Considering it further, my thoughts turned to my current relationship with Facebook and how I've been inching closer and closer to deleting my account. There's just so much stuff on there that doesn't interest me and, um, so much other stuff that kinda creeps me out.

Regardless, I thought it'd be funny to quickly grab a few things from the top of my own Facebook feed and slap them into a mockup (above) of how Home might look to a regular person. I dunno about you, but there ain't too many models and professional photographers hanging around when I log in*.

I've changed the names to protect the privacy of my friends. If any of you guys read this, please keep in mind that I just grabbed the first few 'normal' images I found. I hope I don't cause offence - I honestly do care about you, your cocktails and your interests - I'm just not sure I want them on the freakin' homepage of my phone.

This is a chronological 12 x 12 grid of photographs taken during 2012* (the first row is January, the second is February and so on). I've been making these things for 5 years now as a kind of quick-reference sheet for what's happened in my life. The photos mostly come from fairly ordinary stuff like trips and restaurant visits, but I like to share them regardless. March is a little later than I'd have preferred to get this up (I was aiming for New Year's Day, sheesh) but hey ho.

Compared to my fairly miserable 2011, 2012 was a good year. Hoo-boy, maybe the best ever. The photos don't quite do it justice but, honestly, it was really fun. For the nosey, there's a giant version of the montage over on Flickr and clicking the #montage tag below'll let you scroll through the full set from previous years.

Looking back, everything changed really early on when things took an, um, half-expected turn in February. Along with a few good friends and teammates, I was made redundant from the design job (the source of my misery) that I'd been working at full-time for the previous 11 months due to company cutbacks. I remember Alex screaming 'That's wonderful Dave!' when I told her on my walk home. Christ I hated that place.

Luckily I had a few freelance gigs that I could turn to and, as fortune would have it, I found enough work to survive on for the rest of the year. For the first time ever I was paying 100% of my way with no part-time jobs as backup. I really hope that I'll be in the same position this time next year. Thank you Job-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named. You didn't mean to, but you made my life a whole lot better.

What else happened? Oh yeah, in June, Alex and I got bloomin' married, didn't we? That was pretty amazing. Everything at our wedding went perfectly (bar the weather) and all our friends & family spoiled us rotten. We followed with a mini catch-our-breath honeymoon in Jersey (complete with a 'comedy wedding anecdote' collapsed ceiling on our return) and, in September, a bigger let's-go-on-holiday honeymoon in Paris. 9 months on, we're still solid as a rock. No divorces or nothin'.

Shortly after we got back home, my grandfather ('Poppa' to the family) sadly died. The old boy did alright - 94 years old, father of 4, grandfather of 10, great-grandfather of 15 (and counting) and owner of the twinkliest eyes in town. He and my Nana (who's still going strong with a mean sense of humour) were married just shy of 71 years. Platinum anniversaries don't come round too often and, barring WWII, those two barely spent a day apart the whole time. He was a good man and I miss him.

The rest of the year was full of our usual trips to Arran to visit Alex's grandparents, plenty of walks and picnics in Pollok Park, car painting in Inverness with the Team Recoat folks and a visit to a potato factory in Lincoln. The arrival of a Chillies just around the corner wreaked havoc on our waistlines and the terrible weather didn't exactly help with the repeated attempts to 'get fit'.

Some miscellaneous things:

Best meal: My annual hog roast roll from Oink in Edinburgh. I nip through every December to do some Christmas shopping and look forward to sitting down by myself on a bench with one of these all year long.

Funniest moment: Mark shouting something unrepeatable on The Rubber Dinghy Rapids in Alton Towers on my stag do.

Best harbinger-of-good-times: On a very grey New Year's Day I spotted a kingfisher in Pollok park. We watched it fly up-and-down a little burn like a bolt of blue lightning.

Best bar: Aye it's town centre, but Max's on Queen St. in Glasgow is unfussy, has good beer, nice staff and really tasty food. We started going because it's a convenient place for a few friends to meet up and grew to really love it.

