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A somewhat uneventful week!

Posted by admin on May 27th, 2011

'Working drawing - on Braebag'

'Working drawing - on Braebag'

It’s amazing to think that this is the eighty second blog …and there may have been a couple that never got a number.  Whatever number it is …it’s quite a lot.  Number eighty two though, isn’t I’m afraid, going to be a classic …just a short ramble about not very much!

It’s just over a week since we were out on the hill near Loch Tay and apart from yesterday (Thursday) I’ve spent nearly all my time either doing work on the computer or painting down the studio.  We had hoped to get out onto a hill again this week, but the weather has, like in most of Scotland and Northern Ireland it seems, been pretty horrendous.  My sister living down in Shropshire is complaining about how dry it is there and how she’s watering the garden with the washing up water.  No such problems here this last week – I think it rained most days.   Add to this a very strong wind including a real gale on Monday and well it doesn’t do much for passing trade at the studio.  Surprisingly though I did have one couple visit at the height of the gale on Monday.  Donned in waterproofs, they’d made the walk up the harbour side to the sea and I think may have come into the studio to get a break from the wind more than for the art!  However, I am doing them an injustice, as it turned out they were sailors and were indeed sheltering from the storm …so, no doubt used to wet and windy weather.  Compared with many folk across Scotland and Northern Ireland, we were I guess, quite lucky that day.  We retained our power supply and train services and there seemed to be very little damage done …with the exception of a beautiful cherry blossom tree on Bank Street that was split in two during the storm.

'Working drawing - Quinag'

'Working drawing - Quinag'

I had planned to go and collect ten framed pictures from the Waverley Gallery on the Monday but decided this might be a little foolish …get caught carrying and 80 x 80cm painting by and 80 mph gust of wind and I’d probably have ended up in Kilmarnock!  We picked the work up the next day instead and I’m very pleased with the way it looks.  I still have one painting to complete and about five others to go into empty frames ready for the show at Blairmore Gallery.  While I’m doing the painting, Nita has kindly agreed to put the other pieces into their frames …so we should have everything ready in time.   We’re delivering the work on Thursday 9th June ready for opening on the Friday 10th.  I haven’t quite yet decided the exact number and selection to go up but it will probably be around 18 – 20 paintings and drawings.

Last week I said I was hoping to get some ideas worked out for new paintings and I spent one of my days last week playing around with some drawings.  I am keen to try and get some paintings done based on both Quinag and Braebag in Assynt.  They are very different hills, the former being steep sided and quite complex, the latter just a simple quartz covered whale back ……but both quite magnificent in their own ways.  Here are two of the working drawings I did the other day.

Back to the studio now and back to the painting.  I have I admit been struggling somewhat with one of my paintings.  I think I really ought to leave it sit for a while and get on with new work …but, I may just have to have another go when I get down there in an hour or so!  We’re hoping to get out for another walk on Sunday so long as conditions aren’t too bad, so maybe next week I’ll have a little more to report on.

 

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Filling in the gap

Posted by admin on May 16th, 2011

Arkle, approaching weather

Arkle, approaching weather

Well, firstly I guess I’d better apologise for the lack of a blog last week.  I had planned to write one but in the end never quite got around to it!   But I do have a slight excuse ….. we’ve been away on holiday to Assynt for the last couple of weeks and I decided that a short break would do me good.  I am as I write, sitting in the caravan we’ve rented at Achmelvich just a few miles to the north of Lochinver in the north west of Scotland.  This is the final day of the holiday and we’re heading back to Irvine and work tomorrow.

Anyway, we’ve had a great time and have done particularly well with the weather.  Indeed we’ve had many days of hot sunny weather, especially the first week and even this week has been pretty good too, although it’s gone decidedly cool today.

This is the forth time since 2006 that we’ve stayed here and yet this amazing region of Scotland never ceases to impress.  In early May there are a few visitors but places are generally quiet and so everywhere is very peaceful.  Two weeks up here gives me the chance to relax and  re-charge my batteries while at the same time get some serious walking done and gather information for my new paintings.  And that just about sums up what we’ve been doing this last 13 days …well with some nice meals and some excellent local beer thrown in for good measure of course!

