Man Ray & Minotaur Man

In art overdrive today.
Art Fix #1
I went for a look-see at the Man Ray Portraits exhibition at the Scottish National Portrait Gallery which is still being installed.
I'm writing about it for Saturday's Herald.
This is the part of the job I love - really looking at art - and then having to think it through and write about it. It's a weekly challenge and every week is a school week...
I never stop learning,
Art Fix #2
After seeing the Man Ray work, I met up with an artist called Paul Reid in the portrait gallery cafe.
I'm writing an introduction to the catalogue for his forthcoming Edinburgh Festival solo exhibition at The Scottish Gallery so we'd arranged a chat so that I could 'get under the skin' of his work.
Paul is that rare thing. A young artist - he's not yet 40 - who paints big, ambitious canvases which take stories from Greek mythology as their starting point.
There is so much more in these beautifully executed paintings than mere depiction.
He uses these stories as a way to talk out the human condition. It's as if he writes fiction on canvas.
Talking to Paul abut his work was fascinating. He's an avid reader and had jotted down some of his influences for me before we met.
That's what is written in the paper in this picture.
We had such a good chat that I was amazed to find that we'd talked non-stop for two and a half hours.
Cue another mad dash for the train.