Category: Positive Thinking

Although I spend as much time as I can painting, cars are never far away and have provided me with a living for more years than I care to remember. Not just any cars, you understand. Special ones. Like this one, which I am delighted to have collected from its owner, who has made the decision to stop driving:

2010 60 plate Ford Fiesta 1.25 Zetec Climate 5 door in Hot Magenta metallic, with grey fabric interior. Mother then daughter owned from new, with only 19,000 miles recorded. A very well cared for car in a distinctive colourway and very much flavour of the month with owners and the press alike. You can have a look at some photos onto the car website (www.highlanegarage.co.uk).If you like what you see, please ‘phone me for more details on 01663 763355. The price is a realistic £7,995 and of course I’m happy to discuss part exchange.

I am hoping to have a 2006 06 plate Renault Clio 1.9 dci Dynamique 5 door in the next few days. This is a car which is coming from the estate of a lovely, local lady, who is sadly no longer with us. We did business a couple of times in the past and she always looked after her cars. Her son Tony came over from Australia to sort out her affairs and we got on like a house on fire. Everything is agreed and I’m just waiting for the paperwork and the go ahead to collect it.  At 49,400 miles this car has not done a lot of work yet, its diesel engine having a reputation for many thousands of miles. It is a wholesome, clean car in a nice bronze red colour (I’ll check the name of it) and I am asking a very reasonable £3,995. Part ex. welcome, of course. Give me a call on 01663 763355 to let me know you’re interested and I’ll let you know as soon as it’s here.

If you have a particular car you would like me to source for you, please do get in touch. Since 1968, I have made an awful lot of people happy in their motoring aspirations and will be delighted to put my experience at your disposal. Send me an email via this website, or email me directly at peter.murrayhlg@gmail.com, or call me on 01663 763355 for a chat.

Hello everyone. It’s been a busy couple of weeks, but I’m glad to say productive. I’m sorry to have to inform you that one of my first guest artists has passed away. Ken Clapp was a lovely man and as you have learned from his write up was not averse to a bit of adventure in his octogenarian years.

As well as his lovely use of water colours, Ken was adept with pencils and pens and was a gifted cartoonist. A selection of his work will be displayed in his memory at the Society of Marple Artists’ 46th exhibition at the Methodist Halls on Friday and Saturday, 10th and 11th April 2013. Love to Janet, Brian and the family. Ken’s posthumous display will be in good company with Margaret Gadsby, another SMA member who was loved by everyone and who  went to the studio in the sky in  February. Best wishes to you and yours, Margaret. We’ll miss you both.

On a happier note, some of the paintings on the site have been spotted by Manchester graphic designer Simon Wadsworth, who is hoping to produce greetings cards and prints, maybe wrapping paper too, from Hugh Winterbottom’s Manchester scenes and three of my abstracts. Hugh and I are waiting with bated breath, but my initial meeting with Simon seemed positive and I’ll keep you informed. Thanks to everyone who has sent in comments about www.murraycrescent.co.uk in its first few months. Very encouraging and good to know people are revisiting the site. Keep watching, as I have some ideas to implement soon. I’m also looking for feedback, hints and tips and welcome input from artist of all abilities, from expert to beginner. Thanks, Peter.

This is what people seem to do when they have a website – they have a blog, by way of keeping in touch. This part, as with the rest of the site, will be updated as the urge takes me, as I have something I think will be of interest. Sometimes it will, of course, be art related and other times it will be to let you know about a car acquisition which you can pass on to someone if you wish, maybe even do someone a favour! My own interest in blogs was sharply accelerated in 2012 when my daughter and her partner went travelling in India and Nepal for three months and for 89 long days their blog was the only contact with family and friends. Thank goodness for blogs!

Where does the word “blog” come from? I blog, you blog, we blog – what on earth is it? We accept so many new words and phrases from the internet that sometimes we just have to stop and ask. Hands up all those who already knew the answer – it’s a derivative of web log. Glad we got that out of the way; now we can get back to the plot.