Arkle, Sutherland

Arkle, Sutherland

Taking advantage of the particularly fine weather in our first week here, we climbed two of the local hills – Sail Garbh ….one of the summits of Quinag and Braebag, a long high quartz covered whaleback of a hill that lies close to its rather larger neighbours, Conival and Ben More Assynt.  We’d climbed Sail Garbh about four years ago but it was great to get back there again …the views being especially fine from its rocky summit.  As we weren’t planning to go on and climb either of the other two tops of  Quinag we were able to take our time and we spent a good hour at the summit just enjoying the silence.  We’d never visited Braebag before and this turned out to be a wonderful walk.  It is, as I said, just a big long broad stony ridge, but when you get up there you find these great piles of quartzite blocks and rubble laid out in long ridges with large areas of moss and grass separating them.  It was really quite a strange and beautiful landscape especially with the bright sunshine reflecting off of the quartzite.  To be honest, we weren’t really expecting to see anyone on this hill but not long after we’d sat down to eat our sandwiches by a wee cairn marking one of the stony tops, another couple appeared on an adjacent pile of boulders.  At this point we started to wonder if ‘our’ top was actually the summit ….their top now looked a wee bit higher.  There was nothing for it, after lunch we’d just have to wander over and see …and it was a metre or so higher …and marked with a slightly bigger cairn.

Assynt 2011, from Braebag

Assynt 2011, from Braebag

During this our second week, we decided to head north and try and climb a couple of these wild hills.  We headed for Arkle on Monday and had another wonderful day.  It is quite a striking hill, once again covered in quartzite but with much steeper sides and a wonderful curving ridge leading up to its summit.  This, according to the guide book is rather narrow in one section and so a definite ‘no’ for me unfortunately.  That said we could still climb up to the 750m top at the SE end of the ridge and from there had quite stunning views both of Arkle and it’s higher neighbour Foinaven….oh to have a bit more sight and to be able to wander these wild and dramatic ridges.  I can’t complain though, to sit there on this lonely wind swept top was very special indeed.

Our final hill of the holiday was Ben Hee and we were once again treated to fine weather.  This hill, rising to 873m lies a few miles to the east of Arkle the terrain is much softer.  Most of the lower slopes are a mixture of grass, moss  and heather and it was hard work getting up to the top of Meallan Liath Mor, a 680m top on route to the main summit.  Higher up there were areas of broken rocks and boulders that made for difficult walking but most of these could be avoided.  Again we had the hill to ourselves for the whole day and were able to sit at the top taking in the huge views out over Sutherland and Caithness.  Ben Hope, the most northerly Munro, stood out well not too far to the north east of us and with my monocular I could make out most of these northern hills.

Assynt 2011, from Sail Garbh, Quinag

Assynt 2011, from Sail Garbh, Quinag

You’ll be glad to hear that I have done some drawing while I’ve been away and have ideas for new paintings and drawings.  It’s been good to get away and to visit new bits of Scotland and to get away from the studio for a short while but I’m starting to look forward to getting back to the painting now.  So then, I’d better go and start putting things back into bags ready for the drive back to Irvine tomorrow.  Hopefully this will be posted by Sunday or Monday and everything will get back to normal!

Ben Stack from Arkle

Ben Stack from Arkle

East from the summit of Ben Hee

East from the summit of Ben Hee

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Big is not always best-but it may be the right way to go

Posted by admin on April 29th, 2011

'Approaching snow shower, above Braemar'

'Approaching snow shower, above Braemar'

Many years ago, many many years ago as it now seems…when I was in my teens and still working towards my ‘O’ level art at Welshpool High School,  I was told by my art teacher (a Mr Roberts) that when painting it was vitally important to consider every inch of the paper or canvas with equal importance.  This bit of advice has always stuck with me and now that I’m working more regularly on larger pieces, it is something that I am constantly reminding myself of.  It may seem obvious but with constraints of time and cost of materials it can be easy to forget.

The reason for thinking along these lines is that I’ve been considering my own work recently, especially the size of the work I do.  Many of my paintings have been quite small and this has I have to admit, been part due to the need to sell.  That’s certainly not the only reason but it is often one of the deciding factors.  Quite simply, it’s easier to sell smaller works if for no other reason than that most people don’t have the room or the finances for large work.

'The saltings, Irvine harbour side'

'The saltings, Irvine harbour side'

Painting on a small scale is though I think, just as challenging for the painter as working on a large or even grand scale.  It certainly concentrates the mind and focuses ones attention on the composition but I am starting to feel a little trapped when working on this scale now.  I’ve always done the odd larger piece but never really spent a period of time creating larger paintings…..until last year that is.  When I went to Speyer I realised that this would be a chance to do exactly this.  During my stay at the Kunstlerhaus in Speyer I completed 17 pieces of work, all but 2 of them being 80 x 80 cm or larger.  This was very enjoyable at the time and I really didn’t have too many thoughts about selling these larger works…..this was a scholarship and all my accommodation and living expenses were being paid.  At the end of the scholarship though, much of the work sold …even the large 400 x 150 cm drawing.

