Paul Robertson (b. 1958, Birmingham, England) is an artist-curator at Summerhall, Edinburgh, a well-known avant garde art-dealer and art historian, a popular if provocative art-critic, writer and broadcaster and avid art collector.

His background in neurophysiology, psychology, politics and art history has allowed Paul to become curator at Summmerhall—the largest private art museum in Europe that programmes its own spaces. As curator, Robertson has overseen or directly curated 70 exhibitions since August 2012 at Summerhall, as well as other shows in Europe and the USA.

Working as a solo artist Robertson creates false taxonomic systems for individual subjects or genres. His Periodic Table of Bowie will be featured in the V&A’s ‘David Bowie is’ exhibition opening in March 2013. The artwork is now part of the V&A’s permanent collection.

Paul’s First 5 Jobs:

- Chairperson of Scottish Labour Students (first ever person to do it full time)

- Research Assistant at ADLO (Association of Direct Labour Organisations). I did this for five months before watching the clock move in hours for minutes made it intolerable. This is the only time in my life where I worked for someone else.

- Freelance writer and broadcaster – usually under a pseudonym – dealing with matters as wide ranging as science, culture, the internet and Scottish football.

- Managing Director of Labour Communications

- Owner of Heart Fine Art (avant garde book and art dealership)

More: Website | Facebook | Twitter

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We’ve asked professionals in creative industries what jobs they have had in the past to get their foot through the door (or at least pay the rent). For more in the “My First 5 Jobs” series look here.

What:
The Reconstructionists is a collaboration between illustrator Lisa Congdon and writer Maria Popova. They celebrate beloved female artists, writers, and scientists, as well as notable unsung heroes in this yearlong project of remarkable women who have changed how we see the world.

Why we like it:
Every Monday in 2013, they will publish an illustrated portrait of a woman, along with a quote that captures her spirit and information about her life and legacy. Monday mornings need not be so drab again.

Find out more:
Website | Facebook | Twitter

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For more creative delights we’ve Spotted on the web take a look here.

What:
365 is a year-long creative project by the wonderful BAFTA-winning animation team, Brothers McLeod who were previously featured on Central Station here. The aim is to create a short film by animating one second a day over 2013.

Why we like it:
This project is somewhat of an experiment in that there is no script. Ideas will be generated from day to day experiences and inspirations. You can follow the project’s progress and see stills posted daily here.

Find out more:
Website | Blog | Facebook | Twitter

Update:
The full 6 minute long 365 film can now be viewed on vimeo for $3.65.

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For more creative delights we’ve Spotted on the web take a look here.

Illustrator Murray Sommerville tells us more about the zine he co-created with writer Jack Burston.

Macro Shrub #5 is the fifth zine in Murray Somerville and Jack Burston’s 2012 series. This time around the theme is music and the creators’ relationship with all things musical, noisy and sort-of melodic. The zine contains a special appearance from Skullbot, memories of Homerpalooza, a discussion about fun, a Nintendo band and plenty more. Like the previous four Macro Shrubs, the cover is designed and screen printed by Daisy Wolff-Whitehouse and the font is provided by Eurico sa Fernandes. Macro Shrub #5 is the penultimate issue of the series, with Macro Shrub #6 scheduled for release at the end of 2012/start of 2013.

Macro Shrub #5 can be purchased here.

Find out more:
Website | Blog | Facebook |Twitter | Pinterest

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Find more zines we’ve featured here.

Image of Kirsty Logan © Jean Donaldson

To celebrate its 21st birthday, Glasgow Women’s Library commissioned 21 professional artists and writers (all female, all Scottish) to create new work inspired by items in the library archives. I’m a fiction writer and had never created visual art before, but something about the security of a commission and a brief made me feel able to branch out. I thought what the hell and decided to do something visual.

