'I like coming back because this is the place that made me who I am. In Scotland, people talk about "ma ain folk" — my own people — and these are ma ain folk around here, where I grew up. During the summer, the whole game of picking up girls was played out during the day. There was the bingo, the fairground, the promenade...
'I don't know how many summers I spent by the waltzers, looking at the girls. The game was being played around the clock. The game of life and love is played out on the beaches because that's where you go to fall in love. It is a place where courtship takes place.
'Leven was a lovely place to grow up. People don't realise how breathtaking the beaches are — it's 45 minutes away on the train from Edinburgh and yet you feel like you are in a faraway land. Leven Beach is famously long and is not only stunningly beautiful but there is always lots going on. You can tell how much I love the beaches from my early paintings such as 'The Billy Boys' and 'The Singing Butler'. People just seemed to respond to the imagery and the romance of couples dancing on the sands.
'What I like is the fact that you can see everyone from different walks of life on Leven Beach — families, couples, and teens just starting out together. Although I have a studio in Nice because the light there is just incredible, nothing beats Leven for me.
'I'm very indebted to this part of the world because it was what formed the man and gave me such a reservoir of material to draw from. There is something about being Scottish that makes you want to hang onto your roots. When the plane comes up past North Berwick and turns, you see the Fife coastline quite clearly, and that does make you feel a certain pride. Its beauty still amazes me and I can't help but start to remember the past. My paintings may have moved on from beach scenes, but the memories of days gone by still keep me going.'
jackvettriano.com
