Art in Elgin and Moray: Vince Butler the flying artist
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A sign-writer turned RAF instructor turned artist is staging the first exhibition at Elgin Library since the pandemic began.
Vince Butler has had quite a varied life.
Born and brought up in London, his interest in art began when he was still at school.
Vince says: "Miss Eddings was the name of the art teacher – and I was half in love with her.
"She used to regularly take 29 unruly kids from our secondary modern to the Tate or to the National Gallery.
"She was an amazing teacher.
"I used to dream about becoming a painter, but the school wanted me to be a gas fitter.
"I'm afraid we were basically cannon fodder."
Vince suspected he'd do better in life if he did something creative, so he opted instead for an apprenticeship in sign-writing.
But, then, just as he was qualifying, someone invented a technique called Letraset.
This new technique took away the need for specialist skills, putting an end to Vince's first career before it had even begun.
However he managed to find a good deal of work doing graphic art for events like car shows and trade exhibitions.
He also developed a sideline in painting pub signs.
Vince says: "Some people involved in art are not always entirely reliable, and that meant I did pretty well.
"If the Dog and Duck pub wanted a painting of a dog and duck by the following Monday, that was when they got it."
Then, at the age of 40, came a dramatic change of career which took everyone, including Vince, by surprise.
Besides his dreams as a teenager of being a painter, he'd also fancied becoming a pilot.
After he began earning money as a graphic artist, Vince spent some of it putting himself through flying exams.
Along came an initiative encouraged by Margaret Thatcher which saw the RAF begin, for the first time, to advertise for civilians to fill certain posts.
Vince applied to become a flying instructor and he got the job.
It would take him around air bases all over the UK.
While based in Fife, he flew up to Moray on dozens of occasions to put the cadets at RAF Lossiemouth through their paces.
He liked this area a lot and, following retirement, he bought a cottage at Brodie.
The studio there is where he now paints.
Vince says: "People ask me to do all sorts of work, but I particularly love painting animals.
"I accept commissions and am happy to work from photos.
"But they have to be sharp and properly in focus, rather than just 'snaps' – you can only paint what you can see."
With all Moray's libraries having returned to full opening hours, the council is now re-introducing art exhibitions.
Vince's two-week exhibition at Elgin Library will run from Saturday, July 10.
Social distancing and the wearing of face-coverings will apply.
Vince's website and more examples of his paintings can be found here
