Fife's Coast and Landscape is Picture Perfect!

Colin Carruthers - Midsummer Landscape, Fife £1250

We have been lucky enough to receive a large collection of work from Artery regular Colin Carruthers. A regular visitor to Scotland, Colin paints these scenes based on places he has visited, from the islands such as Islay to the East Neuk.

Colin is most noted for his beautiful contemporary seascapes - taking his inspiration from the Scottish coastlines. This new collection has many of his stunning coastal paintings, but now also includes some landscapes based on our local scenery.
Colin has based some of his new oil landscapes on the area surrounding St Andrews and Cupar, featuring the stunning Fife countryside. This new genre still captures Colin's serene and peaceful mood which is seen in his seascapes. He has also included some smaller works in this series, making it easier for visitors to take away a painting of Fife.

Colin's paintings are on display in our gallery on South Street, St Andrews, or view all his work past and present at http://www.arteryuk.com/artists/Carruthers,Colin/

Portrait of Colin Montgomerie at Artery Gallery

Artery Gallery is currently exhibiting an oil painting of someone who is very familiar to St Andrews!

Golfer Colin Montgomerie is the subject of one of artist Andrew Reid's hyper-realism portraits for which he is becoming very well known. Andrew takes an unusual approach to painting a portrait - likening the facial contours to a landscape. He takes great interest in capturing tiny details on the surface of a face, such as age lines, hairs and eyelashes - seeing these as the building blocks to make up a face. He also enjoys the challenge of reproducing photographic effects, such as soft-focus backgrounds and colour bleeds.

Artery Gallery set Andrew the challenge of painting a famous Scottish face, and his meticulous approach has produced amazing results in this life-like portrait of Monty. It also pays homage to St Andrews title of 'The Home of Golf.'

Andrew is available to paint portraits upon request, at no extra charge. Just stop into Artery Gallery, and we will arrange that for you.

New 'St Andrews' painting by Jackie Gardiner

'Moonrise, St Andrews'

St Andrews is in full 'summer swing' at the moment, with lots of holiday makers from the United Kingdom, Europe, and across the world.

St Andrews is somewhere which is instantly recognisable to people from all corners of the globe, which is why we are delighted to have another beautiful oil painting of St Andrews by our regular artist Jackie Gardiner.

Jackie Gardiner has been a successful artist for 20 years now, and her work is featured in personal art collections such as The Earl of Strathmore's, Ernst and Young in Edinburgh and Karademir House. Her paintings have sold all over the world - travelling to places such as Singapore, Canada, South Africa, and of course, the UK.

Artery Gallery had been lucky enough to consistently exhibit Jackie's work for the last four years, with many keen followers regularly visiting to see her new work.

Artery Gallery, St Andrews, is open 10am - 5pm Monday - Friday, 10am - 5.30pm on Saturday, and 12 - 4pm Sunday.

www.arteryuk.com

Scottish Seascape and Landscape Oil Paintings by Jackie Gardiner

"Nightfall, Near Boddin"

Jackie Gardiner studied at Duncan of Jordanstone College of Art in Dundee from 1976 - 1980 and there she gained her BA. She completed her post graduate year in conjunction with Dundee University and then worked in design and advertising for five years.

Jackie has been a professional artist now for nearly twenty years and in that time has exhibited her work at some of the most prestigious fine art galleries in Scotland and in London.

Here at Artery Gallery, we have been selling Jackie's oil paintings consistently for the last four years and her wonderful seascapes and paintings of St Andrews in particular have proved a huge success with our customers.

Jackie lives in Arbroath where the sea and its ever-changing colours and moods provides the inspiration for her work. All of the emotion her surroundings give her are portrayed beautifully in every painting she creates.

"St Andrews Beach"

Jackie's work can be found in the private collections of The Earl of Strathmore Glamis Castle, Karademir House Urla, Angus Fine Art, Bruce Douglas Marketing, James Keiller Estates, TVI Europe, Watson & Philip, Ernst and Young Edinburgh.

