Steven’s 71st Birthday
Steven Campbell Trust – Schools’ Workshops 2024
Above: Attendees of the 2024 Steven Campbell Trust workshop posing with some of their favourite paintings
One of the ways that the Trust continues to honour Steven’s life and work is through activities and workshops for schools.
This year, artist Claire Paterson, former winner of the Hunt Medal presented by the Trust, led an intensive two-day life-painting workshop at the Kelvingrove Art Gallery and Museum for fifteen pupils from nine schools, including Balfron High School, Hyndland Secondary, Lourdes Secondary, St Mungo’s Academy, Kelvinside Academy, Drumchapel High School, Hutcheson’s Grammar School, St Andrew’s Secondary and Barrhead High School.
The work was once again of a very high standard and the young people developed new skills through Claire’s careful tutoring.
There was an enormous amount of dedication, energy and talent on display during this year’s workshop, and the attendees were all a credit to their schools. We were also very impressed by the range of unique styles developed by each individual pupil, with all of the work outstanding and inspiring in its own way.
When asked what aspects of the 2024 Steven Campbell Trust workshop they found most helpful, pupils responded:
‘Meeting people with lots of different, unique styles and learning from them.’
‘Having 14 pieces of work in 2 days.’
‘Getting to see the finished result.’
‘Doing drawings worthy to be put in a folio.’
‘Adding tone/ creating strong underdrawings.’
‘Seeing our finished projects and learning past the previous struggles as we progressed.’
‘Learning more techniques to paint with.’
We would like to give a massive thank you to Cass Art for generously supplying us with a wealth of art materials for use during the workshop. For charitable organisations like the Steven Campbell Trust, such support makes a huge difference, allowing educational events like this to run. We look forward to a long and fruitful partnership with Cass Art in the future.
The wealth of materials supplied by Cass Art
Our thanks also to the staff at Kelvingrove Art Gallery and Museum for their support, and for providing us with a wonderful creative environment in which to hold the class.
Here are some of the impressive results from this year’s workshop:
Below: Pupils pose with the work they produced individually over the course of the 2-day Steven Campbell Trust Workshop:
John Byrne 1940 – 2023
The Steven Campbell Trust has been deeply saddened to learn of the passing of John Byrne. John was a hugely talented and celebrated artist and friend, who we were privileged to have as a Patron of the Trust.
A remarkable man of many talents, we’ve been privileged to know and work with him for over 20 years.
Steven greatly admired John’s work and was delighted to collaborate with him. In 2005 Steven met and became friends with John and they worked on portraits of each other.
John’s life-sized painting depicts Steven as a looming solitary figure in black, seated and holding a palette and brushes. Steven’s portrait of John, Paisleycus Byrnicus Virus Invading Mr Gray, sees John at the centre of a rich Paisley pattern work, which makes reference to John’s birthplace. Both paintings are in the collection of Paisley Museum.
Our thoughts and love are with Jeanine & all who loved this wonderful man. His loss will be deeply felt by all.
The Steven Campbell Trust.
https://artuk.org/discover/artworks/waiting-paisleycus-byrnicus-virus-invading-mr-gray-189935
Photo credit: Paisley Museum and Art Galleries, Renfrewshire Council Collections
Featured image, Self Portrait with Red Palette. © John Byrne. All Rights Reserved, DACS 2023. Photo credit: Glasgow Life Museums
Artists Talking : Timorous Beasties
Artists Talking : Timorous Beasties
The Steven Campbell Trust continues to support young people studying art to develop their skills.
This year we have embarked on a new project which gives an insight into artists’ and designers’ professional practice. Artists are interviewed in their places of work by pupils from Glasgow Secondary schools. Questions have been carefully selected to meet the criteria of the National 5 Design Unit.
