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Archive for the ‘Artwork of the Week’ Category

‘Quartzite screes, Arkle, Sutherland’

Posted by admin on July 8th, 2012
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‘Quartzite screes, Arkle, Sutherland’

‘Quartzite screes, Arkle, Sutherland’, Acrylic & Pastel, 2012, 30 x 30 cm

About a month ago I received an email from a gentleman in London asking if I had any paintings of Ben Arkle in Sutherland.  Of course, at the time I didn’t have anything suitable and as it was to be given as a present I suggested he try a colleague who I knew had painted this hill a few years ago.  It certainly made me think though, as Nita and I had walked to the southern top of this fine hill on our last holiday in Assynt ….May 2011.  The hills in this part of NW Scotland are wild and rugged and most of their upper slopes are covered in very light coloured quartzite screes.  On the day we were on Arkle we had a mixture of bright sun and occasional heavy dark showers.  In the sunny spells the quartzite blocks covering the slopes shone brightly.  At the time, although conditions were pretty good for walking, there was a very strong wind blasting across the tops and it certainly wasn’t good for sitting and doing any sketching!  Indeed, there was virtually no shelter on the open tops …we had to crouch down behind the small cairn and put on extra hats and coats.  Anyway, I did take a lot of photos while on the walk and I had planned to try and do some paintings from them …but never got around to it.  So then, this email got me thinking and last weekend I started a small 30 x 30 cm painting based on one of the images I took on Arkle.  This view is one looking across to the main summit ridge of Arkle from the broad stone covered slopes of its southern top.

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‘Overlooking Strath Earn, October’

Posted by admin on June 30th, 2012

38 'Overlooking Strath Earn, October', Acrylic & Pastel, 76 x 23 cm

‘Overlooking Strath Earn, October’, Acrylic & Pastel, 2010, 76 x 23 cm

This is one of the paintings I’ve just delivered to The Gallery on the Corner in Edinburgh.  I did this piece about 18 months ago after a walk we did on the hills above Loch Turret in Perthshire.  It turned out to be a perfect autumn day and as we made our way back to the car we took the opportunity to walk out to a small point that was marked by a wee cairn.  It was worth the half hour detour as beyond this point the ground dropped away sharply and you looked out over the broad Strath Earn.  It was a beautiful and very tranquil scene as the shadows lengthened in the late afternoon light.  For more details of The Gallery on the Corner in Edinburgh, click on the link at the side of this page.

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‘From Beinn a’ Chrulaiste, March’

Posted by admin on June 23rd, 2012
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'From Beinn a' Chrulaiste, March'

‘From Beinn a’ Chrulaiste, March’, Acrylic & Pastel, 2012, 30 x 30 cm

This is a small quick painting I did last week using quite thin coats of acrylic and quick scribbled pastel lines.  The painting was more an attempt to figure out how I might do a larger piece based on this view.  I may though, do a couple more quick pieces along similar lines before attempting a bigger painting.

Anyway,  this is a view looking across the glen from the slopes of Beinn a’ Chrulaiste towards the face of Buachaille Etive Mor ….on this occasion, just breaking clear of the early morning mists that had been shrouding all the hills an hour earlier.  This was back in March on a particularly fine day.  It had been quite dry and it was too early in the year for much in the way of new growth …so everywhere was a mix of yellows and browns …very little green around at all.

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‘A frozen February afternoon, Beinn an Dothaidh’

Posted by admin on June 16th, 2012

 

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'A frozen February afternoon, Beinn an Dothaidh'

‘A frozen February afternoon, Beinn an Dothaidh’, Acrylic & Pastel, 2012, 80 x 80 cm

I’ve just, (I think) completed this painting after working on it ‘on and off’ for several months.  It is based on a view we had a few years ago as we made our way below Beinn an Dothaidh and back to the car after a superb winter walk.  We had traversed the hill in almost perfect winter conditions with the snow good and perfect for crampons.

I did a small 30 x 30 cm painting of this scene sometime after the walk but decided more recently to try and tackle the subject on a larger scale.  This is the result.

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Sutherland coastline sketches

Posted by admin on June 8th, 2012
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'Sutherland coastline, sketch'

 

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'Sutherland coastline, sketch'

‘Sutherland coastline sketches’, Pen, 2012, 210 x 148 mm

As many of you will know, we’ve not that long returned from two weeks in Sutherland.  We were staying in a small converted croft on the north coast not far from Betty Hill.  The croft was situated a few hundred metres from the top of the cliffs and looked out over the Pentland Firth.  The coastline at this point is very dramatic and on a couple of occasions (when the wind wasn’t blowing too hard) we walked down to a spot where you could overlook this amazing scene.  These are a couple of very quick sketches I did as I sat one afternoon watching the huge waves crash and batter the cliffs.  It took me back 30 years to my time spent at Falmouth School of Art in Cornwall.   We sometimes went over to the north coast and worked above the huge cliffs of West Penwith.  I enjoyed doing these drawings the other week and it has certainly made me think I may have to do some more coastal work….we have some great coastline in Ayrshire.