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As for 2013? No idea really. Exercise is sorely needed. I don't think I've ever felt so unhealthy. My best man, Fergi, has just moved into our street. Hopefully that'll make me a little less hermit-like. There are a few imminent big birthdays on the horizon too which'll be good fun. Work wise, there's a new computer winging its way to me as I write. Can't wait. My iMac, after years of solid service, is getting a bit doddery in its old age. Hold on buddy, you can put your feet up soon.

* Other photo credits: Nikki Leadbetter is responsible for the 4 wedding photos and Alex most likely took any others featuring me.

UPDATE 22/02/13 at 6pm: The Changing Room will be closing its doors on Saturday 30 March 2013 for the final time. From the Tolbooth Stirling Facebook page.

UPDATE 27/02/13: More links added.

Discussion & Information:

Stirling Arts Info Group - A public Facebook group. This is probably the best place to go to discuss the cuts, access / share the most current information and to find out if there's anything you can do to help.

The Changing Room on Facebook - news and info from Stirling's only contemporary art gallery. All Facebook discussion that directly mentions The Changing Room should appear here.

#stirlingarts - When discussing matters relating to Stirling's arts & culture cuts on Twitter, it may be useful to include the #stirlingarts hashtag in your tweets. Doing so means that anyone can easily follow a focused public discussion by searching for that tag.

People on Twitter:

@parrallines - Kirsteen Macdonald. The Changing Room's former Visual Arts Development Officer. Kirsteen will likely share a lot of useful links and information.

@Kevin_Harrison - Kevin is director of Artlink Central, an arts charity working across Central Scotland. He lives in Stirling and has been active in discussions on the arts cuts and, like Kirsteen, will likely put some good comment / info out there.

@davidgalletly - Me! I talk a lot of rubbish but I'll always tweet whenever this post has been updated or if anything new comes to light.

Stirling Council:

Stirling Councillors - Stirling councillors need to know your thoughts on the art cuts in Stirling. There is contact information on this myStirling page.

An Email From Councillor Benny - a frankly terrifying email from councillor Neil Benny sent just before the 21/02/13 meeting to Kate Sankey and shared on Facebook.

@neilbenny - Councillor Neil Benny's Twitter account features a fair amount of comment on the cuts. I've not included this in the above Twitter recommendations as, well, I don't recommend you follow him.

Stirling Arts & Culture:

The Tolbooth - Tolbooth veune homepage.

The Changing Room - Changing Room art gallery homepage.

Creative Stirling - A non-profit creative hub in Stirling.

The Smith Art Gallery - Exhibitions on natural history, heritage and culture.

Artlink Central - An arts agency established in 1988 working across Central Scotland.

Articles, Letters and Opinion:

Stirling Likes to Spend on Roads, Not Culture - Fantastic a-n article on the cuts by Kevin Harrison.

Letter from Peter Russell - Peter Russell writes beautifully on the fall-out from the 21/02/13 Stirling Council meeting.

Email From A Concerned Artist - an anonymously written email voicing concern on the closure of The Changing Room. Written a few days before the 21/02/13 meeting.

Stirling Council Plan to Close The Changing Room Gallery - a blog post by myself written on 20/02/13

Change - a blog post by Stirling artist RueFive written on 21/02/13.

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If I've missed anything you feel is important, let me know on Twitter or leave a comment below.

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"In terms of what you say about the arts and culture agenda in Stirling District, I do not think that the changes we will propose will have a huge impact, in fact when you get beyond the headlines they will actually help. The changing room gallery is not particularly well attended and the promotion of new and developing talent is far better tackled through supporting Creative Stirling to achieve their ends (hopefully doing something with the old town jail). The Council's promotion of it's own gallery leads to independent operators being crowded out.

The Tolbooth reduction is a 10% reduction in the net overall budget.

That is to say an expectation of reduced losses from £520k to £470k per year. This will be for the tolbooth management to manage, but the way that the centre has been run as a venue cannot continue in the long term - the simple fact is that we cannot afford it. The cultural programme must become more viable at the tolbooth and in the Albert Halls.

The outreach and workshop work that is undertaken by cultural services is not inherently linked to the tolbooth and could easily be provided in other spaces. In a district the size of Stirling it is imperative that our cultural offering is available to as wide a geography as possible. 

