Iain Robertson: The art that continue to talk!
Iain amongst his artwork in St Ives
A chilly but bright early commute to St Ives on a quiet November Tuesday morning to meet artist Iain Robertson was in store. We park up, grab an oat milk latte from a local vendor and take a stroll along the harbour, head past St Ives bakery and down the alleyway towards Porthmeor beach. A sharp right later and we land at the renowned Porthmeor studio’s, a innovation space for talented local artists to let their creativity run wild. We find Iain In studio 7 an ocean facing studio with high ceilings, large glass windows that reach to the sky to make the most of that view and a cosy little log burner to the rear to keep the winter drafts at bay.
When you first meet Iain he comes across as a gentle calming presence, softly spoken with his Scottish twang. Straight away you can sense his experience in his craft, his art covered studio and archive of previous work the first thing to catch your eye. Iain’s work would be described as abstract expressionism much like his main inspiration in the art world Jackson Pollock, colour fills the canvas’s spread across studio 7 ’s floor and walls as the north coast sun fills the room. Iain shows me some of the techniques that he uses daily to create his work and explains how he goes about coming up with idea for his new work after decades of honing his craft.
As we sit down to discover more about what the journey had been like to see Iain arrive at this point, he begins. Iain’s story started with being born in Cyprus in 1955 whilst his father was working as a civil engineer used to working with the military building runways. Brought back to Scotland as a baby at just weeks of age, he spent most of his youth and schooling growing up in and around Edinburgh spending just a short spell with an aunt and uncle further north in Scotland. Edinburgh, a bustling city of two halves, one half the old town towered over by the ancient castle leading down to the royal mile, then on the other side you have the more modern side, with your high street brands and nightlife, well worth a visit if you haven’t been.
Post school education Iain worked a few local jobs in the city and spent some time travelling before starting art college. Art is something Iain has always enjoyed, from drawing to painting starting from an early age. Before embarking on a degree Iain had met a Scottish tutor who also happened to be a painter, after a discussion he asked Iain if he’d ever considered studying fine art, Iain paused and thought “no I haven’t” however this conversation planted a seed in Iain’s brain, he went away and had a think to assess his options. With the year now 1978 Iain looked into college’s to attend, at the time Scotland didn’t run foundation courses so Iain explored alternative options further afield to do his art degree. Iain thought he’d look down south at colleges to do his degree and landed on Exeter, set up base and embarked on studying fine art with a focus on painting in particular. Iain had considered London colleges and even touring a few options after getting used to the capital having been up and down quite a lot from Edinburgh for gigs and events. A friend of Iain’s previous tutor happened to be head of painting at Exeter college and offered to take Iain under his wing, going on to become a big influence on Iain’s early career and even inspiring some of what Iain creates to this day. Studying in Exeter he found a peaceful but creative environment but still with easy access to cities like London to be able to continue to expand his social experiences.
Amazing views from Iain’s studio at Porthmeor Studio’s
During his three years at Exeter Iain met Clare, his now life partner and fellow artist that he shares his beachfront Porthmeor studio with to the present day. At the time a forward thinking project called SPACEX, no not the Elon Musk spaceship launching juggernaut we have today of the same name but a creative space, created for artists with the sole aim to be able to offer affordable workshop space to aspiring creatives on limited budgets whilst building their notoriety and experience. Iain and Clare secured one of the workshops for 3-4 years, this meant it could get them producing art and exhibiting in local shows to begin their progression in the scene. Following this the young couple visited the states for a three month spell of exploring and visiting Iain’s brother who had relocated out their. On returning home to Britain, the couple set up base back in Edinburgh, by this time it was getting towards the late 80’s, in Edinburgh flats were known for being quite large this meant Iain could have his studio space within his own living quarters and made working on his art more flexible. During this period Iain managed to win the prestigious Pollock-Krasner award that awards grants from the estates of the aforementioned names to stand out artists. This substantial grant aided Iain to buy more materials and cover living costs whilst focusing on his work.
Soon after this Iain was offered his solo show at the Talbot Rice gallery which was a huge opportunity at the time and made him the youngest artist to show there as this was usually something achieved by artists mid career. This meant curators and a hanging team, none of the self hung shows previously experienced. Although with the show still some time away, Iain was really excited by the opportunity to be able to creatively direct his own show as well as designing. A short period of time went by until about 3 months before the show when Bill Hare, the then curator of the gallery and now good friend of Iain’s phoned and asked how Iain was doing for money. With grants running low and always in need of fresh materials, he could always use another form of income, Bill offered Iain work as part of the hanging team at the Talbot Rice to which he duly accepted. By the time he started it just by luck, it happened to be that the first show he’d be hanging was his own. Iain’s show consisted of around ten to eleven pieces, downstairs you had larger 7 foot square canvas’s and upstairs the smaller canvas’s of the 5 to 6 foot ranges. In hindsight it made for the perfect leveller for Iain, the excitement and confidence boost that having his own show brought him blended with having to do the heavy lifting of actually hanging the work too. This show brought notoriety and eyes to Iain’s work with it being a public gallery for general public to attend. Post show, a show which Iain had deemed a success he continued to work a technician at the gallery which in turn made for the perfect base for him to network with artists from all backgrounds, who were either showing or visiting the gallery.
