Scrapbooking Info

Art Portfolio of Romsey celebrates the work of one of Britain’s most popular living artists, ‘The People’s Painter’, Jack Vettriano. The UK’s largest ever retrospective of Vettriano’s prints features an exceptional collection of five new signed limited editions taken from his latest series of paintings, three of which are based on a French Riviera theme. There will be many rare editions for sale including the hugely popular Along Came a Spider.

Jack Vettriano was born in Fife, Scotland in 1951 and left school at the age of 16 to become a mining engineer. Vettriano experimented with drawing figures in his teenage years, but was first encouraged to paint when a girlfriend bought him a set of paints at the age of 21. Vettriano spent the next 14 years teaching himself to paint, gaining inspiration from his local town of Kirkcaldy and in particular the local art gallery, The Kirkcaldy Museum and Art Gallery.

The turning point in Vettriano’s career came in 1989 when two paintings were accepted for the Royal Scottish Academy’s annual exhibition in Edinburgh. Both paintings were sold on the first day of the Exhibition and marked the beginning of Vettriano’s new career as a full time artist. The following year, an equally enthusiastic reaction greeted the three paintings which he entered for the prestigious Summer Exhibition at London’s Royal Academy.

His new life as an artist began. In November 1999, Vettriano’s work was shown for the first time in New York, when twenty paintings were displayed at The Fifth Armory, Park Lane. Fifty collectors from the UK flew out for the opening night of the Fair and all twenty paintings were sold out within an hour of the opening. Jack Vettriano’s most recognisable painting, The Singing Butler, which was originally rejected for the Royal Academy Summer Exhibition, sold at Sotheby’s in April 2004 for £744,500.

Vettriano has become a phenomena, and there has been a huge media interest in his life and work. In 2003 he was awarded an OBE for Services to the Visual Arts and was subject of a South Bank Show documentary, ‘Jack Vettriano: The People’s Painter’. He has also received an honorary degree from the University of St. Andrews.
In the last 25 years Jack Vettriano has had a number of sell out Exhibitions in Edinburgh, London, New York, Hong Kong and Johannesburg. His work is collected by the likes of Jack Nicholson, Sir Alex Ferguson, Sir Tim Rice and Robbie Coltrane.
Loved by the public but often dismissed by the critics, major art galleries refuse to hang Vettriano’s paintings. Peter Howson, one of Scotland’s most respected living painters, attacks both art critics and curators for their scorn of Vettriano’s work. “If Tracey Emin, Martin Creed and Damien Hirst can get into the Tate, the Jack Vettriano deserves to be in national collections as well – I think the elite really have a fear of him.”
Vettriano has commented “I’m often dragged into the debate about whether my work should be shown in public collections and whilst I feel that this is for others to decide… I’m delighted that fans of my paintings will now be able to see a body of work of which I’m very proud”.
Vettriano’s discovery of painting has led him to become one of the most popular artists of our time, and an inspirational figure to many. His figurative oil paintings present a nostalgic commentary, often with an air of romance and sensuality that has an almost universal appeal. His figures describe an intense state of affairs, creating a narrative which is left for the viewer to ponder.
Jack Vettriano divides his time between his homes in Fife, London and Nice.
“Lovers, Strangers and Stories” gives the public the chance to have their very own signed limited edition Vettriano. This is one art exhibition certainly not to be missed.

I baby-sit a numerous amount of kids. I’ve had a lot of clients since I was in about sixth grade and they all require my services almost all of the time. If I’m not cleaning up diapers or cleaning I’m almost always trying to find something fun to do with the kids. Their ages range from six months to ten years, so there is a lot as you can see, to take care of. Some of the kids are too young to do certain crafts, but I’m able to do a wide range of crafts with all of them. One craft that I created with a couple of the kids was custom printed coasters. The coasters were really exciting to make and some of them were even paper coasters, making it very inexpensive and easy to entertain the kids.

The coasters were a great idea and a fresh new craft to add into some of our daily routines. The kids were used to watercolor painting or coloring but the coasters were a nice surprise that I could afford. We drew out our ideas and figured out what we wanted to draw on our coasters. The kids wanted to draw beautiful plants and goofy animals and they even wanted to make something for their parents, which was great. We used paint and pencils and markers and crayons, so the kids had a wide variety of supplies to work with. I think that the coasters, especially the paper coasters, were a great idea as far as crafts go. We’re so used to making boring crafts, but the coasters were great!

I also think that the coasters were a great way for the kids to release the artsy side of the brain. Some of them aren’t old enough to be in an art class in school, so making these crafts at home is a helpful outlet to let out those artist expressions. Plus, the coasters were officially custom printed coasters that their parents could use everyday. Another great thing is that the coaster craft is a simple cleaning job. I didn’t have to try extremely hard to clean everything which was awesome. I think that getting the kids involved in such an awesome art piece really makes them feel more involved too.

The coasters were really simple to complete when the kids were finished with their designs. I didn’t require the usage of a kiln or the oven or anything like that. All that we required the use of was a simple and easy to use painter’s gloss. It was really inexpensive and made the crafts seemed really genuine. The kids really loved their finished product and now that I know that this craft is a hit, I know what to do when the other clients’ children that I baby-sit grow up and get a little bit older. These crafts are not only great for fun but they are great for a bad snow day when you are stuck inside too. Your kids or even kids you might know at a pre-school or that you may baby-sit will really enjoy this craft too.

In today’s world it feels great to do something that is fun while using re-purposed items and saving money.