The filming has been undertaken by the film department of The City of Glasgow College. Eight students under the guidance of award winning director Marco Federici have come together through the Young Person’s Guarantee project. The Young Person’s Guarantee is a commitment to bring together employers, partners and young people and to connect every 16 to 24 year old in Scotland to the opportunity of a job, placement, training or volunteering with employers committed to the Guarantee.
This video shows the successful design team Timorous Beasties discussing their inspiration and methodologies.
The interview will be posted on YouTube so that all schools will have access to it at a time that suits them.
The Trust hopes that, using this as a model, we will be able to produce more resources for schools.
We welcome any feedback.
Eva M.V. Hewitt, Hunt Medal Winner 2023
The Steven Campbell Trust were delighted to attend the VIP Directors private preview event at Glasgow School of Art on Thursday 1st June. It is always such a pleasure visiting GSA each year and seeing such a huge selection of talented artists. We would like to thank GSA for extending this invitation which was greatly appreciated, particularly Kirsty L. Barr, Head of Communications, The Glasgow School of Art.
Each year we attend the Degree Show to make our annual award of The Hunt Medal, to an artist who we believe demonstrates poetic creativity in their work. After much discussion on the exciting work on show, we were unanimous in our appreciation of the work of Eva M.V. Hewitt and are delighted to announce that Eva is the 2023 recipient of our Hunt Medal award. Everyone from the Trust would like to wish Eva much success in her future career.
“It was a real pleasure to meet everyone on Thursday afternoon. I am absolutely delighted to be the recipient of the Hunt Medal and still cannot quite believe it!! I feel very honoured to take my place among such illustrious previous award winners. Thank you again for such a fantastic opportunity!” – Eva M.V. Hewitt.
Eva M.V. Hewitt is a Scottish Fine Artist currently living and working in Glasgow.
Hewitt’s figurative depictions of the day to day capture the ephemeral beauty of the human condition. Articulating the inspiring qualities of the earthly and the ethereal, her paintings reflect the intersection of contemporary culture blended with traditional and Catholic iconography. Hewitt’s work expresses the heavenly, earthly, and worldly beauty of the everyday life, instilling a sense of timeless magic into all who encounter it. Through her use of figuration and intricate detail, Hewitt’s art celebrates the beauty of the divine at work within the quotidian.
Steven Campbell Trust Schools’ Workshops 2023
One of the ways that the Trust continues to honour Steven’s life and work is through activities and workshops for schools.
This year, artist Claire Paterson, former winner of the Hunt Medal presented by the Trust, led an intensive two-day life-painting workshop at the Gallery of Modern Art for fifteen pupils from five Glasgow schools.
The work was once again of a very high standard and the young people developed new skills through Claire’s careful tutoring.
There was an enormous amount of dedication, energy and talent on display during this year’s workshop, and the attendees were all a credit to their schools.
When asked what aspects of the 2023 Steven Campbell Trust workshop they found most helpful, pupils responded:
‘I thought the most useful aspect of this workshop was having the space to create in any style I wanted.’
‘Having a dedicated space to work on art without firm expectations… trying out something new.’
‘Great advice from Claire and a great opportunity with the live model.’
‘The simple help of Claire’s suggestions.’
‘The tutors/artists who gave great advice and extra help.’
‘Advice given by the artists and the chance to work with new media/techniques.’
‘The tutors/helpers were very informative, showed new helpful techniques, were extremely nice.’
‘Made me more confident and loose.’
‘The constant help and criticism from the teachers – thanks to them I have learned a lot.’
We would like to give a massive thank you to Cass Art for generously supplying us with a wealth of art materials for use during the workshop – as well as gifting a magnificent goody bag filled with £65 worth of art supplies to each participating pupil. For charitable organisations like the Steven Campbell Trust, such support makes a huge difference, allowing educational events like this to run. We look forward to a long and fruitful partnership with Cass Art in the future.
Our thanks also to the staff at Glasgow Museums for their support, and for providing us with a wonderful creative environment in which to hold the class.
