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Archive for the ‘Brazil’ Category

10 hours of quiet after 2 weeks of running around!

It has been an exceedingly busy last couple of weeks and to be honest I’ve been struggling to get everything done that has needed to be done. … hence the lack of a blog recently.  I spent a lot of time getting all the work ready for my exhibition at “the gallery on the corner” in Edinburgh that opened on 7th August.  In the end I took 24 framed pieces along with 9 small unframed graphite sketches.  It’s amazing just how much time it takes getting everything into frames and wrapped.  Even making the labels is a very time consuming business although I was luckily able to sub contract this and other computer based jobs to my unpaid assistant and partner Nita.  Without her help with these projects, I don’t know how long it would take me to get everything done.  We got it all completed and on the morning of Saturday 1st August we packed it all into the car and headed across to Edinburgh.   It was such a relief when the work was in the gallery and I could pass on responsibility for the show to assistant gallery manager Paul Penrice and his assistants.  They did a wonderful job of hanging the work and the gallery looked great when we arrived for the preview the following Friday evening.  The exhibition continues until August 29th so you have plenty of time to get along there if you live in or are visiting the city.

Other jobs have included visiting the Isle of Arran Distillery, (I know, it’s a tough job but somebody has to do it!)….. in order to finalise arrangements for exhibiting the big Glen Rosa drawing there in September and October.  Everything appears to be on track with this project and I’m really looking forward to going over with the work on 1st September.   As this is the final part of the story about this drawing project, Dan Thornton and his assistant Cindy are returning to Scotland from Seattle at the end of the month in order to film the drawing going to Arran.  This will be the final part of the documentary Dan is making and then it all comes down to getting the hours and hours of film he has taken over the last two years, edited.  This is not just an important part of the process; it’s also quite an expensive one.  As such, Dan and his colleagues have been working on a promotional ‘Seed & Spark’ campaign to help promote awareness of the film and to raise some of the funds needed to complete it.  Details of this campaign along with a link to the short trailer Dan has made can be found on the homepage of this website.  I also had 500 flyers printed with the same information and Nita and I spent a day last week distributing them around venues in Ayrshire and Arran.  Anyway, please check it out and please spread the word!    Thank you.

Along with all this, Nita and I are spending quite a bit of time helping to organise this years Open studios Weekend at the Courtyard Studios.  It’s looking like it should be a good one this year with all 17 artists taking part.  There is a really excellent group of artists working here at present and there is a wide range of top quality work being produced here, including paintings, photography, drawings, ceramics, music, hand book-binding and jewellery.  The event takes place on Saturday 3rd and Sunday 4th October 2015 and will also include collaboration with the Harbour Arts Centre where we’ll be holding a group exhibition to celebrate 21 years of artistic practise at the Courtyard.  I’ll be posting full details of these events nearer the time ….but for now …just pencil in the dates!

There have been lots of other things happening recently, all taking up much needed painting time.  There is good news on two of the most important projects.  The Brazil commissions got bogged down somewhat since I completed the work at the end of February.  Difficulties arose with shipping the artwork to Brazil and over the last five and a half months Nita and I have spent hours it seems writing emails in order to resolve this.  It has been a bit tiring but I’m pleased to say things are starting to happen…..so then, watch this space!  The other project related to the big Glen Rosa drawing, was the planned production of a full size reproduction that was to be sited in the centre of Irvine.  Well, as you may have seen from my Facebook page….. the work is now finished and sited.  It was great going to see it the other evening and if you’re in Irvine or travelling on one of the many buses entering and exiting the town …do look out for it.  My thanks must go to Lesley Forsyth at North Ayrshire Council for first coming up with the idea and then bringing it to a successful conclusion.

As I say, it’s been a hectic time and on Thursday last week we were both feeling pretty worn out.   With a fine weather forecast we decided that we just had to get out into the wilds and have a day relaxing.  We went to Glen Coe and spent 10 hours wandering around some of these fabulous mountains.  We only saw two other walkers all day and although our legs were sore at the end, it was a very much needed rest.  No more words about it…. here are a few quiet and calming photos instead.

