We popped in to meet new Gallery proprietors Malcolm Dunn and Jackie Clark this morning – the opening day of their brand new gallery in Glencaple!
Malcolm has had his house in Glencaple for around 28 years – he originally bought it as a bolt hole for some peace and quiet from his work in London, until he just couldn’t bear going back!
Malcolm told us that about 40 years ago he went to the prestigious Edinburgh College of Art, earning his honours degree, but got sidetracked into the music business. Malcolm was a producer of mainly rock music and dance, and used the Glencaple premises as a rehearsal studio when he had his band (currently “in recess”). He purchased the old shop building when it moved to the Quay End. He describes himself as ‘forcibly removed’ from the music business, as ‘there is none left’…
Having been taught to draw and paint ‘properly’, Malcolm now does it digitally – he draws and paints on a pad, using Corel Paint; he believes that there is nothing else that comes close. The completed art work is then printed off.
As he has been recording in digital and using computers since the 1980s, it seemed more natural to him to play to his strengths and create his art using digital techniques than to pick up a ‘real’ paintbrush again. He does however have to do battle with his printers – his biggest challenge! His earlier experience working in a commercial printer is where he initially learned the skills of the trade, with proper big ink presses.
Malcolm is currently showing both his digital prints and his photographs. He started taking photos as source material for his art, but then realised that some of them could stand up as work in their own right. His work is predominantly of Scotland – with several Glencaple scenes, and he describes his work as very much in the Scottish colourist style, which is his main interest.
Malcolm describes the advantage of painting as opposed to photography – ‘you can paint things the way you would like them to be, or how it feels to be there. That’s what makes it more interesting than photography, which can only just convey what’s there – with painting it can be more’.
With domestic printers being notoriously problematic, and with replacement ink cartridges sometimes costing more than the printer itself, Malcolm’s next step is to start offering a fine art printing (and framing) service as he acknowledges that it’s otherwise really difficult to get high quality, large printing. It’s still at an experimental stage, but won’t it be amazing to be able to use this service locally, without even a trip into town!
He has a selection of his own work printed as greetings cards and this is another service he could offer. Whilst the Gallery is currently exhibiting his own work, he plans for other artists to use the space too.
Jackie originally comes from Nottingham, and is a web and graphic designer at Edinburgh University with a background in industrial design (engineering) and product design. She is toying with the idea of using her creative skills and exhibiting at the gallery in the future.
The Gallery and Print Studio will be open by appointment – details on the door or
Call: 01387 770 437
Email: malcolmdunn@gmail.com or
Have a look at the website: glencaplegallery.uk
Do pop in and support the new Glencaple Gallery – find out about the services on offer – and spread the word!