Personally I think that the combined running costs of our arts venues holds back the amount we can invest in the arts agenda. I have said a few times that the cultural agenda should be run by artists, although funded by the council and this cannot be achieved with so much of our budget wrapped up in bricks and mortar. It is worthwhile pointing out that Stirling Council spends quite significant amounts of money on culture, but because our venues are so expensive to run it precludes funding of the kind of developments like the open studios. The way that we have a vested interest in promoting our own galleries and performance spaces also mean that we are less open to the idea of promoting other venues. 

I am trying to change this through the cultural review, which is mentioned elsewhere in the budget resolution. 

I hope this gives a bit of background to my thinking behind the budget resolution and proposals for change in the culture budget. I am always aware of the signals that are being sent out, but I also believe that fear of sending out bad signals is stopping us from having the kind of cultural offering in Stirling that we should have. It's not about Council run buildings absorbing cash, but it should be about artists. "

Stirling Councillor Neil Benny, 21/02/13
(Email: bennyn@stirling.gov.uk / Tel: 0845 277 7000) 

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Please visit the Changing Room page on Facebook for further info / discussion. Kirsteen Macdonald has also set up a Stirling Council Meeting event page which has details and comment on the 21/02/13 meeting in Stirling. Comments can also be left below or on Twitter using the hashtag: #stirlingarts.

My feelings on the matter.

From How Children Learn by David Galletly and Ruefive at The Changing Room 2009. Photo: Ruefive

Stirling Council are proposing closure of The Changing Room (Central Scotland's only contemporary art gallery and one of Scotland's best) in a vote tomorrow evening (Thursday 21st Feb) as part of cuts to key arts organisations across the city. This is horrible news and I hope that it doesn't happen.

A city without an art gallery? A city without an art gallery*? Are you kidding me? Who the hell wants to live there? That's embarrassing. That's like living in a city without a library or somewhere to hear music or to see films - nobody should be taking a place like that seriously. Yuck.

The Changing Room is a wonderful space. Located in the Tolbooth, Stirling's cultural hub, it has seen work by new artists, established artists, local artists and world-bloody-famous artists over the 15+ years it has been open. It has given countless volunteers some amazing experience behind-the-scenes and losing it would be a terrible blow to a lot of people (meaning all of bloomin' Scotland).

This email from a concerned artist covers the matter more eloquently than I can, what with me being a dumbo and all.

Jeez, the Tolbooth should be Stirling's shining light - a venue, gallery and meeting place right in the heart of the city. It's a beautiful building and something that every resident can be proud of. Alongside the MacRobert and our C ticket tourist attractions, it sets Stirling apart from other boring little towns. For the small amount it costs to run, it brings so much life and excitement to the city. Removing the art gallery only gives people more reason not to visit. Christ, it should be getting more funding, more promotion, more reasons for people to pay attention to Stirling, if anything.

Sideshow by David Galletly at The Changing Room 2007.

I first became involved with The Changing Room through its previous Visual Arts Development Officer (and all-round superstar), Kirsteen Macdonald. At the time, the gallery was in an amazing space in Stirling's Old Arcade and I was fortunate enough to exhibit my work in the location's strange little entranceway. More recently, after the gallery moved to the Tolbooth, I collaborated with another Stirling-born artist, RueFive on a show we called How Children Learn. I also volunteered and helped out at the space whenever I could for a good few years and the experience I gained was absolutely vital to my current career as a professional artist and illustrator. Emma Hamilton, the current Visual Arts Development Officer (also an all-round superstar) does some amazing work.

Despite having lived in Glasgow for a few years now, I always go to great lengths to big up Stirling whenever I get the chance. I love the place. It's home. As a professional artist who is, y'know, working in the world, I do in some way feel like I'm out there representing my home town. As the years go on, however, and as more and more stupid decisions like this are made it's becoming increasingly difficult to take the city seriously as anything other than a collection of shops. That's a tricky thing to talk about with any enthusiasm.

I'm not sure what, if anything, can be done to help the situation at this stage, but it's worth a shot. If you know and love the Changing Room (or even if you just know it's important that places like it exist), stir up a stink - tell as many people as you possibly can about how important the gallery is and what a horrible kick in the teeth to Stirling (and to Scotland's culture as a whole) losing it will be. The vote happens tomorrow so, y'know, you kinda need to do something RIGHT NOW. Go. Now. Stop reading. NOW. No, you hang up first. No, YOU hang up first. You. No, you. You. Go. Now.

