work in progress

Work in progress, oil on canvas, 80 x 80 cm

I normally put images of finished work on this page but thought it might be interesting to include a piece that is still a ‘work in progress’.  I took this snap yesterday evening before leaving the studio and as I haven’t been down there today, this is exactly how the painting is right now.  I’ve been working on this piece for around four weeks, adding paint in fairly thick broad overlapping bands using mainly flat course brushes of 3 – 12 cm wide. The painting is now at the stage where I’m going to have to leave it for a while and just get on with other pieces …then in a few weeks I can get back to it and try and finish it.  Watch this space …if it doesn’t reappear ….you’ll know that instead of finishing it …I wrecked it!  All part of the process.

Related Posts:

1. ‘Winter patterns, Beinn Dorain’ – work in progress
2. ‘Work in progress – continued – Above Dalwhinnie’
3. Work in Progress – ‘Above Dalwhinnie’

'My old studio ....newly occupied'

It has been just over four months since I moved out of Studio E and into the bigger space in Studio J.  As I’ve said previously, it has actually taken me quite a while to get used to it.  I’ve had to move everything around to find the best use of the space ….and then learn where everything is!  I’m getting there though and starting to really enjoy having enough room to work on both acrylic and oil paintings at the same time and I’m not constantly tripping over things either.   That said, I do miss my old studio.  Being in the old part of the building it had a lot more character than the new space.  Its high ceiling and the old window overlooking the River Irvine and the salting beyond, made it a special place to work.

After I moved out of Studio E in late September, it remained empty despite the fact that the rent was low and on our returning from Germany in the first week of November my partner Anita said that she was going to apply for the lease if no one else was going to take it on.

Anita and I met almost 25 years ago at a time when she had just completed her Foundation Art Course and was about to head down to Carmarthen College to do a two year ceramic design course.  When she completed this in 1989, I quit the job I was doing and moved down to west Wales to join her.  We managed to find a great little cottage to rent in the beautiful little village of Laugharne but then both really struggled to find work.  A series of short lived jobs, cooking bar food at a time share place for me, being a waitress in a local restaurant for Nita ….and cleaning caravans on a Saturday morning for both of us ….well, it wasn’t too inspiring.  I was painting and drawing in the cottage and Nita was making small pieces in clay and then smoke firing them in a dustbin full of saw dust out in the back garden.

'My old studio ....newly occupied'

After about a year of this we took the plunge, found a studio (a converted pig sty two miles off the bus route on the side of a hill) and managed to get a grant to purchase a kiln and other equipment and materials …..and we became self employed.  We thought we could put Nita’s ceramic skills together with my more arty ones …and hopefully produce something good.  We were making ceramic jewellery that was just a little bit different …after firing them in a traditional kiln we then smoked them in the saw dust bin, leaving each individual item coloured and marked in a slightly different way.  Even though I say it myself, it was quite nice stuff but we didn’t have the money to promote or market it …and after a few years had to close and return to the more normal jobs …this time, garden centre for me, burger bar for Nita.

I was already struggling with my sight but continued to work at home on my drawing and painting.  Nita decided that she needed to retrain in a different profession and over the next few years qualified as a nurse.

Our move in 1998 from Wales to Scotland and to a slightly bigger house made a big difference.  At long last I had a decent space in which to paint and I was starting to regain confidence in what I was doing.  When I was offered a WASPS studio in 2003 though, this suddenly gave Nita the space to start doing some artwork again….and as time progressed she started to talk about getting another kiln and getting back to her ceramics again.  Just over a year ago, she decided to cut her hours at the hospital from full to part time (2 long twelve and a half hour shifts a week) and this allowed her to spend much more time doing her art work.  So then, the final piece fell into place when I moved studios back in October …now she not only had the time to get back to the ceramics but there was a perfect little studio just waiting to have a kiln fitted!

'My old studio ....newly occupied'

This has I have to admit been a long and rambling way of telling you that today after all this time, Nita has not only got her studio but the kiln too …the electrician arrived this morning to wire it all in ….she’s up and running!  It’s nice for me to see the little studio again and it’s already looking busy …I’m looking forward to see what she makes now that she not only has the time but the resources too.

Finally, last week I said that I’d been asked to hang a few pieces of work in one of Ayrshire’s top restaurants ….Braidwoods Restaurant, near Dalry.  This award winning restaurant now has four of my paintings on its walls and Nicola and Keith Braidwood kindly sent me some photos of a couple of the paintings in situ.   You can find out more about Braidwoods Restaurant by visiting their website: www.braidwoods.co.uk .