I’m currently trying  a couple of mixed media ideas – acrylic paint, acrylic inks, pastels and suchlike. If I’m happy with the results, you’ll be the first to know. If I’m not, you’ll also be the first to know, as much of this art subject is about failures, happy accidents, rescued work as well as successes. After all, Thomas Edison didn’t build Rome in a day, did he?

I’m also keen to explore the possibilities of monochrome work. I fell for a piece by Bill Hague last year, in acrylic and charcoal on canvas, measuring about 30″ by 18″ depicting trees in winter, with a setting sun peeping through the stark skeletons of leafless silhouettes – wonderful. As much as I loved it as a painting, I was struck by the possibility of incorporating the image into a “winter check” leaflet for the garage. Bill was amenable to the idea, his eyes lit up as money changed hands and I approached graphic designer Derek Williams at D.W. Design, who put the piece together. I’ll show the original painting and both sides of the leaflet when I can work out how to publish them on this page and then you can see how my fertile mind works. Not just a beautiful painting, but an opportunity of putting across a seasonal message in an individual way, which I’m glad to say, was well received. (By the way, if you haven’t checked your antifreeze already, take this as a timely reminder to do so, as the ravages of cold weather can play havoc with your bank account and I know as well as you do that you would far rather spend your hard – earned on paint or paintings. Do humankind a favour and have a good look at your tyres, too. You wouldn’t believe some of the horrors we see in our tyre bay.

Talking of tyres, quite a  few years ago a lady came into the tyre bay and asked if she could take some photos of our scrap tyre pile, about three hundred and odd tyres in all. Happy to oblige, I was fascinated to discover that she was an artist and was part way through a degree course. The tyre pics would form the basis of her degree show project. A few months later, she called into the garage to tell us she now had a B.A. to her name and that her tyre photographs had played a useful part in her achievement. In my world, I never take things for granted and I have occasionally wondered what sort of artwork she is doing now. In fact, I’ll try and find out and let you know. If you are reading this, tyre degree lady, please get in touch, or if anyone in her circle, no pun intended, can put her in contact with me, I’ll be delighted to hear from you.

Everyone needs a little encouragement from time to time. Murray Crescent is my art website and it is intended not only to showcase my own work, but to give a helping hand to those who are thinking about taking up painting, just starting out, or indeed are seasoned artists who want to get a bit more involved with like minded folk. The site will evolve as the need takes it, but for the time being, it will give you an insight into my own way of going about making original art. My painting does not conform to a particular approach, as I love the unpredictability. Some artists feel that they have to work towards a recognisable style and I have no problem with that. Indeed, some commercial practitioners would struggle to obtain work without their clients knowing what to expect (greetings card manufacturers, for instance, often give their artists pretty tight briefs*, in order to respond to current trends). But for me, the joy of applying paint to a support is the freedom of experimentation.

You will see here a selection of both finished images and work in progress. Rather than explain them in minute detail, most are left to your imagination in an attempt to provoke your thoughts. Feel free to comment – some will be made available  for sale, while others will remain as inspiration for the future. If enough people respond positively to the idea of purchasing quality signed prints, I will look into this – the first few enquirers will also receive an individual note, as a thank you for being in at the beginning.

This website has been designed and implemented by Jared Rigby of maketotaldesign.com and it has been a pleasure working with him. There are millions of websites around, but I am happy that Jared’s level headed approach, not to mention his patience, have produced a user friendly, informative site which will grow into an exciting adventure for all participants. His BSc (Hons) stands him in good stead and anyone in the market for a new website, or an update to an existing site could do worse than to have a chat with him. For me, getting back to the plot, art is an essential part of my life and I hope that this web presence conveys my passion for art and my interest in those associated with it.

Commercial break: This website is sponsored and as such, you will have to indulge me from time to time as the odd car rears its head. Buying and selling “special” cars has been my other passion for decades. As something comes along, I will keep you posted. Let’s face it, most people who paint also drive. Many of my regular car customers are artists or art appreciators, so if you are in need of transport, we do have a great deal in common.

Check out www.highlanegarage.co.uk and www.mursoncars.co.uk from time to time. Plug over! Oh, and by the way I could probably have worded *pretty tight briefs better, as I can think of nothing worse than painting in anything but old, comfortable clothing, but I’m sure you get my drift.