Glasgow is not my birth place, but I moved here by choice over twenty years ago and I immediately felt in love with Lansdowne crescent. This quirky crescent of blond stone houses was built between 1850 and 1880 when Glasgow was the most prosperous city of the Empire. It has kept its elegance and its resident gardens where children run during the summer and adult meet up over a cup of tea or the annual bbq.
The Lansdowne house is at the very bottom of it, its not a town house, its a Mary Poppins main door flat, with a elevated basement. It is in my stone floor workshop that I design and cut stencils, it is there that a lovingly paint old furniture and give pieces the look of yesterday, antic finish with a crackled effect. From time to time I welcome there a small group of enthusiasts who want to learn how to stencil or how to give old bits of furniture a new life. This has been ma passion for years, that and Charles Rennie Mackintosh. I just love Mackintosh with his stylised rose and his straight line furniture. He is the love child of Glasgow and if not famous during his living he certainly now is so well known and recognised. From the market traders who call him Rennie Mac to the foreign professor in Architecture everyone loves him and his designs.
What I offer:
Many years ago I designed a range of “Rennie Mackintosh” stencils and they are still very popular. They are available to you via http://www.etsy.com or http://www.folksy.co.uk just filter under thelansdownehouseofstencils or just simple by emailing me on bettysbeautifullife@gmail.com, they are made of card and are both durable and easy to use.
I run regular day workshop at The Lansdowne House, to have any detail email me at bettysbeautifullife@gmail.com or check on http://www.evenbrite.couk under STENCIL MACKINTOSH, occasionally i run workshop for Glasgow Museum or The House for an Art Lover.
I will work on commission for you if you have a need. Wether it is to cut a stencil you need for applying yourself or to apply it for you (wether you are an organisation or just an individual). You will read in this blog about the Ault Wharrie my latest big commission. If you want any detail contact me by email.
Finally I research and write about stencilling. If you have material you would like me to record (stencilled scheme you have found under your wall paper, or else) then email me the detail.
Welcome to this blog and good discovery….
THE LANSDOWNE HOUSE 