NOVEMBER 2015
Price 50p
The
The Voice of Balquhidder, Lochearnhead, Strathyre & St Fillans
‘The Bigger the Back, the Bigger the Front’ Veronika Verden-Anderson’s Edinburgh Exhibition strikes a chord Recently the work of Balquhidder’s resident artist Veronika VerdenAnderson was brought to the attention of Scottish television, as her exhibition The Bigger the Front, The Bigger the Back opened at Edinburgh’s MS Therapy Centre. The preview night opened with a talk at the Centre by ‘Ronnie’ herself. In front of a large audience and surrounded by the powerful presence of her colourful works, Ronnie talked about her MS experiences with candour and humour, before explaining the reason behind the exhibition’s title. “Every single thing in life has a front (positive) and a back (negative). When I got MS, that was a massive ‘back’... not to be able to do a million things. But with time, I begain to work out that there was a ‘front’ to my illness... I found myself with a lot of time to think about what’s important in life. Everything that’s hard will have lessons to teach you.” After finally losing the use of her arms
Above: ‘Triangle’ by Ronnie, and right: being interviewed on The Fountainbridge Show
about eight years ago, Ronnie had to adapt to a new way of transporting her ideas to canvas, and she now paints with her mouth, aided and abetted by ‘assistants’. The results are authentic works of passion, brimming with colour and texture, and charged with a vital energy that stops you in your tracks. (Continued on page 20)