Ruskin Lane Consulting Autumn 2013 | Page 41

MEMBERS AREA SPOTLIGHT Tom and Audrey Gardner, Strathclyde Group “For he’s a jolly good fellow...” ...and so said all of us, as we celebrated the 90th birthday of Tom Gardner in Harrogate on the National Study Tour. Tom has long been a stalwart supporter of the AHSS, and behind every great man, is a redoubtable woman. Audrey Gardner is a Vice President of the Society, and has chaired the Strathclyde Cases Panel with distinction, expertise and quiet good humour for many years. Together, they make an impressive team, and their contribution, year in, year out, to the work of the Society deserves wider recognition. Tom and Audrey were founder members of the Strathclyde Group in the early 1970s, when Frank Walker was the first Chairman. Those early meetings took place in the Abacus Room in the Architecture Department of Strathclyde University. Tom had originally wanted to be an architect, but poor eye-sight prevented him from following that route, although his interest in the built environment is evident throughout his life, in his paintings, and involvement with the AHSS. Tom and Audrey met in first year at Glasgow School of Art, but Audrey points out with a chuckle that "we didn't get going until third year!” They were married in 1946, and Tom taught art in Stirlingshire "travelling by bus through the snow of the terrible winter of '46 – the snow continued into June", whilst Audrey began her teaching career in the Gorbals. In 1953, their first son Thomas was born, and Colin arrived in 1956. Meanwhile, in addition to their normal teaching duties, Tom and Audrey were teaching the Saturday morning children's classes at the Glasgow School of Art, something Tom continued for 40 years. “It was marvellous going into that building every Saturday – the thrill of it never ceased”. In a different age as regards security, the only lock on the Art School main door was a single mortice lock, which Tom diligently secured after the Saturday sessions. In the last twenty years before their retirements, Tom taught at Jordanhill and Audrey at Park School. Both continued their painting activities over the years, Audrey concentrating on portraits (two of her portraits were recently used by a film company in Melbourne as part of a film set), and Tom on his distinctive architectural paintings. His work was recognised earlier this year in an exhibition supported by David and Anne Mulhern, in the Billiards Room of the The Willow Tea Rooms in Sauchiehall Street in Glasgow. Entitled ‘Through a lens of the imagination’, the exhibition celebrated Tom's “rapport with Charles Rennie Mackintosh – many of Tom's works reflect Mackintosh's buildings and his love of colour and style. While techniques could be taught, imagination cannot...Tom's works reflect this, with his paintings liberating shape and colour”. Tom's lively personality, and instinctive rebellion against authority, led to his founding the Scottish Art Teachers Association, demanding, and achieving, graduate status for art teachers. He successfully led a move to preserve a park in Hyndland, in Glasgow, which was going to be built over to make a kitchen for the nearby school. This led to the area being given Conservation Area status, and the forming of a Hyndland Residents' Association, which still flourishes. Both Tom and Audrey are still “very concerned about the continuing threats to the built environment – and we are committed to the Society and its future”. Their example, and youthful enthusiasm, remain an inspiration to us all! AUTUMN 2013 Hamish McPherson I THE ARCHITECTURAL HERITAGE SOCIETY OF SCOTLAND I 41