'The artist with 'Late December afternoon, above Wanlockhead'

'The artist with 'Late December afternoon, above Wanlockhead'

I’ve now been self employed as an artist for just on two years and over that time I’ve developed my work and my art practice quite well.  I’ve increased my sales over this period but have started to come to the realisation that it may be difficult to earn a living through the smaller work.  With my sight as it is, there is a limit to the number of pieces I can do in any one year …I really work quite slowly, and as such, there is a limit to the amount I can reasonably expect to earn.  I have then been starting to think that it would make a lot more sense both financially as well as artistically, to concentrate on larger pieces.  My main aim as an artist has always been to try to do good work …not just to sell and I certainly think that working on a larger scale is where my best work lies.

I am certainly not going to abandon the small pieces entirely …I enjoy doing them and they quite often themselves lead to larger paintings.  I am though, going to put a much greater emphasis on the bigger paintings and as I have the opportunity in October of returning to the Kunstlerhaus in Speyer with an exhibition of my Scottish landscapes I’m doing large pieces for this.

So then, it’ll be interesting to see quite how this gradual change in emphasis works out.  I’ll have to target slightly different outlets and probably look to generate commissions but I’m sure it’ll do me good artistically and in the longer run, financially too. Winning the Jolomo Award in 2009 will allow me to take this ‘gamble’ secure in the knowledge that I can afford to lose some sales of smaller works in order to generate better and potentially more cost effective larger paintings.  I must of course remember the words of Mr Roberts and think about every square inch of the painting surface with equal consideration.  So often when I look around galleries I notice that as the paintings get bigger, the paint quality diminishes and the colours become thin and flat.  I must not fall into this trap.

 

Work in progress

"Work in progress"

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Dismantled crane ….a taste of things to come?

Posted by admin on April 10th, 2011
Irvine harbour side

Irvine harbour side

As anyone who reads this blog regularly will know, I work at the Courtyard Studios on the harbour side at Irvine. My space is in the old part of the building that faces the road, and across that, the river and saltings. Until three days ago, just 200 m up the road was an old crane, one of several that used to be used to load and unload vessels visiting Irvine. Even to an outsider like me, it seemed to be an important part of the harbour side, indeed of Irvine’s history …..It was definitely a local landmark and one that gave interest to this wonderful harbour side.

That was of course until three days ago….when it was dismantled and carted half a mile away to be placed in the yard of the Maritime Museum. For the last five or so years I guess, the old crane had not been maintained and the buffeting winter gales had taken their toll. Bits had blown off, the paintwork peeled and the jib was a mass of rust. It seems a shame that such an important part of the towns history and identity as a once important port, should be allowed to fall into disrepair. On hearing of the cranes demise, one of my colleagues visited the towns planning department and apparently the crane has been taken to the Maritime Museum and if funds become available it’ll be restored and a place found for it once again…..lets hope so. Of course, its removal has nothing to do with the planned redevelopment of the Harbour side area ……hmmmmm!

The crane, Irvine harbour side

The crane, Irvine harbour side

Today has been a beautiful day, bright sun and the first real heat of the year. We had thought about heading for a hill today but as we both have a lot of work on we decided to have a less tiring day. Instead, we walked from my studio, out to the sea and then along the beach all the way to Troon, several miles down the Ayrshire coast.

We started, of course, by looking at the space where the crane used to be ..nothing now but the old wooden jetty that similarly, seems to be falling into disrepair and has been fenced off for a good number of years. Will this too be removed at some stage? Just beyond this point the River Irvine meets the River Garnock and together they flow the last few hundred metres before entering the Firth of Clyde. They flow under the footbridge that was built at huge expense to get visitors over to the Big Idea …a science centre that was built to mark the millennium. Sadly, although it was apparently very good, it only lasted for a few years before closing and sitting empty ever since. The wonderful bridge (built to open and close to allow boats access to the harbour) was opened after the final visitor left and has remained so ever since. Let’s hope the new planned developments for the harbour side are going to be better thought out than this our local millennium white elephant.

