Art Projects for Artistic Creativity

Artistic creativity in the early part of an artist’s career, has us wondering what should we paint, so we choose the topics that inspire us. I just love snow scenes, but then as a trained gardener, I find plenty attractive flowers to paint, and now with a plot on an allotment site there is plenty ramshackle sheds and fences, water butts and crops to paint. As a Scotsman I love painting our lochs and mountains, so I do numerous trips to Glencoe and Isle of Skye and bring back photos to work from.Then as a Dundonian I find plenty places to capture on canvas all around the town. Artistic creativity has no bounds. However once we decide on a topic we need to show it in a variety of views. Thus I have painted 14 Cape Gooseberries, about 15 views around Loch Ard, 20 different orchids, 20 Dundee paintings, half a dozen Forfar Lochs, and well over 100 snow scenes. Another favourite topic for me is views around my allotment site at City Road Allotment Gardens, as there is so much variety of sheds, fences, barrels, boxes and plants that our artistic creativity gets plenty of exercise.

The Forfar Loch below is still on show in the Winter Exhibition with Dundee Art Society in Roseangle Gallery, but ends tomorrow Saturday 10th December.

The two latest views of Arthurs Plot are now on show in my studio. I have now painted 8 views of Arthurs Plot, but 6 are now sold with 2 on my studio walls at home.

Visitors are welcome to pop in to see my studio gallery any time, but drop me an email at johnstoa@blueyonder.co.uk to make sure I am in.

Christmas Art Exhibitions

As we head towards the festive season, we artists join in Christmas Exhibitions, so if you get the chance, please drop into them, and see some brilliant new art for sale from Dundee's artists. There is a charity exhibition for Cancer Research in the Vision Building, 20 Greenmarket from 25 to 27 November, open 10am till 8pm, but finishes at 4pm on Sunday then Dundee Art Society is holding their winter exhibition in their Roseangle Gallery from 3rd to 10th December.Open from 11am to 4pm with more art for sale.

Special Festive Offer

John will give a free limited edition print for every purchase of a painting from November to end of December.

LIFE INTO ART EXHIBITION

Visitors are very welcome to pop into the Art exhibition in the DUNDEE PARISH CHURCH (ST MARY’S)

Exhibition started today and continues till Saturday 22 October Open from 10 am till 4.30 pm

Lady in Red Arrives in Dundee

Lady in Red comes to Dundee in Scotland. I was born in Dundee, but moved south for 30 odd years following my horticultural career before returning to my home city as an artist. We are constantly seeking new ideas to paint and there are so many interesting places in and around Dundee that a new project of showing the best of my home town on canvas was born. The link for all these paintings was my Lady in Red as she went for walks in the town center, under the River Tay rail bridge, did some shopping, relaxed in the City Square and at McManus Gallery then ended the evening with a social night out. Other paintings of my Lady in Red is as the artist model in the studio, but still dressed in red.

An Artist Life

I thought now would be a good time to start a new Blog to look at the world of art and how I find my way around this vast and interesting topic.

The Young Artist

My interest in art was established in childhood, encouraged by my father who kept me supplied with paper and pencils and crayons then many years later the magic of selling original paintings started when I got my first red dot at Darlington Art Society Annual Exhibition in 1980. I am largely self taught but constantly experiments with colour and light, tone and composition. I paint subjects from town to country, floral to figurative, snow scenes, summer landscapes, Scottish castles, mountains, lochs and still life. In early days I used pastels, watercolour and oils, but when acrylics became popular I changed to this medium. I had a long career in horticulture taking me all over the United Kingdom but became a full time artist in 1992 when my employers, Livingston Development Corporation got wound up as the new towns had become established and redundancy loomed. I have been fairly prolific and now (up to 2022) painted over 1800 paintings. All my paintings are numbered and have dates and titles on the back of the frame as well as on the artwork. I have published several limited edition prints, and often put on an exhibition of recent paintings in my Original Art studio in Dundee. I exhibit paintings with both the Broughty Ferry Art Society as well as the Dundee Art Society.

I run art classes on a Monday evening in my Art Studio in Dundee and am happy to hear from anyone looking for art classes in Dundee.

Scottish artist John Stoa from Dundee