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On the north side of Glen Coe

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Towards Am Bodach from P.907m

Scottish mountains

Am Bodach and Glen Coe from our lunch spot

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Towards sron Garbh …. our final top of the day

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Ben Nevis from the summit of Sron Garbh

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Getting back to normal

Back paintingWith one thing and another, it’s been a strange last few months. The last walk we did was way back on September 21st when we walked Beinn Odhar in beautifully hazy autumn weather. Then we had the annual Open Studios Weekend while at the same time we were madly negotiating to go down to Brazil. A few days later on the 9th October we flew down to Sao Paulo and had five very hectic days working in the heat. Following that, I became unwell and had a strange and rather alarming 11 days in hospital while Nita kept everything going for me in the way of preparations for the Harbour Arts Centre exhibition and the big Glen Rosa drawing project. Dan Thornton and Cindy Apple came over from Seattle to film the start of the project and I got straight into it still far from recovered from the illness. I finished the big drawing after 17 days , (ahead of schedule) and this allowed me to start work on the Brazil commissions. Between the end of the big drawing and the start of the New Year I worked on several preliminary pastel drawings and a whole number of small line sketches, ready to start the four paintings. Christmas came and went especially as Nita was working Christmas Eve and Day and so I just followed suit ….. strangely it was very pleasant being down the studio on Christmas Day. Finally started the Brazil paintings on 31st December 2014 and have been working on them ever since, with days off to dismantle the HAC exhibition work and the big drawing …..after of course we’d had the “End view” of the exhibition on January 8th.

Phew! It’s certainly been quite a tiring time but despite that the work side of it has been very enjoyable. It’s been particularly nice getting back to using the paints again and I’ve put quite a lot of time into the first and largest of the Brazil paintings. It’s coming on quite well now although still a lot of work to do to sort it out. Two of the small 30 x 30 cm paintings are under way too with another one about to be started. There is no official dead-line as far as I know but we have a verbal agreement, made on the final afternoon in Sao Paulo and I’ve agreed to get the four paintings completed by the end of February. It’s quite a tight dead-line but not impossible and in deed, it’s quite good having something to focus my mind on …..no loafing around for the next few weeks! If time allows, I’m also hoping to start a new 80 x 80 cm acrylic and pastel painting based on our walk up Lochnagar last summer ……this hopefully ready for my exhibition at the John Muir Trust ‘Wild Space’ in Pitlochry in May and June.

So then, it’s good to be getting back to normal …..whatever that is of course!

Finally, back blogging again!

“In sun, snow mist and rain”
An exhibition and drawing project by Keith Salmon
Harbour Arts Centre, Irvine. 28th November 2014 – 9th January 2015

Well then, it’s been a good few weeks since my last blog and I can only apologise. I occasionally miss an odd week but in over four years have never missed 5 weeks on a row! As anyone who follows my Face Book page, Keith Salmon – Scottish Landscape Artist will know, I became unwell while away in Brazil at the start of October and unfortunately got worse on my return to Scotland. It ended up with me in hospital for 11 days and it’s been a slow recovery since getting home…..hence no blog! A very big thanks to all the staff on ward 3F at Crosshouse Hospital…..they looked after me so well.

Anyway, I’m getting back to normal now although playing catch-up with all the plans for my exhibition and drawing project at the Harbour Arts Centre ……opening on Thursday evening, 27th November, 7pm – 9pm. Of course, of course, Nita took up the reins while I was in hospital and kept everything on course for me. Thankfully all the paintings were ready and it was the organisational side, emails, getting the posters and invitation printed and out…….etc, that needed doing. She did a great job and I’m expecting a hefty bill when her invoice comes in!!!! So then, a big thank you to her for all the work she has done for me over the last six weeks ……as well as visiting me twice daily while I was in the hospital. I think she is more exhausted than I am. I think I need to buy her some chocolate or something!

