Maureen: Hope we portrait you in a good light!

Maureen, currently a Viewpoint tenant at Lynedoch House, has always been gifted at drawing.

In senior school, Maureen had a great art teacher and recalls being caught giggling at the sight of the male model, during her art lesson. The teacher took Maureen out of the room, pulled out her belt and said, “This is going to hurt me more than it hurts you”. Maureen thought, “That’s a load of rubbish!”

She was then told to re-join others and at the end of the class, the teacher picked up Maureen’s drawing and said, “You turn out work like this, but behave like that!” and walked off with the drawing. Maureen never saw it again!

Despite that hiccup, Maureen dreamed about going onto Art College after she left school but unfortunately, her father had other ideas! At the tender age of 15, she left school and took a job with Paige, a store in Princes Street. Maureen enjoyed working there as it had the added bonus of being opposite the Scottish National Gallery, which meant that she could pop in and wander round during her lunch hour.

Over the years, Maureen has drawn many pictures and in 2015, she attended a 10 week evening class for Drawing and Painting at the Drummond Community High School. She completed various pieces in a variety of media which Tap into IT has been showcasing over the last few weeks via our Facebook page.

In the first week of the course, Maureen produced a still life of wild flowers sitting in a vase on the ground, near a body of water. She largely used complementary colours in her choice of pastels together with a bit of poetic licence. This artwork reminds us of life’s hidden and temporary beauty.

The students were encouraged to draw out-with the course and Maureen wandered down to the beach with a friend, also a keen artist. It was a sunny day, they sat and painted, using watercolours, for a few hours. On this trip, Maureen painted “Musselburgh Beach” and “Musselburgh Seagulls”! The seagull on the left flew away mid painting and Maureen had to paint it from memory. (It did return but sat in a different position than it had originally).

Maureen also completed a self portrait, whilst on the course, using a graphite pencil giving us a peek into her self conception. She used an old photograph as the basis for this sketch. She captures her eyes beautifully and if you live in Lynedoch House, I’m sure you’ll recognise her.

The untitle pastel of a typical Scottish lochside: with a cottage, water, mountains and small dingy was painted from memory. It is quite a moody piece when you look at the sky, but it is very pleasing to the eye.

The final piece in this showcase is a portrait of a life model fashioned using charcoal pencils. You are strangely drawn to the splash of colour on the model’s hat. It’s a thought provoking piece with so many unanswered questions…..

Unfortunately, that concludes Maureen’s exhibition – thank you so much for sharing your work with us. It has been much admired by many.