....

What followed my trip to Glasgow was uneventful and embarrassing. I was penniless after that night and now had no art to my name.  Debt was spiraling uncontrollably.

It was the art  though that meant most to me. If you think about Voodoo. That work was very similar. It is as though I purged any negative thought or grief and trapped it in there. But without any of it to my name apart from a fucking 19ft albatross skeleton which is still literally hanging around my neck, I began to fall. When faced with a problem, many people drive themselves forward. They do not accept defeat, they fight. I brooded. A rare piece of work from this time.

At Least We Caught Something

Robbed Blind Drunk

Reports of what preceded the Compass Gallery opening are hazy at best. What is known is that by the next morning I was without a suitcase and had lost much of my dignity. The suitcase was far more important to me than dignity. "Dignity is for morons" Still not over my loss it seems. It is understandable though, I lost 9 paintings that night. Why I was carrying them around at 3 in the morning...i dont know. Its as though I felt like an old salesman, selling his wares on the streets. And how that bubble did burst.  I has assure you though that if I ever find out who it was that called me that night, laughing at my painting skills and underwear. I will deposit them into the Clyde tied to a rock.

Stolen Paintings

Compass Gallery - New Generation Show -

A week later, my momentum was destroyed in the dirty old town of Glasgow. Riding a wave of success from my experiences in Edinburgh, I walked into the compass gallery with my head held high. It did not last. After the opening, which was flacid at best, I took my suitcase and went to the nearest watering hole. The free wine had left that lustfull feeling....

http://www.compassgallery.co.uk/cg-exhibitions.php?q=The_New_Generation_Show_2009

Compass Gallery Paintings

Art Space 2 Let - Sunday Salon

Following my moderate success in Dundee, I was offered the chance of my first exhibition before even graduating. The city was Edinburgh, my first time there and I left elated, pockets bulging. Could it be that this fabled tale of life as an artist being inevitably poverty stricken was simply heresay.

I stood in amusement as two men fought over one painting.

House

Galapagos

Degree Show 2009 - For the Entire World

What follows are a selection of photographs from my Degree show. I graduated from Dundee University. My first exhibition was focused mainly on the idea of death. With a plaster constructed 19ft albatross skeleton looming over taxidermy animals, a wardrobe filled with bones and dark private paintings. A bronze cuckoo is also on show referencing their parasitic nature. Possibly a glimpse into my own confused upbringing. In truth I doubt many will ever know or care.

It is a glimpse into the working’s of obsession. A desperate attempt at life evaluation to dispel my demon’s. This is the product of an accomplished escape artist. However I am not spineless.