The exhibition, containing I think, 31 paintings, was hung on Thursday last week. It was a little earlier than planned as Joe and Graham who normally hang the exhibitions at the HAC are both on holiday this week. They did an excellent job and I’m very pleased with the way it all looks and have already had some good comments from visitors to the centre. The big 4.5 m x 1.5m piece of paper is up on the wall and ready for me to start work on the Glen Rosa drawing. Having a few days extra now, I’ve decided to start work on it a little early……tomorrow in fact. This will be quite good for the preview though as it’ll mean there will be the start of the drawing for people to see, rather than a big blank piece of paper. I can’t wait to start ….it’s really exciting.

We’ll be making short time lapse recordings of each days work and these will go up on-line. I haven’t the full details yet but will post this information ASAP. I’ll make sure we have a link from my website to the footage so that anyone not living close by can follow the progress of the drawing. Of course I’ll not be working there every day as I want to start doing a bit of walking again. I lost well over a stone in weight and all my hard work at getting fit over the last 10 months has gone with the illness. I’ll probably start with a couple of low level walks to get the legs back into action before thinking about going up a hill again. I’ll no doubt keep you up to date with all the agonies of getting fit again!!

Right then, I do hope some of you can get along to the Preview on Thursday evening or manage to call into the Harbour Arts Centre to see the exhibition and the big drawing at some point over the next month or so. I look forward to meeting you. Please help spread the word ….thank you.

Keith Salmon Harbour Arts Centre Exhibition 2014

Keith Salmon Harbour Arts Centre Exhibition 2014

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Back in Scotland…..and painting again…..take 2!

I actually wrote this blog yesterday evening but after 3 hours my computer crashed and I somehow lost the whole document! So here we go again.

Well then, that’s us back in sunny Scotland and back to business as usual at the studio. We arrived back from Brazil after a very long journey, at about 01.00 last Thursday morning. Wow, quite a trip, especially as only about two weeks before I been bumbling along getting work ready for the Harbour Arts Centre show in November and planning the big studio tidy-up before the Courtyard Studios Open Weekend on 4th / 5th October.

On the initial tour of the Matarazzo Hospital exhibition

On the initial tour of the Matarazzo Hospital exhibition

Then, right out of the blue I get an email from a company in Brazil asking if I can get down to Sao Paulo for a few days before October 12th. To be honest, I didn’t really know quite what to make of it as sadly there are a lot of internet scams aimed at artists these days. I decided to send it to John who not only does all the admin for this website but also acts as my agent and advisor. He very kindly checked it out and got back to me the next day saying that all was OK and that if I was prepared to rush down to Sao Paulo at short notice, he’d try and fix everything with the people in Brazil.

Sketching the old buildings

Sketching the old buildings

Well, it was a hectic few days with emails winging there way back and forth between John, (who is based in Bogota), Lucila (the lady organising the trip in Sao Paulo) and I. Finally on Tuesday 7th we got the email from Brazil saying all was “go” and that they’d be booking the flights and hotel and getting back to us. Things in the Salmon / Groves house were somewhat crazy at this stage as we suddenly had to get everything arranged to go away the following evening ….Nita had to arrange time off from work, we had to get the cat to the cattery, (he wasn’t amused) and we also had to get everything packed. In the end the flight left Edinburgh at 06.00 Thursday morning and so it wasn’t quite as mad a rush as we’d thought ….but pretty mad all the same!

In the Matarazzo Hospital

In the Matarazzo Hospital

I had been invited to travel to Sao Paulo to take part in a large arts project in the city. The project involves creating a new art, culture and tourism centre on the site of the old un-used Matarazzo hospital. Before the work starts though it had been decided that they would hold a large contemporary art exhibition in the grounds and buildings of this fine old hospital. The exhibition ended on Sunday 12th October and one of the sponsors thought it would be a great idea to invite a professional artist who was visually impaired to visit the exhibition and to then create a small series of paintings capturing the spirit of the place and work. I was the lucky person to be invited.

A quick hop took us to Amsterdam and then we had the eleven and a half hour haul down to Sao Paulo. Phew, was I glad to get off that plane or what?! Thankfully we were met by a very nice chap called Gilsom who drove us the 45 minutes into the city and our hotel.