When I started poking around in the archives, I became fascinated by the women’s magazines of the 1930s, ’40s and ’50s. Along with the rest of the Western world I’d been watching Mad Men, and I’ve also long been a fan of Graham Rawle’s 2005 book Woman’s World. So, inspired by all of these, I photocopied pages from magazines and started to use them to create a cut-out story, in the style of a ransom note.

The problem, I soon discovered, was that the adverts did not have any verbs. Apparently, women in the 1930s-50s were only allowed to appear a certain way – they weren’t supposed to DO anything. In order to find some ‘doing words’, I had to go back to the library and photocopy girls’ annuals (the 1950s equivalent of Bunty) and recipe books of the period. Apparently, women were allowed to do things when they were young, as children; and when they were older, as housewives and matrons – but not in between.

This is Liberty by Kirsty Logan © Glasgow Women’s Library

After many days spent faffing around with glue sticks and tiny bits of paper, I was done. The final product is 4-page story, titled THIS IS LIBERTY, about a female prizefighter. The completed work will be on display, along with the other 20 pieces, at the Glasgow Women’s Library until September 2012.

Find out more about Kirsty:
Website | Blog | Goodreads | Facebook | Twitter

The exhibition of the 21 women artists (21 Revolutions) will take place in the Intermedia Gallery at the CCA from 22nd September (the launch is 6pm, 21st September). The 21 writers’ work, including ‘This Is Liberty’, will be shown at a parallel exhibition of the writers’ texts and their sources at the Glasgow Women’s Library from Saturday 22nd (launch from 2pm). The new work by the 21 writers will also be released as free audio podcasts from September.

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See more blogs by artists here.

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English Illustrator and Writer Hayley Potter  was voted one of London’s top ten Illustrators alongside Daisy de Villeneuve and Julie Verhoeven (Spoonfed, 2010). She graduated from The Royal College of Art in 2007 and now lives and works between London and Dorset, traveling further afield for enticing commissions or collaborations. Influenced by the magic that can be found in the every day, Hayley Potter’s work is a fusion of the imagined and the observed.

Hayley’s playful working method of re-assembling her own drawings digitally and by hand is used to create images that tell a story, compliment a specific text or answer a brief. This flexible way of making images has been successfully applied to a diverse range of personal projects and commissions for international clients. So far these include editorial, book covers, narrative, signage, murals, clothing, sculpture, display, alternative greeting cards and books.

Hayley was taught by Illustrators including Quentin Blake and Andrzej Klimowski at The Royal College of Art 2005-2007. Her work has featured in several exhibitions across London at venues including The Mall Galleries, The Haunch of Venison, Ferreira Projects, The Hockney Gallery, Dazed and Confused, and The Great Exhibition in Hyde Park. She is a regular visiting lecturer in Illustration & Drawing for popular courses including BA (hons) Illustration at Arts University College Bournemouth and has previously taught at universities including The University of Westminster and The Royal Veterinary College.

When Hayley isn’t working on commissions, collaborations or self initiated work – you will probably find her on a long walk through a forest or across sandy landscapes with her camera – accompanied by her Bedlington Terrier Mr Bumble and her partner, the designer Paul Currah.  But if its raining, then you’ll find her in a tea shop – adding to her collection.  Rose tea is currently her favourite.

Despite Hayley’s interest in magic and the owl that occasionally tries to get into her studio window, she is sadly not related to Harry Potter but her Grandad thinks she might be related to the Author and Illustrator Beatrix Potter. (Research is currently in progress to discover if she is.)

Photos by Anna Morgan Photography

You can find more about Hayley on her website.
Follow Hayley on Twitter here and take a look at her Facebook Page here.

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‘Where I Make’ invites readers behind the scenes of artists from many disciplines to share photographs and a little insight about where they create their masterpieces. See more from the series here.

But what did he do before all this? Find out below.