Now!

Your best bet (I think. Again, I'm a dumbo) is to do as the above email says and contact Stirling Council Chief Executive, local councillors, MPs, MSPs, press and Cultural Services Directors before Thursday evening to let your concerns be known. Keep your eye on The Changing Room Facebook page Any blog posting / tweeting / sharing / shouting / word spreading surely can't hurt either. If any further important info comes to light, I'll update this post as soon as I can. You can leave comments below or grab me on Twitter if there's anything I've missed.

Update: Here's a wee list of Stirling Councillors and their contact details. Kirsteen has also created a Facebook event (that's a really good link for more info - Kirsteen knows what's up more than most) for tomorrow if you're interested in attending the meeting.

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With exactly 1 week to go until my show, 'Wee', opens at Recoat in Glasgow's West End, I've coloured* one of the featured drawings, 'Wrestlers', and made it into a wallpaper for your computer or portable device. It's a blatant marketing move (once the exhibition is over, I'll upload a version without the flags).

For best results, pick the size that matches your resolution:

iPhone / iPhone 5 / iPad / 1280x800 / 1440x900 / 1680x1050 / 1920x1200 / 2560x1440

As I've said before, all are welcome to the opening party for Wee (on Friday the 1st of February at 7pm). It should be a good laugh. There'll be free drink and a wander over to The Roxy 171 afterwards for a chat. Tell your friends! Share the info! Say hello! Make a night of it! There's also a Facebook group where you can publicly declare your attendance (should you wish) and have a look at all the beautiful people who have said they're coming along. More information about the show is available here.

Righto, better get back to work.

* The original drawing that'll be in the gallery is in black & white.

Wee will open on Friday the 1st of February at 7pm with a little launch party in the gallery. The event is open to all, provides free booze and should be good fun. If you can make it along, it'd totally make my day - say hello! Recoat openings are really friendly and a good chance to have a drink, a chat and a look at some work. Everyone usually heads to a pub afterwards too.

There's a Facebook Event for the show where you can find all the info, tell the world that you're coming along and share the details with your friends. If you're a real spread-the-word kinda person, feel free to use the above flyer anywhere you like (or don't, if you'd rather do something else) - cheers.

Over the coming weeks, I'll be providing updates and work-in-progress-y stuff here, on Twitter and on Instagram. Send me a tweet or get in touch if you have any questions or would like more info. Amy and Ali at Recoat are also more than happy to help, give them a shout at: info@recoatdesign.com

At-a-glance details:

Wee
by David Galletly

Opening party: Friday 1st February, 7-10pm
Runs: 2nd February - 3rd March 2013

Recoat Gallery
323 North Woodside Road,
Glasgow, G20 6ND

More info:
Wee on Facebook
@recoatgallery / @davidgalletly
recoatdesign.com / davidgalletly.com
info@recoatdesign.com

Today, on a New Years Day wander (happy New Year by the way) around Shawlands, Concetta took the above snap of Alex and I. Glasgow in January can be a little on the grey side but we tried our best.

Join in! #hidinginplainsight

I've started a new Flickr account, partly because of the recent Instagram debacle, partly because of their new app and partly because I'd started my old account with a username I don't much like anymore. If you have any interest in seeing what photos I take, gimmie a wee look.

A quick note on the Instagram thing - I was fairly vocal (for me at least) against their policy changes when they were first announced, not so much because I thought my crappy photos were going to end up in ads, but more as a knee-jerk reaction to another non-creepy app that I liked becoming a creepy app that I'd miss.

For now at least, I'm gonna stick with it. As I tweeted: I really like Instagram and I like Facebook (the creepiest of all creeps) too and I'll continue using both. If either makes me too uncomfortable, I'll stop.

Not a brave stance, but a stance nonetheless.

(I crosspost my Instagram photos to Flickr with a little IFTTT trickery so they've never really felt tied to any one place anyway.)

My favourite movie scare. Beautifully done.