Artist Iain Robertson with Helfordlife founder Luke Rawley
During this time a danish artist had a show at the gallery, he and Iain struck up quite a nice relationship whilst going for lunches and chatting all things art and life. For the opening of the show the artists director came across to visit, well respected across most of Europe since the 60’s, “the real deal” as Iain describes him. Whilst at the show the director was handed one of Iain’s catalogs of work and told he should take a look as it might be his kind of thing. As a quiet man of few words, he didn’t give much away but he did give Iain a knowing look which hinted “i might be in touch” with him being the kind of man that told someone if he didn’t like their work, this was a promising sign. After this later to be found out significant moment, Iain and Clare took up the opportunity to do a six month residency at Grizedale sculpture park in Cumbria. Post residency Iain returned back to the gallery working a range of jobs onsite, when one morning he got buzzed through to the office with a call from Denmark waiting for him, It was the director, Iain’s work had given the right impression and he was offered the opportunity to do an exhibition in Denmark. Iain of course accepted immediately. This being late September and the show to commence in February meant not a lot of time to create new works and all the other logistics to come with it but this was an opportunity not to be missed. At this stage there wasn’t just creating the art to be worried about, there was also transporting it safely halfway across Europe. For a director used to transporting works all around Europe and beyond it seemed a simple request but for Iain new to this level in the art scene, he wasn’t to sure where to start. Luckily Iain knew people and after a bit of spreading the word a gentleman who regularly drove vans to central and north European destinations offered to detour to Denmark with Iain’s show pieces on his way to Germany.
With his works safely delivered along came opening night. A gala affair, the kind where a top Copenhagen based chef comes out before and after every course to romantically explain his dish and then again to receive a round of applause from the dining room whilst it digests. Half of the art had already sold before Iain had arrived to the event, at this point Iain really got a taste for a new level in the art world mingling with lots of names he’d respected for many years now starting to become peers. This experience kick started a 10 year long relationship with Denmark and the notable director, with Iain visiting at least once a year for openings and parties, the extravagance of which you wouldn’t believe. This was of course the flashy side of things but at this level it was cut throat, just because the door has been opened for the next step in his career it doesn’t mean it is now a given for success and the drive to continue to improve can’t just plateau. Each year Iain would have to send at least half a dozen paintings across, still under the straight talking gaze of a director that’s going to tell you if he doesn’t like it. Working with oil paint his works would have to be completed about a year in advance to be able to be dry enough to ship, always working a year in advance had it’s positives with it keeping Iain on the ball the whole time and pushing him to continuously produce his best work and to continue evolving as an artist.
During this time Iain went on to sell a fair number of works across central and northern Europe, his works doing especially well in Scandinavia with his abstract colour pops fitting in well as centre pieces to stand out amongst minimalist Scandinavian style, something ever more popular to this current day. Iain’s artistic influences included American abstract artists like Jackson Pollock and Motherwell but he knew his style needed to be sure to fit in with European trends, this was his main market and an area he needed to sustainably satisfy the best he could. Celtic art of shapes is another big influence in how he starts his works, starting with shapes and symbols and let it naturally flow from there. Artists take a lot of inspiration from other art forms including music, Iain named the likes of James Brown, Miles Davis, John Coltrane and Bob Dylan as the people he looked up to and had helped in his creative process. Vibrations of folk and jazz filled the air of the studios Iain worked in, Jazz some say is the artists genre with improvisation always at the core. Much like a painting it can take twists and turns during its journey to final creation, setting off for one destination and sometimes finishing somewhere completely different, some would say much like the dance of life.
The couple’s St Ives journey started back when they were in Exeter, they would come down and visit some notable artists and galleries at the time. At the turn of the millennium they decided to uproot from Edinburgh and make the long trip to Cornwall and set up home, initially thinking they would be down here for a couple of years, they still reside here 24 years later. Mentioning about the clear air and relaxed beach side lifestyle as the biggest plusses, they do of course still dip their toe into city life here and there for shows and research visits. Iain can be found in studio 7 of the famous Porthmeor studios on the beach in St Ives. A site he has made his creative home for many years alongside his partner Clare. The most tranquil space, the dream studio for many and a place you could sit for hours gazing across the waves whilst you let your creative mind run free.
Asking Iain about how he goes about pricing his works, a tricky topic for most artists especially at the start of their careers. Iain thinks it’s important to not overprice his work, he could charge a higher price but thinks it’s important to have his work available to a wider audience to be enjoyed and viewed by many. For an artist, why create art if you don’t want it to brighten peoples homes and lives. To see someone invest in your work and treasure it in their personal space, what greater feeling and sense of achievement. These days Iain can be found popping up around the UK at the likes of 108 Fine Art in Harrogate, a gallery he has built a 15 year relationship with showing on regular occasions with the most recent being a three person show in November 23’, he also did a show at the Lemon Street gallery in Truro spanning over 3 floors during his time in Cornwall.
I asked Iain about the movement of social media and how these days everyone has a platform at their fingertips to showcase their work, from musicians to photographers to abstract artists. Although originally tentative to get involved in instagram, Iain now champions the platform and is often a consistent content creator virtually, spreading his work to the eyes of the world through the Internet. Iain has welcomed collaboration over the years, sharing studio spaces with other artists and also offering his time to younger up and coming artists in a mentoring capacity. Many of Iain’s recent posts have been from the archives with many followers thinking they are brand new, this goes to show that trends come back around and great art can stand the test of time.
