A number of weeks we wrote a blog about newly published artist George Somerville and compared his work to that of Alexander Millar’s, today the blog will focus on Alexander.
Young at Heart by Alexander Millar
A professional artist for some 21 years, Alexander Millar was born and raised in a small mining village in 1960 near Glasgow called Springside & in his own words it felt more like growing up in the 1940s than the 1960s! He spent a lot of his youth around the older generation of Scots: men dressed in dark suits, smoking pipes, and burly women in aprons and headscarves.
His dad worked for British Rail & as a child accompanying him to work, Alexander gained more inspiration for his future paintings as he found the old Railway stations to be very Romantic. Of course the architecture of these stations would have been nostalgic & a throw back to Scotland’s industrial past – this influence is seen throughout Alex’s paintings.
My Family & Other Animals by Alexander Millar
Moving to Newcastle-Upon-Tyne after finishing school aged 16, he tried several jobs before becoming a professional artist in 1988. He claims that it was quite a culture shock to move from the sleepy village he grew up in, to the hustle and bustle of the city, as you can imagine! But the city also had its own share of ‘Gadgies’ – (a northern Scottish term for an older generation man) to inspire his paintings.
Fuelled by his extensive Childhood memories, he had a huge source of inspiration to work from, what is more astonishing is that Alexander is a self taught artist, which is an amazing achievement for any commercial artist.
Keepy Uppy sculpture by Alexander Millar
Thanks,
Vicki
Links
www.scottish-memories.co.uk/
www.accessingscotlandspast.org.uk/
1960s Scotland