Braidwoods

Braidwoods

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‘Memories of rain, mist and melting snow, Beinn Chonzie, winter 2007’

‘Memories of rain, mist and melting snow, Beinn Chonzie, winter 2007’, Oil on canvas, 2012, 80 x 80 cm

Well then, this is the finished painting (still to be signed) that I’ve been working on for the last month or so.  It’s the first painting I’ve done using oil paint on canvas for a good few years.  The piece is based on a day back in 2007 when we walked Beinn Chonzie in pretty foul conditions.  The cloud was low and the wind was increasing as the day went by.  As we approached the final rise to the summit, it was pretty grim and we decided to give it a miss, choosing instead to walk around to gain some shelter from its steeper southern flanks.  There were the remains of some deep patches of snow here.  They were melting in what were relatively mild conditions but offered a place to sit and have our lunch.  It was a strange and bleak location especially as we were aware that the conditions were getting worse by the minute.  As we set off again and got back into the full force of the wind it was really wild …not a day for stopping to look for mountain hares!

Related Posts:

1. Back to Ben Chonzie
2. “Bracken, Beinn Dubh, Luss”
3. ‘Mists clearing Beinn Toaig’

Windfarm on Eaglesham Moor

Late …….it’s been a difficult week ending with me getting a nasty cold and feeling quite rough this last couple of days.  I had planned to get the blog etc written on Friday but everything seems to be taking me an age.  The week started off well though with a fine wander around the Eaglesham Moors, following the broad paths connecting all the wind turbines.  It was a very windy day but a mostly dry one with just a few short sharp showers.  We walked for about six and a half hours, with a couple of detours off the main tracks to take in a couple of low hills en route.   This was the first real outing for our friend Guy, who you may remember, broke his leg on the low hills above Largs last spring.  It’s taken a long time to heal fully and so this mainly level and gentle walk was an ideal starter to get his leg back into the habit of wearing boots.  I think he enjoyed himself and apparently he has had no adverse reactions from his leg.

Windfarm on Eaglesham Moor

Big problems though down at the studio …one of my colleagues has been told he’s lost his lease.  It’s all rather complicated but there has been much talking, listening and thinking being done….and not much work.  The tenant in question is a really dedicated artist and has been one of the regulars here for many years and has always been very active in promoting the studios.   It will be a great shame if he has to leave and the studios will, in my opinion, be poorer for it.  A majority of artists at the Courtyard have put a letter / petition together and will be sending this to WASPS to air our concerns about what has happened ….but as I say it’s all rather complicated so quite what the outcome will be is anyone’s guess.

Windfarm on Eaglesham Moor

I have been asked this week for work by three places in Ayrshire ….a new gallery in Ayr as part of a Courtyard Studio exhibition starting in May, a new gallery in Dalry…..and a top restaurant also near Dalry.  As I haven’t got much lined up this year it will be interesting to see how things work out.  Full details to come soon.

I am also working with a sculptor I met in Germany….Jürgen Fischer.  He works in bog oak and lived and worked in Ireland for eight years.  His stuff looks very good and very stylish …we reckon our two works would look good together and could make an interesting exhibition.  We’ve decided to see if we can organise two exhibitions …one in Germany…possibly Berlin and one in Scotland or Ireland.  I spent this morning putting together a CD of images and information for him to take when he starts seeking venues in Germany.  His work is quite big ..1.5 – 2m tall so we’ll need a good size venue.  I have a couple of places in mind for a show over here and will start making some enquiries fairly soon.  We’re thinking about trying to set these exhibitions up for 2013 or 2014.  A lot of work but it could be very interesting I think.

Finally, we had a very good and enjoyable preview for the ‘Six into 12 plus Hornel’, exhibition at the Dick Institute in Kilmarnock the other Friday.  Despite it being a cold and very wet evening, there was a great turn out and the gallery was busy for much of the two hour long preview.  I was delighted with how my work looked in such a big space …it held its own among what was a very strong selection of work by the other five artists.  Everyone seemed to be pleased with how it looked and went and so a big thank you to Kate Davies and her team at the Dick Institute and to East Ayrshire Council for supporting this group of Ayrshire based artists.  I’m planning to go for a proper look around soon (too much talking at previews) and will try and take a few more general photos of the exhibition then.

Preview of Six into 12, Dick Institute, Kilmarnock

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1. A week of work
2. A somewhat uneventful week!
3. A good week