She also has work in private collections in Orkney and throughout UK, Turkey, Australia, USA, Portugal, South Africa, Canada and Holland.

www.arteryuk.com

Original Paintings for Sale

Here at Artery Gallery, we have always prided ourselves on our eclectic range of original paintings on sale. With everyones tastes in art and paintings varying so much, it is very important to cater for these tastes and make available exactly the kind of quality, original paintings that our customers are looking for.

Abstract paintings, Landscape paintings, Seacscape paintings, Surrealism or Still Life realistic paintings, are pretty much all the main areas covered. It is then important to have a wide range of colours, themes and styles. Abstract paintings in particular are usually purchased because of the colours involved in the piece. Landscapes and Seascapes can cover locally related areas of interest or even just give the feeling of a particular area of note for the buyer.

Other paintings can offer something thought provoking and meaningfull within the painting, or simply give an uplifting feeling that can warm a room.

Abstract Paintings:

Derek Collins - Golden Lava

Peter Davenport - Red Breakwater

Contemporary Landscape and Seascape Paintings:

Susan Lincoln - Night Falls

Colin Carruthers - Loch Ailort

Thought Provoking Paintings:

Andrew Baines - Escape of the Corporate Battery Hen

Scott Carruthers - Chasing Rainbows

Photo Realistic paintings:

Bing Wang - Apples on a White Cloth

Alberto Bertoldi - The Last Energy

This is but a small example of the type of original paintings for sale at Artery Gallery. Artists from Scotland, England, Northern Ireland, Italy, Australia and China, all from varying backgrounds. but all creating works of art of the highest quality.

www.arteryuk.com

The China Effect - Painting by Sheer Numbers

There have long been complaints on the forgeries of all kinds of goods from designer fashion to golf clubs, and watches to CDs and DVDs, all pouring out of China. This is nothing more than copying Western products for Western consumption. A strange way for any society to grow and prosper but what does this really mean in terms of our own values?

China's low wages and hunger for exports have already changed many industries, the art world, at least art for the masses, seems to be next, and is emerging as a miniature case study of China's successful expansion in a long list of small industries that when added together represent a huge chunk of it’s economic activity.

With the art market seen as a lucrative area, China continues to rapidly expand its art colleges, turning out tens of thousands of skilled artists each year willing to work cheaply. In the village of Dafen in particular, just outside Shenzen, factories have been set up purely for these art students and graduates to work, where the assembly line paintings are produced and sold throughout the world via the Internet.

The artists working on the assembly line divide up the colour, each possibly only using 2 or 3 colours. Working their way briskly along a line of up to 20 identical contemporary-style paintings, the artists will apply perhaps a few strokes of brown, while the next worker along applies the red, and so on.

The fact that the country is producing hand painted copies of old masters is only a small part of it. The main push by China has been in the broad market for works that retail for anything up to £200, with painters who work from postcards or images on the Internet. Due to the amount of interest the original works gain, popular artworks on all levels from across Europe and the US, are being copied in China and then exported back into the Western market. China's ability to turn what has long been an individual practice into a mass production industry will no doubt affect small-scale artists, as well as many galleries and various art colonies in the West.

When someone purchases one of these ‘Original Oil Paintings’, they are acquiring a piece that could have been painted by 10 different artists. So what is the advantage of owning such a thing? If all you want is something to decorate the walls and something that has no individual meaning or worth, surely a £1.99 poster would suffice.

So what can be done about the influx of copies arriving from China? As an art gallery, we are always trying to take steps to protect our exhibiting artist’s work, but the volume of artwork on the Internet is staggering and realistically impossible to keep track on what is being copied. The main aims are to protect the artists that create the original work and help the buyers protect their investments.

