In response to my letter to my local Councillors at PKC I have had a phone
call from Cllr Hayton who is deputy leader of the Council.

He has spoken with various councillors and officers and confirms what Liz
Connacher told us that at the present time there is no intention In Perth
Council to implement the license requirement for Free arts events.

He did of course conceded that he couldn’t speak for the Councillors who
might be elected at the May elections. However, his view is that there would
not be change to Licensing in Perth without a full consultation of
interested parties. He did hope that Perth would continue to take a
reasoned and fair approach. He said he is willing to make the issue a
personal election pledge.

This is very re-assuring as far as it goes, but I would urge artists not to
be complacent and make sure that at any opportunity you ask any local
election candidates where they stand on the issue to make sure that any
incoming Councillors are fully aware of its impact if implemented.

If this does get implemented – and Ayrshire Council have reportedly already
declared that they intend to – the effect on all of us will be huge. I
also urge artists in other counties to approach their own Councillors to
make them aware of the situation. The petition set up in Edinburgh reached
11,000 signatures in about 3 days which shows the amount of concern there
is right across all the arts.

IN case it has escaped anyone’s notice, there is an imminent new legislation relating to Entertainment Licensing that will affect all grassroots arts activities in Scotland. From April 1st ANY arts event even if it is free to the public and no matter how small ( even if its in your front room ) will be required to purchase a licence which can cost hundreds of pounds and involve yet another round of form filling. I imagine that Open Studios will also be targeted.

Artists in Glasgow and Edinburgh have mobilised to approach their own city councillors and the government on this issue. However if there is no national solution it will be up to each Local Authority Licensing committee to decide what to do about it.

SO this is a message to all artists anywhere. You need to get involved. Write to your councillors and MSPs and local newspapers NOW.

Read more here and please sign this petition.

I recently edited the footage Genie and I shot in the autumn of 2011 of Perthshire sculptress Debbie Dobson. We both like the final result and hope that you will too! Features cool soundtrack music by Tracing Arcs (The Go-Between).

Both Genie and I love the large-scale wood sculptures made by Nigel Ross. Many of them are functional such as benches designed for indoor (as well as outdoor) use, although you’d need a large living room for some of his stuff.

When I decided to make a series of short documentaries about Perthshire artists I admired, Nigel was naturally on my shortlist. The only planning was to arrange a convenient date and time when we could visit him at his studio. Genie helped out with one of the cameras.

We are hoping to make a further movie with Nigel when he starts a new piece from scratch, carving a massive tree trunk with a chainsaw, but that will be a longer term project. This one was filmed during one short visit – a couple of hours including time for tea. Enjoy!