Making art out of Glasgow landmarks

A Toryglen primary teacher by day, Marion has been photographing the city’s iconic buildings in her spare time and giving them a new, kaleidoscopic lease of life through the medium of collage.

She told The Extra: “I’ve always been interested in buildings, and originally trained as a textile designer. I teach full time now but art’s always been there in the background.

“One day I was out taking photographs of the Templeton carpet factory on Glasgow Green, which always draws me. I had a closer look at the patterns and started to think of ways of arranging them to come up with a whole new facade.

“I see bit of buildings that you would otherwise pass by, and think about how they work alongside other sections. I hope it helps people to look at the amazing architecture on show in Glasgow, and see things they’ve never noticed before.”

The result is a body of work including Glasgow School of Art, the Tron Theatre tower and the westend’s Oran Mor — and Marion has her sights set on some southside landmarks too.

She commented: “I’ve really only scratched the surface. Scotland Street School, Kelvingrove and Kelvin Hall are amazing, as as the Alexander Greek Thomson buildings.

“I’ve started work on Battlefield Rest, which is also a listed building, and I’ve been taking photos of Holmwood House too.”

Marion resists the urge to digitally alter her photos |— taken on a simple digital camera — and works around the grey Glasgow weather instead.

She added: “One of the Oran Mor collages has huge raindrops on it — but it actually gives it a bit of atmosphere.

“I try not to change things — if it’s a grey sky, it stays that way.

“It’s part of the character of the city and I’m quite passionate about that showing off, because I’m a Glasgow girl through and through.”

My Glasgow Connections opens at The Good Spirits Co on Bath Street on Saturday (January 11) and runs until February 22 — entry is free.