Close up of the crane, Irvine harbour side

Close up of the crane, Irvine harbour side

Most of the area between the Courtyard studios and the sea is grass. It’s a large area containing a large pond, good quality footpaths and is a fine safe area for folk to come for a stroll, joggers to jog and kids to play …it’s an important recreational area for the town. Today with this warm weather, a lot of people had made their way to the harbour side, all enjoying the grassed areas, the fine views and the beach. The wild life too was out in force this morning with the Skylarks singing above the dunes and the saltings, Eider ducks floating just off of the beach, Oyster catchers and Curlews calling from the mud on the far side of the river.

Much of this area is due for development …housing, retail and commercial units apparently. And there was a big sign on the bridge that suggested development on the far side of the river too. If this takes place I wonder what will happen to the wildlife and whether this now quite peaceful area that pulls in visitors both local and from far afield, will lose the very thing that people come for.

 

The crane close up

The crane close up

People say that with the studios being right in the middle of the new development, that it’ll be good for business. Maybe, but as an artist I worry about what the developers have in mind. I very much doubt that it is going to be as peaceful, as beautiful or indeed as interesting as it is now. Is the missing crane just a taste of things to come? We’ll wait and see I guess. I hope in a few years I can write and say I was wrong.

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It’s been a busy week….

Posted by admin on March 25th, 2011

On Beinn Damhain

'On Beinn Damhain'

It’s been a busy week this week with paintings to paint, paintings to deliver and a couple of paintings to pack ready for shipping to the USA…..and this on the back of what turned out to be a very tiring walk on Saturday.

Firstly then, the walk.  The plan was to walk the small and probably rather unfrequented hill, Beinn Damhain.  This lies just to the NW of the northern end of Loch Lomond and is a hill I first visited with my friend Guy about eighteen months ago on a very wet and windy day.  On that occasion we never got to the top, turning back not far below the summit in very unpleasant weather.  It seemed just the place to return on Saturday as we were expecting there to be a lot of snow on the bigger hills and Beinn Damhain at just over 680m we thought would be clear of much of it.  Wrong!  As it turned out the snow was down to around 300m and the accumulations increased rapidly as you gained height.  The weather was quite fine though with the heavy dark broken clouds well above our hill and indeed, well above the surrounding Munro’s too.

On Beinn Damhain

'On Beinn Damhain'

We had followed a broad track (built to service the hydro scheme) for several kilometres before heading up rough hillside heading for the lonely little Lochan Beinn Damhain.  Even by the time we reached the loch the snow was deep and made for difficult walking.  We carried on though around the loch and then very slowly up the gentle slopes beyond, avoiding all the steep ground.  It was I have to say, very hard work and very time consuming, but the views as we gained height were fantastic.  Every now and again the sun would break through the dark cloud and illuminate one of the hills just as if with a giant spot light.  Suffice to say, there was much puffing and panting, swearing and cursing before we eventually stood at the top …and it took us five hours, but it did feel good finally standing there.  The descent really wasn’t much easier and we were starting to get a little concerned about the time and daylight.  We had head torches with us so as long as we could get back to the hydro track before dark all would be well.  As it turned out, despite our seemingly very slow progress we were back down to the track by just before five o’ clock and an hour later we arrived at the car, tired and with very sore legs.  To be honest I felt shattered after all that thick soft snow …it was a much harder day than many a Munro we’ve walked and it really was quite an experience.

The Summit of Beinn Damhain

The Summit of Beinn Damhain

The rest of the week has involved making, packing and delivering paintings.  On Tuesday we had a very pleasant few hours taking three paintings up to Blairmore Gallery near Dunoon.  It was great seeing Sylvia and Steve, the owners, and seeing how good the gallery was looking.

Wednesday saw us heading over to Edinburgh to deliver four paintings to The Gallery on the Corner.  As we’d been doing a lot of driving in the past few weeks we decided to travel by train.  This wasn’t as difficult as it might sound as the four paintings were all reasonably small and thankfully the trains not too busy.

It’s just a case of paint, paint, and paint for a few days now as I’m taking a couple of days off next week to join a couple of old college friends to do some walking and possibly even a spot of paddling.  Seeing as the three of us have only met up together once before in the 28 years since all leaving Falmouth School of Art ….well there’s a bit of catching up to be done and no doubt a pint or two to be had.

