was getting a bigger place, their own front door (and more importantly who deserved it :D). They were a contrast to the old grey landscape - white buildings with small windows and you had to navigate a warren of paths to find the entrance!
SOLD. New Build 1. 50 x 70cm. Mixed Media on Canvas.
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SOLD: New Build 2. 50 x 70cm. Mixed Media on Canvas.
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