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‘Towards Beinn Toaig, winter’

Posted by admin on June 1st, 2012
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‘Towards Beinn Toaig, winter’

‘Towards Beinn Toaig, winter’, Acrylic & Pastel, 2011, 80 x 80 cm

I’m using this painting for the ‘Artwork of the Week’ as I’ve just delivered it (along with four other paintings) to The Strathearn Gallery in Crieff. The paintings will be included in the Summer Exhibition at the gallery. Full details of the exhibition can be found by following the link at the side of this page.

‘Towards Beinn Toaig, winter’, is based on a glimpsed view of the hill one winter morning. The cloud was breaking off of the top of the snow topped hill and the colours and patterns were very striking. This is quite a bold version of this view….I used large brushes and quite heavy paint. It is one of my favourites and so I reckon it’s worth your while getting along to see it if you can!!

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‘Evening, from Beinn a’ Chrulaiste, late March’

Posted by admin on May 25th, 2012
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‘Evening, from Beinn a’ Chrulaiste, late March’

‘Evening, from Beinn a’ Chrulaiste, late March’, Oil on Canvas, 2012, 80 x 80 cm

This is one of the paintings I was working on before I left for Sutherland.  I posted several images of it on my Face Book page …to show the various stages the painting went through.  I finally finished it a couple of days before going on holiday and so it was an anxious wait until I returned to the studio ….to see if I was still happy with it!  Thankfully I was and so this is the final version.  Based on the day we had on Beinn a’ Chrulaiste back in March, it simply tries to capture the colours of the hillside in the early evening light.  This painting is currently available direct from my studio, unframed canvas £995, and framed £1095.  For further information please contact me on 07742 437425.

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‘Canisp, Assynt’

Posted by admin on May 17th, 2012
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‘Canisp, Assynt’

‘Canisp, Assynt’, Acrylic & Pastel, 2006, 30 x 30 cm

Another venture into the Northern Highlands with this week’s piece…..a few years old this painting and an early attempt to mix the pastel scribbles with the paint in a more abstract way.  Very loosely based on Canisp from one of the small lochs tucked below it, this was quite a strange little piece but one that received a lot of attention and sold quite quickly too.  As I’ve said previously, I’ll not be taking paints with me on this years trip north but will, hopefully, collect and bring back lots of sketches, photos and ideas that I can use for new paintings on my return to the studio.

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‘Assynt coast line’

Posted by admin on May 11th, 2012
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‘Assynt coast line’

‘Assynt coast line’, Pen, 2009, 28 x 21 cm

Another small piece from up north. I’m hoping that I’ll get some really interesting views from close by where we’re staying this year.  According to the information we received about the cottage we’ve rented, the cliffs start at the bottom of the field below the cottage.  With a bit of luck I’ll be able to wander a short distance from the door and sit down and start sketching.  It could be a very pleasant way of spending the evenings ….at this time of year it stays light very late and so I should be able to do some drawing for a short while after we’ve eaten and cleared up.  Of course, this is the north coast of Scotland we’re talking about  so it may very well be blowing a gale each evening …and I’ll have to stay inside listening to my talking book and sipping a bottle of beer …it would be quite a hardship …but one I’m sure I can bare!

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‘Assynt sky-line’

Posted by admin on May 3rd, 2012
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'Assynt, sky-line'

‘Assynt sky-line’, Pencil, 2009, 46 x 36 cm

I am sure I’ve shown this drawing before as my artwork of the week but it was a drawing I always liked and it does have a tenuous link in that we’ll be heading back up north for a break soon.  We’re not going to Assynt again this year, but a little further north …well, about as far as you can go north on the mainland!  We’ve rented a small cottage right on the coast not far from Bettyhill.  It looks a wonderful spot on the map and it is going to offer some very different walking country to that of Assynt.  When we go I’ll not be taking paints with me, just sketch books and an array of pencils, graphite sticks and pens.  I’m hoping to get some very different drawings done ….of the coast line and the wild and large horizons of the flow country.  It will of course as usual, all depend on what the weather is like while we’re there.   So then, I’ll be keeping my fingers crossed for a dry few weeks and with a bit of luck I’ll come back with some future ‘artworks of the week’! In the meantime, I hope you enjoy seeing this piece once again.

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    E-mail: keith@keithsalmon.org