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1. Suppose the first job I had where I was paid money was being a busker on the streets of Liverpool. I used to play Bunnymen, Teardrops and even Soft Cell on the acoustic. Youth by the latter sounded really good unplugged. But i guess my choice of music was too much of a niche to rake it in. My other competitors would play the Beatles and I’d be history. Also, I spent a lot if time being attacked by body poppers, religious nuts and small kids. I’d keep going with blue cold hands. Only stopping when i’d snapped all of my strings.

2. My second pitstop on my illustrious career saw me coming up with the notion that I ought to get real job. So I signed up to work at the sickness benefits department at the department of health and social security in a poor part of Liverpool.  I worked in an oppressive red building that looked like a stazi outpost. I worked with Pete Best’s brother, Rouge, he was a drummer too. Mentioning Ringo was a no no at the tea break. Anyways, I’m not allowed to talk about it but rest assured that there was a very eccentric bunch used to sign on. One time somebody thought it was funny to play “Money money” by Abba. By the time the track hit “must be funny – in a rich Man’s world” – all of the claimants were smashing the place up. I’d never seen chairs embedded in concrete ripped out of the floor before.

3. About this time I thought my creative life was over until my old tutor Dave Clapham gave me the chance to work in his Liverpool studio. You can see Dave in Bad Night For The Blues, he plays the lord mayor. I used to cut promos for him for the likes of Deaf School, Icicle Works and The Farm. Working for with Dave was my third job. I made a little animated film called Safari. With that I got into art college.

4. My fourth job was weekend job while I was a student. I worked in Farnham Hospital. I was a cleaner and gave tea to geriatric patients. I’d steal the daffodils from the hospital garden and give them to the old ladies who would burst into tears. Most of the patients thought I was the gas man. I of course would oblige pretending to read their gas meters. I really enjoyed working there. I love talking to people.

5. My fifth job was the one which really connected me with animation. After college I was taken on as a runner at Paul Vester’s Speedy Films. They were the production company that made lots of ads. Milky Way two cars racing, Reach flip top man, Vitalite and Paxo the rooster booster. I became the production manager and worked on a film about New Yorker’s who had been abducted by aliens. I managed to escape the invasion and I’m thankfully still here to tell the story.

Photo by Louise Haywood-Schiefer

More: Website | Twitter

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We’ve asked professionals in creative industries what jobs they have had in the past to get their foot through the door (or at least pay the rent). For more in the “My First 5 Jobs” series look here.

There aren’t many places left in this world where you can walk out onto the street and see a 2000 strong red rally parading flags that bare the communist hammer and sickle – This is where I live, my creative scene: Kathmandu.

To write about the art scene (which is more often than not the subject of luxury and indulge) in a country which is so politically and social unstable has proven to be a more delicate task than I first expected. As I feel a duty to avoid steering away from the ripe and precedent issues of which there are so many.

As an illustrator i mostly work with print media which is a relatively new concept in Nepal, the oldest newspaper being established only 20 years ago. Ever since Nepal opened its doors to the outside world in the early sixties; western culture has been steadily flowing in, thus every form of media has become established, But I fear that given the high-speed influx of western culture; media is fast moving in the “wrong direction” with a perpetuating breed of glossy magazines surfacing, modelled on the western format concerned only with the “finest” restaurants, latest gadgets and fashion. Though there are a few really nice publications that thrive on shining a light on the political and domestic issues:

Himal SouthAsian, an international magazine that covers the whole of South-Asia but is produced and Printed in Nepal. This was my first proper gig here, illustrating the December cover on the theme of Burma and two other illustrations inside. Its quality of content and design is a rare thing, not only here in Nepal but globally, though it has an uncertain future due to funding and a numbness of understanding over its importance.

The Nepali Times – a weekly newspaper that offers quality and critical insight into the week’s news and is open to a variety of cartoons and illustration.

There is a high standard of political cartoons throughout most of these papers. For me it is the most relevant art form here and one I’m very excited to be involved in for (as far as I’m aware) I’m the only foreign artist getting directly involved in Nepali politics.

