Blair Thomson - Publicity

THE SCOTSMAN (October 26th 2004)

The top 20 of Scottish art - Article by William Lyons

Blair Thomson, 24, works in Glasgow: Thomson is heavily influenced by Japanese culture and a keen student of Eastern philosophy. Since graduating from Glasgow School of Art, Thomson has made the transition from student to commercially successful artist, selling every piece in his degree show for a total of £13,000. Unashamedly ambitious, he now sells four or five canvasses a month through commercial galleries.

HOMES & INTERIORS SCOTLAND
(January February 2004)

Artist for hire - Article by Lucy Sweet

If the words 'contemporary art' conjure up conceptual horrors made of horse dung, fear not. Young, ambitious and gifted, the new breed of Scottish artists also understand the demands of the consumer. Blair Thomson, at the ripe old age of 23, is already something of a veteran of the market. While studying at the Glasgow School of Art, Thomson won an exhibitionship from the Royal Glasgow Institute and built up such a reputation that his 2002 degree show sold out. His work has caught the eye of London art dealers and earned him a solo show at the Stenton Gallery in East Lothian. Six galleries in the UK now deal with his paintings . among them is scotlandart.com, a Glasgow-based gallery and website with an exhaustive collection of graduate work.
"I don't like the idea that art is just for the highest bidder, or the person with the most knowledge ," Thomson says. "Then it becomes too theoretical and boring -- I like to keep my work a wee bit mysterious."
Thomson 's art is not only mysterious, but sought after.

Spacious fields of colour and spontaneous, graceful brushstrokes create an irresistible Zen-like calm. His inspirations come from his interest in all things Japanese, but the main source of his abstract imagery is Scottish landscape - there are yellowing newspaper cuttings of iron bridges, crumbling piers and disintegrating shipwrecks tacked all over the walls of his studio, a room in a renovated carpet factory in the East End of Glasgow.
"At the moment, I'm interested in man-made structures and the way they break down and change," Thomson says. "The sense of time wrapping round things and nature taking its course. Even though it looks abstract, I want to convey elemental things. My paintings have a lot of texture and dynamic, and the textures can be quite rich. I like building up the paint - thin and thick, wet and dry."
Looking at Thomson's fresh and confident handling of paint, you would never guess this was the work of a recent graduate. But although this is art with a capital A, he is keen to point out its immediacy and accessibility.
"You don't have to know anything about art to enjoy it," he says. "If you like a painting, even if you don't know what it's supposed to be, it seeps into your brain. It's a satisfying part of the job when people like what I'm doing."

SCOTLAND ON SUNDAY (March 16th 2003)
Best of Times - A juxtaposition of old and new gives a strong individuality to each room in a basement flat. - Article by Fiona Reid

When interior designer Lee Sowerbutts first visited this basement flat in the Queen's Park area of Glasgow's Southside, the first element that struck him was the scale of the space, particularly when faced with a hallway as big as your average living room... "Some people would have turned this into a functional room," he notes - and the fact that it feels like a gallery. If you close the doors to the adjoining rooms, "you could be in the lobby of a hotel or restaurant."... while there are only four paintings in this gallery, their combined effect is striking. Lee first encountered the artist Blair Thomson, a recent graduate from Glasgow School of Art, while browsing the web. "Isn't it stunning?" he says of the diptych that hangs above a curved wooden bench. Indeed it is, creating a focal point as bold and organic as the interior, with that organic quality proving integral to Lee's approach... Lee searches for the right word to describe the space: Strong? Solid? Masculine? Yes, all of the above and more.

THE SUNDAY TIMES (Sept 28th 2003)
How to canvas artistic success - Article by Lucy Sweet

"I used to do complicated messes," smiles Blair Thomson, referring to the paintings that are dotted around his studio, a large room in the old Templeton carpet factory in the east end of Glasgow. "Now I do simple ones." These paintings, which will form part of his solo show at the Stenton Gallery in East Lothian, are disintegrating structures held together with chunks of thick paint. One is drying on a makeshift table of paint cans.

His sketchbooks are full of ink-and-brush drawings of towering temples and rickety railway bridges, and delicate works on paper line the walls. Although his palette of pale, diffused colours is inspired by the Scottish landscape, his calligraphic motifs are heavily influenced by Japanese culture. Thomson, 23, is a regular visitor to Japan - his girlfriend lives there - and he is an avid student of Eastern philosophy.
"I like the simplicity and clarity of Haiku," he explains. "It's pared down, made up of 17 syllables. That's what I try to do in my paintings. I'm trying to make it direct and not overworked."

Thomson graduated from Glasgow School of art just last year and has effortlessly made the transition from student to commercially successful artist. He sold every piece in his degree show, making almost £13,000 and now sells four or five canvasses a month through commercial galleries. Barbara Christie, owner of the Stenton gallery, praises his professionalism, and the Royal Glasgow Institute took the rare step of making Thomson part of an exhibition at the McLellan Galleries while he was still at college.

What distinguishes Thomson from other talented graduates is his nose for business. While his art school contemporaries were trying to fit their social lives around organising their degree shows, he was busy establishing contacts. The result was interest from a number of gallery owners including Sophie Montgomery in London. "I am ambitious, definitely," he says...

...Thomson has set his sights further afield: "I want to be an international artist, not just show in Scotland. Although Scotland is the origin of my work, and it's important, I'd really like to exhibit in New York or Japan." Somehow, you know it's only a matter of time.

BUSINESS AM (July 16th 2002)
Best in show - Article by Clare Prentice

...there is another opportunity to see the best of the pieces now the art school has opened its degree show selection, featuring the work of 24 specially selected fine art students...

... Fine art painting graduate Blair Thomson sold all 20 of his paintings in the degree show. Consequently, he had to borrow back his largest piece, The Grey Coast, which sold for £1,900, from its new owner to feature in the selection.

Thomson is busy creating new pieces for a solo exhibition in Glasgow's Kelly Gallery in October and is working on a number of commissions as a result of the degree show. "I've made a lot of good contacts. A couple of other galleries are interested, including one in London, and I've got some commissions," says Thomson. "My main priority now is getting a big body of work together."

THE SCOTSMAN (June 25th 2002)
Views of a New World - Article by Jack Mottram

Visiting the Glasgow School of Art Degree Show is more than a little disorientating, with room after room filled to bursting with work... Absorbing this much work might be bewildering, but one thing is clear: the class of 2002 is producing work of a high standard. Few among the new graduates seem tentative about taking their first steps into the big wide art world; instead, there's an overwhelming confidence on display... Blair Thomson's bold triptych Rites of Passage, is typical of the ambitious and confident work on show at Glasgow School of Art.