Sighthill Painting

This weekend I painted the picture below. It features two tower blocks in Sighthill, Glasgow, the subject matter I most like to paint, see some previous paintings here. I have been fascinated by high rise residential buildings and the people who occupy them for as long as I can remember although I appreciate its a bit of an off the wall interest. Luckily for me my beautiful sister shares it too so our idea of a fun afternoon might be to drive off somewhere and photograph some interesting blocks. Anyway, this picture is a mixed media piece and includes the use of a strange black paint created by mixing linseed oil, picture vanish and black oil colour creating a very shiny texture. There is also some 3D items such as the blocks and the roses which were made from old books and splattered with gold paint. Its an eerie night scene but I actually find tower blocks very inspiring. Not only are they visually dominate and stark in a way that draws me in but they also are full of stories of both hope and joy and sadness and repression. Many people who lived there are dogged by negative stereotypes even though they are full of pride and dignity, keeping their flats and living spaces immaculate and pristine. I'm particularly intrigued by Glasgow and what happened there. During the post-war slum clearances the Glasgow authorities believed the best way to deal with the desperate need for adequate housing was to rehouse people in high density schemes around the city, many on the outskirts, making it difficult to travel to amenities and employment. What started out as a fantastic way of life in the thriving 1960's became a unpopular and difficult way of life by the drug and crime riddled 1980's. However, many people had fantastic experiences there and now that most of these buildings are being torn down this way of life will eventually become a thing of the past. While researching Sighthill for my painting I came across a beautiful short documentary by Chris Leslie on three people's thoughts and feelings about the Sighthill blocks on the eve of their implosion. I have posted it for your pleasure as its really powerful stuff if you like hearing about other peoples lives and how they lived them. Kat x