Creative outlets:

Sattya Media art collective is a collaboration of foreign and Nepali creative types such as photographers, graphic designers, documentary film makers etc. working on a not-profit basis, providing such activities as a variety of professional workshops and documentary screenings on the rooftop.

Street art can be seen in a basic form all over the city as Maoist symbols and slogans but more contemporary styles are popping up all over the place as the graffiti culture becomes growingly popular with the youth.

This place has been inspiring me ever since I came here around two years. During my first visit I spend eight months hanging around the temple steps drawing, drinking milky tea and writing poems, in the end I self-published a small book of poems “The Weight of Clocks” (available nowhere). There is no end to inspiration here as all aspects of life and death are so closely played out every day and become more intense with the weeks and months. If we relate creativity and art directly to expression then this city became a gallery unto its self at the celebration of Holi; the Hindu festival of colour, which passed a few days ago. During Holi; the young, the old and all between take a day to lose themselves in this celebration with coloured power and water, hurling it and smearing it all over each other. If you leave the house- there is no escape! And there are so many festivals here, each one different and all powerful displays of devotion; it is the concept of storytelling and the preservation of Hindu culture.

Of course the art scene in Nepal stretches far beyond the small portion that I have got involved in. there is so much traditional art to immerse yourself in, and so many contemporary artists to meet though its nothing that I can talk in depth about, you’ll just have to come here and see it for yourself.

Recently I had the pleasure to meet a Spanish photographer, Antonio Nodar, currently in Nepal working on the second volume of his life-term project: Portrait to self-portrait- where he takes a portrait of an artist and then hands them a printed copy to transform in their own medium into a self- portrait. Having completed two hundred portraits of resident artists in Nepal thus far, this looks to be the most comprehensive reflection of national art.

Well this is where I’ve found myself (not in a hippy, spiritual way) and I’m not upset about it, nor do I feel that I have slipped out of the race that demands success be obtained in popular settings. I create my own scene just by living a real and often uncomfortable life in a city that shares so much with whoever walks down its churned and beaten streets.

More: Website | Twitter

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My Creative Scene is an insight into different creative & cultural happenings in cities where your members and readers live. Browse through more insider guides here or contact us to write about the arts scene where you are.

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Born in 1953 and grew up in Glasgow. First jobs were working on a government research farm outside Dundee at 14, picking raspberries and strawberries. Then at 15, working on Saturdays at John Smith’s bookshop in St Vincent Street. Then at 18, with hair down to my waist, the only place of employment was Butlins in Ayr, as a bar porter at the Pig and Whistle – earning £7 pounds for an eight day week (we worked for seven days and got the eighth day off). However, the first five jobs that taught me a lot were:

01.After training in Dundee for two years, at Duncan of Jordanstone College of Art (between 1971 and 1973), I was offered a job as a lighthouse keeper off the West Coast of Scotland. In order to do it, I would have to miss the end of year assessments. I had a very friendly drawing lecturer called Ian Fearn. I went to ask his advice. “You’ll always have another opportunity to go to art school,” he told me “but this will probably be your only chance to be a lighthouse keeper”. I followed my heart rather than my head, and it turned out to be a fantastic six months during which I learned all sorts of skills that have been useful in later life. Many years later, I wrote about these experiences for the ‘Diary’ section of The London Review of Books. I then turned that into a book, which was published as Stargazing: memoirs of a young lighthouse keeper (Canongate, 2003). Currently trying to turn it into a film or TV series – just need four great Scottish actors.

Peter Hill (top left) and the class of 71

02. I spent another eight years at different art schools in the south of England, before returning to my home city of Glasgow in 1981. I’d always enjoyed writing and making art when I was at art school. I continued this from a WASPS studio in the Trongate, and witnessed the growth of Transmission Gallery from an idea to a reality through the hard work of a great number of people. I began writing about Scottish art for various magazines and journals outside Scotland, including Artmonthly, Studio International, Design, Artscibe, Aspects, and the Artists Newsletter (now an). I owe a great deal to many fine editors, particularly Peter Townsend at Artmonthly, in terms of editing, proof reading, raising advertising revenue, picture editing, and general networking.

