I have been working hard and will be exhibiting new work at upcoming fairs. I had a lot of fun on Hampstead Heath getting the research material for this drawing, Over the Hill and Far Away. The very talented painter Caroline Walker is my model, and although she did complain of cold toes, I got some great shots and some nice drawings have resulted!

Large format figures in motion and underwater drawings at the AAF, Battersea, London 15th to 18th March.

http://www.affordableartfair.com

Also upcoming is the Glasgow Art Show, 23rd to 25th March where I will be exhibiting new underwater paintings and drawings with The Fotheringham Gallery on stand B6.

http://www.glasgowartshow.com

All in all, a very successful evening. Everyone loved Jochem's tape paintings and a good time was had by all.

My brother and I had terrapins as kids, and we kept them in a smallish tank with a rock, a bit of water and probably a plastic plant or two - eighties-style. They weren't the most loving of creatures, and we soon got fed up of having to clean them out. So we tossed them into the river that ran through our garden, leaving them to the sorry fate of the West of Scotland water temperature and whichever predators lay in wait. I'm not proud of our behaviour, and I don't feel I can really take the moral high ground when I see these poor chinese terrapins getting their little legs tied up for the journey home to the pot. That said, I'm not ready to stew up my own turtle soup just yet..

The most utterly baffling fact, however, is at the checkout, where grandfather clocks sit happily beside the chewing gum, in the impulse-buy section. Just what you want, on your way out the door.

So, the photo above shows the interior of my local restaurant. Desperate, long fish/eels, flapping about and rapidly drying-out frogs await their doom. As you can see, some patrons sport the common city fashion of flannel pyjamas, which I was pleased about, as I'd read a fair bit about that before arrival and indeed, have packed my own, although I've been a bit shy to wear them out so far. They look good though out of context, I'm sure you'll agree.

From one extreme to the other, I visited the Shanghai Gallery of Art yesterday, situated in a very grand building down the water on the Bund, above Armani and below a very fancy Spa.  Although I enjoyed the exhibition, really the highlight of my trip and of my day was the time I spent in the toilet. Having been suffering smelly, squat toilets since arrival, and constantly having to carry the handy-andies around due to lack of toilet paper, my colleagues and I refer to our trips to relieve ourselves as "Nappy Time", as opposed to Hammer Time - obviously.

The Shanghai Gallery of Art had a throne not only commendable for China, but on a world scale I would say its toilet was right up there. As I entered, the lid of the futuristic commode lifted automatically. As I sat, I realised it was heated, then the music started...Liszt's Liebestraume, one of my favourites to play on the ivories. I actually got a bit of a fright, and felt I may have entered an alternate reality, stood up for a minute, but then just settled down, realising that the Lord must have thrown me a small bone, and I should just sit back and enjoy. A button on my right allowed me a bottom massage and once flushed - I could choose between light or full - a puff of air freshener came out of the side of the wall. A truly luxurious and almost religious experience. Something I never thought I'd find in a chinese toilet.

Some of the sights around the Hood in the Hai.

Confusing times here in the Hai. There are times when it seems pretty much impossible to achieve what you want or find what you are looking for. In life, as well as on the street, but all the more difficult when the objectives are in Chinese characters, and the streets of the Hai can be particularly challenging. Last night a pilgrimage to a much talked about restaurant revealed that it existed (or didn't) at the only street number that definitely didn't actually exist. I guess it must have been on the 33 1/3rd floor of somewhere, it certainly seemed to be in a bermuda triangle that we were't able to access. It was a day of rejection in all. It started with being chucked out of the Mariott hotel, where we were attempting to pose as guests to access the pool, and continued to being removed by a policeman for sitting on the grass of a park. It ended favourably thankfully, welcomed into Eddy's gay bar as the international fag hag that I am, and quite agreeably sipped vodka straight up with the cream of the Shanghai male population who, as I'd suspected, seem to be gay as the hills.

An interesting development in the gallery is that one of the two plants in my charge while the gallerist is away, disappeared  mysteriously, explained by a note left by one of the green fingered chinese atists who exhibits here (above). After a long period of contemplation, it became apparent that the steaming coffee was actually the plant and that she seems to be taking custody of it during the day and returning it by night. Why, I guess I'll never know, but if that's what she wants, it seems only fair to share....Strange but true, readers.

