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IN the 11 years since she left her native Sydney, Jennifer MacLean has
only once experienced homesickness. Not, surprisingly, for the beach 'n'
barbie attractions of Oz but for the tiny hamlet of Butterstone, near
Dunkeld in Perthshire, where she lives with her husband,
singer-songwriter Dougie MacLean, and their two children.
''We spent four months in Australia,'' she recalls. ''Dougie was
working there, and it was a great chance to go back to see my folks.
There I was, surrounded by all my family, when suddenly I realised how
much I was missing Perthshire.''
The Old School and Schoolhouse in Butterstone, which they recently
bought and converted, is more than just home base for Jennifer and
Dougie. From here, they also run Dunkeld Records, recording and
distributing albums, cassettes and CDs of not only Dougie's music but of
an increasing roster of Scottish folk singers and musicians.
''It's a real family business,'' says Jennifer. ''Dougie looks after
the musical side and I do all the rest.'' This includes administration
work, dealing with distributors, publishing, and the 101 other tasks
which major record companies employ huge staffs to manage. Jennifer also
acts as Dougie's agent and recently tour-managed a trip to the USA by a
group of Dunkeld Records artists.
The fact that they chose to set up in an old school -- the one Dougie
went to as a boy -- is not inappropriate: ''It has been, and continues
to be, a learn-as-we-go process,'' says Jennifer, ''but I get great
satisfaction out of seeing something through from an idea to the
finished article.''
If Jennifer's behind-the-scenes role seems part of the less glamorous
end of the music business, there is a side to her work which is much
more visible: her beautiful watercolour paintings which adorn the
sleeves of each of the Dunkeld Records releases.
''When we first started, having just moved up from Norfolk, we were
living in a cottage called Craigie Dhu. Dougie had recorded an album and
we didn't have the money to put it out. He went off on tour and when he
came back my sister had agreed to lend us the money we needed.''
Jennifer's sister had intended buying a new coffee machine for her
restaurant with this money but she had faith in the album.
''While Dougie had been away, I had also done a painting of the
cottage, so we decided to put that on the cover and call the album
Craigie Dhu.''
The gamble paid off. Within six months they had sold enough copies to
enable them to repress the record. ''We were also able to pay back my
sister, of course; but for a long time my family referred to that album
as the coffee machine record.''
Although not a trained artist, Jennifer has exhibited her watercolours
in Brazil, Holland, Germany, and Australia. She began painting seriously
while living in the tiny fishing village of Parepueria in northern
Brazil.
Having graduated from Sydney University with a degree in Fine Arts,
she taught for four years before the typically Australian urge to travel
gripped her. ''I travelled through Peru and Bolivia to Brazil. When I
found this village, it was so beautiful that I decided to settle for a
while.''
She stayed there alone for 10 months and, inspired by the remoteness
of it, began to paint the things around her.
When the time came to move on, she continued her travels in Europe,
visiting Spain and Portugal before finally arriving in England. She took
a job at Norwich Arts Centre, organising workshops and exhibitions, and
there she met Dougie when he came to play a concert.
''I'd only been to Scotland briefly but I'd liked what I'd seen. We
decided that we should settle near Dougie's roots.''
Her liking for her adopted home is obvious from Jennifer's paintings
of the countryside around Butterstone which, apart from their use as
cover art for the records, are popular as prints in their own right.
With two young children to look after as well as a thriving business
to run, when does she get the time to paint?
''I find painting very relaxing, so after 10 at night, when the
children are in bed and the phone has stopped ringing, I'll just sit and
paint, sometimes until three in the morning if the mood takes me.''
Jennifer has several projects to keep her busy these nights, including
the cover for a book of Dougie's songs and a painting for the Loch Ness
Exhibition, for which Dougie has composed the music. ''Obviously I like
having people buy my pictures, but even if they didn't sell, I'd still
paint because I enjoyed it. I've always thought that getting paid for
doing your hobby is the ideal lifestyle, no matter where you choose to
live.''
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