When The Parents Came to Stay..

One of the first pictures I took on a 35mil film camera when I was about 6 years old

When why my parents come to visit there isnt much else to do with them than to buy them food and get them drunk. When we are not doing that we are usually in galleries, and when I say I mean all of them! Unfortunately when they came it was a sort of a change over period for lots of the galleries in Edinburgh, The Fruitmarket, The Acadamy and the Dundas Street Gallery. We did the usual, when my parents are involved it deffinately includes a trip into the National to see the Turner's and the Guthrie's. As a personal reminder for next time we will go to National last to save my mother comparing every work to Turner's for the duration of their stay. After talking my mum round to the idea of seeing some 'Modern Art' we went down The Modern and The Dean, and saw some of the astonishing Surrealist collection as well as one of my favorite parts Eduardo Paolozzi's recreated studio, a rather bizzare note in a somewhat conventional exhibition. Exciting none the less. We also visited some of the commercial galleries down Dundas street, which in my two years of being here have never visited. Bourne Fine Arts - Scottish paintings since 1978 was first up on the list which held some good quality Raeburn's and Naysmith's much to the delight of my mother. Then on to the more middle of the road Scottish Gallery which had some quite interesting pieces from John Brown and wicker baskets by Joe Hogan. I was surprised even to find a collection Alistair Gray's (Illustrator of Lanark) prints and drawings, who recently had a retrospective at The Talbot Rice Gallery. Tempted to get one or two but restrained with the tight Yorkshire father always keeping an eye on the account balance. The last last one we visited at that end of town was Axolotl, probably the most ad hoc of the exhibitions everything ranging from Asta Petkunaite to Robert Springham and even, I was surprised to find, a small drawing by Peter Howson, once more restraining to splash the cash probably a good thing seeing as it was 1,500 for a 6 x 10 drawing.