03. After spending a year painting and writing at the wonderful Cité Internationale des Arts in Paris, I was invited to teach painting at Gray’s School of Art in Aberdeen while Ian Howard was on sabbatical. I learned a great deal about teaching, examining, and enthusing students from my colleague Alexander Fraser. I also gave my very first lecture in the art school lecture theatre, juggling two carousels of slides, and overcoming my initial nerves. This, especially, was an important hurdle to jump. Grand to emerge unscathed at the other side.

04. At the Cité in Paris there were hundreds of artists from over seventy countries around the world – painters, film-makers, poets, photographers. I was acutely aware from my time there that not only did most nations have their own governments, but also had their own art magazines. I decided to try and set up a Scottish art magazine, ALBA, and after my happy time in Aberdeen I moved to Edinburgh. This was mainly because I’d lived in Scotland’s three other cities at different times and I wanted to get to know the Edinburgh art scene. Bill Hare and Dr Duncan MacMillan at the Talbot Rice Art Centre were generous in offering me an office to work in and even a studio to paint in. One afternoon in the Plough Tavern in Bloomsbury, Peter Townsend from Artmonthly taught me more about running an art magazine than anyone else before or since. The physicality of the magazine could never had happened without the energy and enthusiasm of Arthur Watson and his staff at Peacock Printmakers in Aberdeen. The six years of ALBA was a huge roller coaster ride, which sadly did not survive a massive downturn in advertising, a deep recession, and an even deeper, personal, depression.

05. I have been privileged to meet many great art school teachers and heads of school, from Samantha Ainsley in Glasgow to Tony Jones (in various cities around the world). I probably learned most from Professor Geoff Parr in Hobart, Tasmania, (where I worked in the 1990s) in terms of how an art school might be structured and built around a world-class weekly forum program. While there, he and my colleague Paul Zika, helped me to set up an international residency program between Scotland, Hobart, and Canberra. This saw many Scottish artists, including Kevin Henderson, Anne Morrison, Claire Barclay, and Stephen Hurrell, create some memorable art projects, on-going friendships, and in one case marriage (between Anne Morrison and Troy Ruffels – a Glaswegian married to a Taswegian).

Ambition: To set up an annual Pacific City of Culture, based on the European model, and stretching from Vietnam to California, Canada to Australia, Chile to the Russian Pacific. Perhaps it should start as a Superfiction.

Motto: Always follow your heart, not your head.

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We’ve asked professionals in creative industries what jobs they have had in the past to get their foot through the door (or at least pay the rent). For more in the “My First 5 Jobs” series look here.

It’s a big cupboard with a window, which I had shelved to accommodate my clutter. The day we moved in to this house I removed a towel rail from the back of the door. That makes me think it might once have been a toilet, and visitors do try and go there rather than the bathroom, but thankfully there haven’t been any accidents yet.

When it’s messy, like this, I’m working hard. I think that goes for most writers. A tidy desk is lovely, but a little suspect. The surface is quite grubby, although writing isn’t particularly messy, and I like the way it’s accumulating a patina of ink and coffee rings and pencil marks. The postcards sometimes change depending on what I’m writing about but there are sentimental odds and ends as well; a library card from Berlin, photos of my gran and my nana, trinkets from here and there.

Silence works quite well for me when I’m writing, though sometimes I’ll listen to an album or even a song on repeat. When I close the door it feels nice and isolated. That helps me write too. I bought a couple of old Ordnance Survey maps of Orkney that I’m going to paste to the wall behind me. I think that’ll give me an illusion of open space. I’ll be able to twirl in my chair and pretend I’m sailing around the islands.

Visit www.zoestrachan.comfor more information.

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‘Where I Make’ invites readers behind the scenes of artists from many disciplines to share photographs and a little insight about where they create their masterpieces. See more from the series here.