Friday proved a very busy one as we met up with a representative of the company sponsoring my trip (Absolut Elyx) and were then given a guided tour around the exhibition…..being followed the whole way by a small film crew who were there to record the meeting for the company. The afternoon found me being interviewed for one of the Sao Paulo daily newspapers. After that I was able to get down to some work and expertly guided as usual by Nita, I spent the rest of Friday and a good chunk of Saturday and Monday wandering around the exhibition, just looking, photographing, sketching and just taking everything in ….in short, doing exactly what I do when we’re in the hills. After 4 hours in very hot conditions on Monday (it was 38° C) I decided that I’d probably got enough to work with and we retreated to the cool of our very posh air conditioned hotel ….and finished with a cold beer!

One of the many exhibits

One of the many exhibits

We flew back the following day, but with a nine hour wait in Paris for the connecting flight to Edinburgh ….hence the 01.00 arrival home in Irvine on Thursday morning. Suffice to say that we were a little whacked by the time we finally put our heads down and only surfaced mid morning for an hour or so in order to go claim our cat back from the cattery…….he wasn’t amused!

It’s hard to believe that we’ve been all the way to Brazil and back ….perhaps it was just a dream? But no! We have the packet of Brazil nuts from the hotel mini-bar to prove it! Now the interesting bit begins…..I have five paintings to complete by late February.

I have my attention back on the Harbour Arts Centre exhibition and the big drawing project there in November / December, but reckon I’ll probably do the smaller Brazil paintings in the evenings after I’ve finished the days work on the big graphite drawing. I’ll then be able to do the final larger painting once the HAC show is over at the end of the first week in January. The finished Brazil paintings are to be shipped back to Sao Paulo and then put in a gallery and auctioned to raise funds for the on-going project. I’ll keep you updated on all this work … doubt that I’ll be spending much time at home over the next few months. Watch this space.

A few days in Brazil

Twelve days ago I was bumbling along, starting to get in a bit of a panic about preparations for our Open Weekend. Then, out of the blue, I received an email from Lucila Longi, an employee of a Brazilian PR company, working in Sao Paulo. She explained that a client of theirs was involved in a large arts project in the city and they were keen to know if I could travel to Sao Paulo for a few days to take part in the project.

One of the large sculptures in the Sao Paulo exhibition

One of the large sculptures in the Sao Paulo exhibition: ‘Made by Brazilians’

As you can imagine, this was somewhat of a surprise and I passed it on to my agent, John and asked him to find out more about the project. There were a number of quite frantic days of negotiation before finally, on Tuesday we got the go ahead.

The project is based in an old, large and disused hospital building close to the centre of Sao Paulo. The building is shortly to be converted into an Arts and Cultural Centre, but before the work starts, the sponsors have organised a huge exhibition there, consisting of a hundred Brazilian and international artists.

Entrance to the old hospital at Cidade Matarazzo, Sao Paulo

Entrance to the old hospital at Cidade Matarazzo, Sao Paulo

I have been invited to spend a few days visiting and recording the building and exhibition prior to the new development. On my return to Scotland, I have been asked to create several paintings that capture the spirit of the building and this remarkable exhibition.

This all happened very rapidly and with the exhibition closing today, they needed to get me down to Brazil straight away. The sponsors very kindly agreed to pay for both myself and Anita to travel to and stay in Brazil, as they appreciated I would need a guide.

Suffice to say, it’s been a remarkable few days. The exhibition is really excellent and the old hospital building is a great venue. With the exhibition now over, the curator is meeting us tomorrow, so that we can spend a final day taking more photos, videos and for me to do some further drawings. We’re flying back on Tuesday evening and will arrive in Scotland somewhat crumpled, no doubt, around 24 hours after leaving Sao Paulo. Phew! Quite a week! More about this later.

Photographing part of the exhibition 'Made by Brazilians' at Cidade Matarazzo

Photographing part of the exhibition ‘Made by Brazilians’ at Cidade Matarazzo

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