Perhaps copyright laws need to be more stringent. Previous laws were set up prior to this mass-production industry, so the principals and practice of copying art in general has changed considerably. If the laws on copyright were to be updated someway then that could go a long way in protecting the artist’s work.

www.arteryuk.com

Buying and Investing in Art

Any time is really a good time to consider buying and even investing in good quality original fine art, and you don’t need to be an Oil Tycoon to do so!

Imagine a loved painting hanging in your office where you can enjoy the pleasure of ownership throughout your working day, or a wonderful artwork that greets you when you come home. These are good reasons to buy fine art, but the reasons to buy do not have to be limited to just this.

Investing in quality fine art has consistently kept pace with the stock market over the last few decades now and recently, due to the rise in the international art market and the much-coveted decline of stock market shares, begun to out pace it considerably. That not only includes works by the blue chip artists both living and deceased, but also works by lesser-known artists. Paintings by artists who are selling in the best galleries, emerging artists with new art theories and even those by well known artists of the past can be very affordable.

Investing in fine art does not need to cost the thousands to millions of pounds that we read about in the news. These are usually only over inflated prices anyway specially targeted for Russian and Arab businessmen with over inflated bank accounts!

Anyone can purchase a good quality piece of art at an affordable price if they know what they want and where to find it. The Internet is a great place to do research on the styles you like and on the artists themselves and is certainly less time consuming and more feasible than visiting the numerous art galleries. If you can visit your local and national galleries to help get inspired, this all helps, and it has to be said that seeing art exhibited in an actual gallery does help you connect with the work.

The common outlook and probably best advice is to just ‘buy what you like’ first and buy as an investment second, but it is very possible to do both, to have a painting you love and also something that you know you will not lose anything on. A painting wont break down or need upgrading, and if it is a piece you love, it will never get old and tired. So unlike pretty much anything else you spend money on, it wont mean you will be out of pocket on it. This means it can certainly be seen as an investment, especially if you have done that little bit of research and obtained an artwork by an artist that does establish him or herself. Or you may even just get lucky and have a billionaire bidding war on works by the same artist, and this sort of profile boosting is something money cant buy!

For business owners, Investing in art can be an affordable way for any size of business to increase and maintain customers and client bases.

Many small business owners, especially professionals such as doctors, lawyers, dentists and financial advisors, have experienced the benefits of displaying good investment quality art in their offices and reception areas.

Recent studies have shown that products benefit with increased sales when marketed with fine art. Professionals who display good fine art in their places of business experience that their clients and customers view them as having more authenticity, authority and professionalism. Restaurant owners have also come to find that art helps bring in customers, not just prints for decoration but good quality fine art.

A business purchasing original art can also reap the benefit of an investment that increases in value over time. There can even be a tax advantage as the art, or part of the purchase price can be deducted, just like any other office furnishing. Depending on the work and its value there are other possible tax advantages to be had from loaning work to shows or even local museums.

The overall important factor remains however, that investment in art is the visual pleasure received and if it has the potential to increase in value, even better.

A good place to start looking for original, contemporary art is at Artery Gallery of course!

Still Life Oil Paintings by Bing Wang - A Contemporary 'Old Master'

("Strawberry on a White Torrent" by Bing Wang)

We have just taken in 10 brand new outstanding Still Life oil paintings from Artery Gallery regular Bing Wang.

Bing Wang explains his works:

"Recently, I have used the Still Life format as a foil for my ideas. The painting is becoming a vehicle to express a state of mood through the fusion of Minimalism and Realism. Both the process of making and the result suggested an escape from the real and sophisticated daily life.

By depicting the simplest object within the simplest composition but executed in a masterful and astonishing realistic manner, I am trying to engage the viewers into a translucent and peaceful pictorial space.

It is not easy any more to be able to be ‘traditional’ in the contemporary context. But I am still conscious of the meaning of painting tradition and its needfulness in the present to engender resistance to the libidinous flex of media images.

My researches into techniques, media and pigment of the Old Masters and the painstaking working procedure have led my works to a highly finished surface and a sense of timelessness."