As I am filling in for the gallerist this week while she networks in Korea, the fantastic job of interviewing the Dutch artist Jochem Rotteveel has fallen to me! Although we seem to have hit it off, a mutual difficulty with each others' names has resulted in Johann Rockefeller and Patsy Mcdonald emerging as our alter egos. Although he occasionally launches into song with Old Mcdonald had a Cow, for the most part he is quietly working away as artist in residence at the gallery making some very interesting work with tape on cardboard. China is a goldmine for coloured tape and Jochem has been like a chid in a sweet shop, filling his boots with every colour under the sun. Johann Rockefeller and Patsy Mcdonald In Interview, coming soon, watch this space!

Get to grips with Jochem and his work at http://www.jochemrotteveel.com

I am temporarily based in the M50 art complex in northern Shanghai. It's cited as the thriving artist quarter of Shanghai, with over 80 artists' studios, galleries, both big and small, chinese and international, and other design-related businesses. It's a strange place, an old textile mill, with all sorts of spaces. Supposedly it's where the western collectors come to pick up the en-vogue chinese art, but it seems to be 95 per cent tourists wandering around, and not a huge amount of them either. It's very difficult to figure out how anyone is making any money.

Certainly as a european artist here, it would seem I'd be having to change my name to something a bit more oriental to make any sales, or indeed, any interest. At least I have a slightly chinese look going on, but the McArthur name is doing me no favours.

Red laquered babies doing strange things are HUGE here, and as you wander through huge, laquered sweetcorn phalluses, you really start to wonder what the hell is going on! The line between high-end work and mass-produced tourist art is extremely blurred. However, I have made it my mission to get to the bottom of it, and with some more time, hopefully my investigative journalism will bear fruits. One thing is sure, like so often in life, all at M50 is not quite what it seems...

I was originally going to be posting the Shanghai travel chat on my Vie En Rose blog. However the powers that be behind the Bamboo Curtain, don't seem to allow access to blogs or many other things, so will have to do it from the website news page.

I landed some days ago in Shanghai to find a beast of a city full of grey and pastel colours and an unhealthy dose of pollution. I have not been terribly well, what can only be described as a mix of avian flu/bowel trouble, with an intermittent stream of chemical stuff dripping down the back of my throat. Could be time for a mask..

It's a tall city and from the apartment on the 17th floor, there is a fabulous window seat where you can gain a decent insight into chinese life without even the need for a pair of binoculars. First impressions are that it's not really what I was expecting. It's much less intense and fast than the chinese seem to believe it is, in fact the pace I would say is relatively slow.

The food has been causing me problems, and the only thing decipherable in the supermarket was a bag of oatmeal for the elederly, which I figured would do me just fine for now...Keep my strength up.

With its twists and turns that old joker called Life has thrown me some conundrums that have hustled me onto a plane and off to Shanghai for a spell to realign myself, reaquaint with the enigma that is Laura Clemente Castillejo, my old compadre from NYC, and make some work in her fantastic Pantocrator Gallery on the artcentric Moghanshan Road. I shall be restarting my old blog, La Vie En Rose, at www.patsymcarthur.blogspot.com to chart my adventures. Please tune in! I am officially back on the road! X

My 2 person exhibition with Lee Robertson opens this Thursday at ScotlandArt Edinburgh Gallery on St. Stephen Street in Stockbridge, Edinburgh at 6.30pm. I will be showing new underwater paintings and some new drawings of a female aerial artist. I would be delighted to see all who can make it.

I've been working hard on some new drawings for a figurative show at Blackheath Gallery in London in August. It's the first time I've worked with a female model for some years and I'm really pleased with the results. My model is an aerial artist who has some pretty impressive moves in her repertoire. Here is a sneak preview of some of the work headed for London next month.

http://pantocratorgallery.com/shanghaiupcoming.html

The Rock Trust is an Edinburgh-based charity which supports homeless young people and is currently staging a postcard exhibition with a host of postcards donated by a wealth of well-known artists (including my good self!). It is being staged at the Traverse Theatre and the public has a chance to bid for these little gems in a secret bidding box. Get yourself along there..

Apologies to anyone looking for me in the Herald the other week - I ended up on the cutting room floor - however I will be in there tomorrow, Saturday 25th March - will post a link once it's out.