Here are some of the impressive results from this year’s workshop:
Artists Talking : Timorous Beasties
Artists Talking : Timorous Beasties
The Steven Campbell Trust continues to support young people studying art to develop their skills.
This year we have embarked on a new project which gives an insight into artists’ and designers’ professional practice. Artists are interviewed in their places of work by pupils from Glasgow Secondary schools. Questions have been carefully selected to meet the criteria of the National 5 Design Unit.
The filming has been undertaken by the film department of The City of Glasgow College. Eight students under the guidance of award winning director Marco Federici have come together through the Young Person’s Guarantee project. The Young Person’s Guarantee is a commitment to bring together employers, partners and young people and to connect every 16 to 24 year old in Scotland to the opportunity of a job, placement, training or volunteering with employers committed to the Guarantee.
This video shows the successful design team Timorous Beasties discussing their inspiration and methodologies.
The interview will be posted on YouTube so that all schools will have access to it at a time that suits them.
The Trust hopes that, using this as a model, we will be able to produce more resources for schools.
We welcome any feedback.
Lily Krempel, Hunt Medal winner 2022
In the Creative Maelstrom that is the GSA Degree Show, success can be measured in the ability of a piece of work to grab and hold our attention above the clamour all around and so it was with the work of our Hunt Medal winner for 2022, Lily Krempel.
Our medal is awarded for ‘Poetic Creativity’ so the artist needs to have created work which speaks to that criterion, not in a literal sense but in the emotional connection made between the viewer and the work.
‘ Fire Dials’ is both sculpture and performance and when viewed in person connects viewer and piece in a sensory way that transcends time and place making it almost primeval.
Lily has also been a recipient of the RSA John Kinross Scholarship, to spend a period of 6 to 12 weeks in Florence to research and develop her practice. She has also been selected as one of the RSA ‘New Contemporaries’.
We at the Trust are delighted to be able to contribute to the launch of this emerging artists career.
She’s definitely one to watch!
Carol Campbell, June 2022
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Lily Krempel, Statement:
My degree show space told the story of a site-specific work.
In the absence of ritual, I formed my own. A walk following a map of specific moments and sites overlaid on new land, geometrically plotted, measured by the degrees of my compass and by my footsteps. Wearing my metal structure flat-packed and fitted upon my back, I carried the sculptures. At the last site, I laid down a fire.
The space holds the remnants of the work, sculptural props for a happening; the fire-dials upon their structure, charred Scots pine and silver birch, a spider’s web, my backpack with spiked feet for their structure, a map with compass readings and footsteps and a video filmed at Lochan Mor, ‘Lily Loch’ made with the help of my mum, Martha.
Fire Dials
The dials are so named as they exist as a piece of equipment for rotation. A traditional dial is spun on a telephone or tuned to select a radio frequency or read to tell the time. The fire-dials revolve as they trace the fire; its size, the direction of wind current, the rising temperature of airflow.
In the making of these ‘fire-dials’ I used the compasses and measuring tools that belonged to a beloved friend who passed away. The tools with which we work, give rise to the art. Cut from steel sheets, the shapes have become weaponry designed to slice through darkness.
The sensation of darkness is tangible in the body. Grief, in its many forms can feel like this. A sense of bearing the weight of an unshifting shadow.
I am inspired by memories of my grandmothers Christmas pyramid candle ornaments. The origin of the delicate kinetic candle decoration dates back to the Middle Ages. It was traditional in southern and western Europe to bring evergreen branches, into the home and hang them in order to ward off gloomy, sullen feelings through the dark and cold winter months. In northern and eastern Europe traditional candles were used to achieve this goal. The Christmas pyramid unified these two traditions, consisting of handcrafted kinetic elements hanging over a network of candles. A symbol of Winter celebration; a vessel for uplifting the spirits.