With prices for Bing's original oil paintings ranging from £595 to £895, you can have a modern day masterpiece without the price tag of an old one!

Visit our website to view the new Still Life oil paintings by Bing Wang now exhibiting at Artery Gallery in St Andrews and Crieff.

www.arteryuk.com

Scottish Seascape Paintings

("Machrinhanish" by Colin Carruthers)

Exhibiting at Artery Gallery in Crieff and St Andrews with his new work is internationally selling artist Colin Carruthers Due to the high success Colin has had in exhibiting his work previously through Artery Gallery, he has given the gallery exclusive selling rights, now allowing them to be the only gallery in Scotland to show his works.

Jason of Artery Gallery says “We feel this is a bit of a coup for us, being a Scottish contemporary art gallery and securing unique selling rights to the works of a successful artist. We like to work with our artists and try to help them progress. In his time exhibiting with us, we have seen a fantastic development in Colin’s work and this has been reflected in his success”.

Originally from Northern Ireland, Colin says, “I regularly travel to Scotland, where I find the high drama of the Scottish Coast, a constant source of influence for my paintings. There's a challenge involved in my work. With every canvas I attempt, I am searching for something. Beyond simply looking at my paintings and gaining an aesthetic pleasure, I do think it's important that they offer up space for thought"

The strengths of his canvases lie in their versatile response to nature as he grapples with the relationship between memory, place and emotion. His work challenges our assumptions of landscape and returns us to a new sense of engagement, both spiritual and practical, with our surroundings.

www.arteryuk.com

The Lie of the Land - Aerial Abstract Landscape Paintings by Peter Davenport

("Field Patterns, Holkham" by Peter Davenport)

Peter Davenport was born in England in 1931 to a French mother and Anglo/Scots father. Peter followed his father into the army and just like his father, eventually became a highly ranked officer himself. With the army being a major part of his early life, this meant moving around the country was common practice without settling anywhere for any great length of time. Eventually Peter moved to Perthshire and has been living there now since 1962.

After his time with the Army he studied drawing and painting at the Edinburgh College of Art.

During the 1970`s Peter went on to teach Photography at the Edinburgh College of Art and has worked in various branches of this field since then. With photography always being a huge passion of Peter’s, he bases many of his semi-abstract paintings on his collection of aerial photographs of the landscape below.

Combining the two different viewpoints of the landscape from above and from looking across the horizon, Peter Davenport’s contemporary oil paintings have developed into a very distinctive style unique to himself.

His latest series of works are of the coast line and patchwork-like field patterns of the North Norfolk coast. With this particular area of East Anglia striking a chord with Peter’s consciousness, the outcome of his paintings of Holkham tide line are full of passion and emotion with a vibrant mix of green and brown hues working with, as apposed to conflicting with, the sharp blue tones.

He has held various solo shows including those at the renowned Richard Demarco Gallery in Edinburgh and with the English Speaking Union. His paintings hang in collections across the United Kingdom, in Canada, France, Germany, Denmark and the U.S.A.

Peter Davenport now exhibits exclusively all year round at Artery Gallery in both Crieff and St Andrews where his oil on board paintings of landscapes and geometric abstracts continue to be well received by new, as well as existing collectors of his work.

His works can also be viewed on the Artery Gallery website at www.arteryuk.com

Artery Gallery Celebrates Two Years in St Andrews

Throughout the end of May, Artery Gallery on South Street are celebrating what has been an exciting and enjoyable second year in the town.

The many locals and overseas visitors to have visited the gallery have showed great excitement and support since the opening in the town in May 2006. The continued growth and variety of local, national and international artists has been the major factor in Artery Gallery’s development from the early beginnings of the Crieff gallery to the expansion of the St Andrews branch.

