ARTIST'S STATEMENT

The following biographical text has been taken from an account written by Marshall Anderson in his Introduction to "Soloists: an exhibition of Outsider Art in Scotland", held at art.tm gallery, Inverness, in 1998. The Catalogue is available from art.tm in Inverness on a CD-ROM, at £10.

Dave McCormick was born in 1945 in Torryburn, Fife, Scotland. He left school at age 15 and worked at the pithead of a local coalmine for 2 years, breaking up slag. He then joined the army and served overseas, but to escape from the insanities and stresses of the war, he drank heavily, and was discharged for being drunk and disorderly. He returned to Britain and worked on construction sites.

At the age of 24, for no explicable reason, Dave started to to draw with whatever was to hand - pencils and felt-tip marker pens. This activity signalled the start of self-motivated rehabilitation. After a year of drawing, Dave exhibited two works at the Demarco Gallery in Edinburgh. In 1998, he exhibited some of his highly-coloured marker-pen drawings at art.tm at the "Outsider Artists in Scotland".

Dave has done little drawing since 1993, with his creativity since then finding an outlet in his ornate and elaborate garden (for which he has won prizes), and numerous pieces of furniture and sculpture that he makes from reclaimed plywood. He says his garden is a spiritual place which is good for the head. He has made over 26 chairs, most of which he has given away. Whenever asked about the origins of his imagery and designs he replies, "It's just the way they turn out." Yes, that's all we can say, as this is the pure and simple truth!