Backpack
To aid the mobility of my work, I designed and built it to be flat-packed. In order to carry my metalworks across site, I constructed a frame from ash to wear upon my back with small steel fittings, ash dowels and specifically sized holes in the wood to hold and piece together the metal structure in their separate balanced parts. It was important to me, that I carry the work, the weight of it, the movement of it. I was inspired by the functionality of timber structures and baskets worn by people of mountain communities across the world used to carry belongings and food to their locality.
Part of my installation included a video work, accessible online following this link:
Instagram linked here:
https://www.instagram.com/lily_krempel/
GSA showcase page linked here:
https://gsashowcase.net/lily-krempel/
Dressing Above Your Station
Dressing Above Your Station
31 March – 26 June 2022
Dressing Above Your Station is a virtual exhibition conceived and curated by Beca Lipscombe and Mairi MacKenzie. It is produced by Panel and developed in partnership with ISODESIGN and Rob Kennedy.
Dressing Above Your Station is generously funded by Creative Scotland and Glasgow Life, the charity that delivers culture and sport in the city. It is supported by ISODESIGN and The Glasgow School of Art and presented by Tramway, part of Glasgow Life.
https://www.wearepanel.co.uk/projects/dressing-above-your-station
Steven Campbell Calendar, November & December 2021
November: 1992 Acrylic on Paper 178×149.2 cm
Pinocchio, The Habit of the Shrike
The following extract is from the Catalogue essay by Michael Bracewell that accompanied Steven’s 2017 exhibition at Marlborough London.
‘For so often the young men in Campbell’s paintings, absorbed, swept along or subjugated by weird scenes, reminiscent of fairy tale or myth, but then skewed into absurdity, seem despite themselves to be (and are sometimes confirmed to be, in the titles of the pictures) seekers-after-truth, of one sort or another. They might be poets, amateur philosophers, witness participants in a dysfunctional’Pilgrims Progress’ – or perhaps just observers of these pursuits: chance bystanders, local boys, who had somehow become amnesiac victims, or protagonists in some cosmic game of ‘Cluedo’.
Murder mystery becomes art mystery, becomes “the myth of themselves” that Hynes identifies in his definition of the ‘charade’. Pinocchio, the Habit of the Shrike (1990) depicts a dark landscape with fir trees, a stream, toadstools at the foot of some rocks; and a figure that resembles Campbell himself, his face and upper body in semi shadow, casually yet ritualistically seated on a folded chair, his right hand resting on the handle of an upended tennis racket. A handsomely feathered shrike ( a bird that impales insects and small vertebrates on thorns or spikes, in order to tear them into more manageable pieces) perched on a briar. Meanwhile a gold haired Pinocchio figure, painted limbs scuffed and worn, his ‘liar’s’ nose obscenely and viciously extended to a sharp point, reaches out his long right arm, and impales the seated figure’s stomach with his thin, pointed finger.’ – Michael Bracewell
Steven has revisited his depiction of Lytton Strachey complete with cricket cap only this time he puts himself, as artist, into the central role.
He has created the Pinocchio wooden boy who is resentful at the artists lack of ability to transform him completely into a physical reality.
December: A4 size drawing
Ink on paper from a series of drawings and prints Steven did based on a merging of the life of St Francis of Assisi with the legend of the Apprentice pillar at Rosslyn Chapel.
Steven was not particularly religious but he was extremely spiritual and dearly loved St Francis and everything he represented.
We would make annual pilgrimages to the Church in Assisi which houses the amazing Giotto frescoes of the life of the Saint. I remember he even volunteered to travel out to help in the aftermath of the earthquake that caused such damage to the town and the church.
He also brought along a young Franciscan friar to talk at the creative arts project (9 V) that he had set up to encourage the teenagers of the 9 rural villages around Stirling to get involved in various cultural activities from life drawing to script writing, film directing, music etc. It still resonates today with the young people who attended it all those years ago. Several of whom went on to careers in the arts.
Carol Campell
December 2021
The Steven Campbell Trust 