Together with the addition of popular Scottish landscape painters Martin Devine, Jane Duckfield and John Wetten-Brown, Artery Gallery has also introduced two renowned International artists. Italian painter and cloud appreciation society member Alberto Bertoldi was introduced to exhibiting in Scotland last year with great anticipation. His photo-realistic oil paintings of storm building and sunburst clouds transfix the viewer with their immense beauty. Alberto has arranged over 30 exhibitions of his work across Italy and has also had books published based solely on his cloud paintings.

Following on from Alberto Bertoldi, was the arrival of Alexandros Arabatzoglou, a truly renowned sculptor from Crete and heralded by many in the art world as the Cretian Henry Moore. Alexandros’ sculptures have been sold to private collectors all over the world, and demand for his work has been such that he has not exhibited in a gallery for nearly nine years, despite offers from some of the worlds most prestigious galleries. However, after striking up a relationship with Artery Gallery, Alexandros decided to end his gallery exile by exhibiting one of his hand carved sculptures in their St Andrews branch.

The Director of Artery Gallery explains “After meeting with Alexandros in Crete last year, I was amazed at his drive, passion and enthusiasm for his work and his art. For him, creating his sculpture is like breaking down to the bare bones of his inner soul, using his hands to carve into the stone and creating an extension of himself within each individual sculpture”. He adds “Here at Artery Gallery, we are always looking to expand on the superb catalogue of talent we exhibit, and inviting Alexandros to join us, knowing of the interest he has gained, is exciting for the gallery, for St Andrews, and for world art exhibited in Scotland”.

The collection of seascape paintings by Colin Carruthers have gained popularity with every one of his exhibitions, and during the last year this has seen Colin grant Artery Gallery with exclusive exhibiting rights for Scotland.

Handmade Jewellery has continued to show great popularity in the St Andrews Gallery with Artery exhibiting works from over 10 different jewellers, stretching from Brazil to Israel, as well as those from a little closer to home such as Dunfermline, Crieff, Oban and Stirling! All very different and unique in techniques, materials and style.

Artery Gallery has been a major supporter of contemporary Scottish artists over the past few years from the gallery in King Street, Crieff and their award winning website, and continues to boost artist profiles by introducing them to the busy Scottish town of St Andrews where it’s UK and overseas visitors can see some of the best contemporary artwork first hand.

Artery Gallery at 43 South Street, St Andrews (01334 478221) and 22 King Street, Crieff (01764 655722).

www.arteryuk.com

Clouds, Mighty Without Movement

Renowned Italian artist Alberto Bertoldi’s original oil paintings are fascinating and beautiful since his subject, the sky and the clouds, is equally fascinating and beautiful. Alberto explains, “I was flying on a plane, and as it broke through the clouds, I experienced a most incredible moment. While I was looking out of the window, the plane seemed to hang between the sea and infinity, between sky and earth. With extreme emotion I watched what humans three thousand years ago could only imagine.”

He adds, “When I reached my destination, I dared to watch the horizon again, now from the tiny beach of St Vincente, and I realised for the first time the clouds, mighty, without movement or speed, act like curtains. I witnessed how this curtain of clouds hid the endless universe and its sound.”

Alberto Bertoldi was born in Torino in 1955, and now lives and works in Piacenza, northern Italy. He has prepared over 30 personal exhibitions across his homeland together with having beautifully illustrated books published about himself and his work. Now for the first time, he has been introduced to the UK through Artery Gallery, based in both St Andrews and Crieff.

Alberto started painting from an early age and besides a brief spell at the Academy of Arts in Brera, is largely considered a self taught artist. He held his first exhibition at the age of 18 though shortly after suspended his painting for a long period of time. Upon reaching his early 30’s, Alberto returned to his work, in complete solitude, with intense work and studying various subjects. Now, differently to his earlier subjects, he looked towards the ancient artists of Northern Europe that were closer to his propensity for landscape painting and, in general, for the aesthetic of sublime.

Alberto's cloud paintings have proved very popular with many pilots becoming collectors of his work. One pilot from RAF Leuchars in Fife recently purchased a painting by Alberto, and stated "It's like looking out of my office window!”

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