 

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3oo miles apart

Posted by admin on March 5th, 2011
In Carding Mill Valley, Shropshire

In Carding Mill Valley, Shropshire

We have just returned from a great little walk…in the Shropshire Hills, not far from the Welsh border. We’re visiting family and as it has been a beautiful day, we decided we might as well make the most of it.

Shropshire is a lovely county and seems to me to be a great mix of the best of England and Wales. The Shropshire Hills are not huge, but offer wonderful views all around. We didn’t actually walk up any of these hills today, instead, just took a gentle amble through Carding Mill Valley… one of the beauty spots of Shropshire that lies on the edge of the Long Mynd. In bright sunshine the rough hillsides of grass, rocky outcrops and gorse were looking particularly good, the early spring colours looking particularly vibrant under a deep blue, clear sky. Having lived in Shropshire for a number of years, I have explored this area on a good few occasions and it is one place I will always enjoy returning.

In the Ochills, near Stirling

In the Ochills, near Stirling

Strangely, this area of low, steep sided hills, intersected by deep, stream filled valleys is rather similar to the Ochill hills, near Stirling, where we were walking just last Saturday. On this occasion we did a bigger walk than today’s… completing a lovely circular walk over Ben Ever, Ben Cleuch, Ben Buck and a final steep but short haul up and over the rather wonderfully named hill, The Nebbit. We had travelled to these hills in an attempt to avoid low cloud and rather grey, damp conditions that were forecast for the west and found ourselves in bright sunshine, with just the occasional dark, heavy shower.

Forth Plain

Forth Plain

These hills rise abruptly to the north of the Forth Plain and on days like this, when the weather is fine and the air cold and clear, the views south from any of the tops are quite impressive. The river reflected the bright sun and with my monocular, I could even make out the Forth road and rail bridges. The plain is a wonderful patchwork of fields and buildings…one that has already been the subject for one of my smaller paintings…’Forth fields’.

We are back home to Scotland in a couple of days and I am already looking forward to getting back to my new big paintings…an image of the latest one can now be seen on my face book  page: Keith Salmon, Scottish landscape artist. I have had a very good response to this picture and it will be good to try and get it finished and to start a fourth and possibly fifth, large piece. I will be bringing work back to the studio after my exhibition in Crieff closes on the 12th, so not long to get these done!

 

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Wide open spaces

Posted by admin on February 25th, 2011
In the studio

In the studio

For the first time since I moved into my present studio space …the walls are almost completely empty.  Usually I have paintings hanging on the biggest wall and there are always others propped against it too.  For a month now though I have the extra wall space as nearly all my work is out on exhibition.

I’ve wanted to get down to doing some slightly larger pieces for a long time and as soon as all the work was away, I bought myself four biggish boards and started working on them ….well, three of them to date.  These boards are all 122 x 61 cm and so make for quite a good sized painting …certainly larger than I normally work on.

For a long time now I’ve been rather tentatively using thicker paint.  I bought a selection of colours from the Liquitex range of super heavy bodied acrylic paint. It’s wonderful thick sticky stuff but for a long time I didn’t know what to do with it!  As I say, I was very tentative with my use of it at first but as time has gone by I’ve become somewhat bolder.  So then, these new larger paintings are my attempt to take this process further, to try and work with more and thicker paint, bigger bolder marks and in a slightly more abstract fashion.  As such I decided that seeing as I’m working on a different scale and in a slightly different way, I may as well paint a different subject too.

New painting - "Harbour side"

New painting - "Harbour side"

My studio as you know by now is situated on the harbour side at Irvine.  My front door and window look out across the road and quay to the River Irvine.  On the opposite side of the river is a huge area of saltings that lie between the Irvine and Garnock rivers.  The view from my studio window is constantly changing.  On the high tides the saltings can disappear completely beneath the water, wee outcrops and an odd bush being the only land above water.  Then gradually the land begins to appear, first in long strips and then quite rapidly to leave just pools of water before on really low tides, there being no water to see at all from my studio.  Add to this the constantly changing weather conditions and light …and great change in the colours due to the season and well, it’s quite an amazing place to work next to.

New painting - "Irvine Harbour side"

New painting - "Irvine Harbour side"

The new paintings then are based on this very simple but at the same time complex (does that make sense?) view.  I got thinking about this a few weeks ago when after a morning of heavy rain and dark brooding clouds, the conditions suddenly started to improve and small breaks appeared in the cloud allowing bursts of intensely bright light to fall through and onto areas of the saltings.  The colours were amazing.  The sky was a heavy dark purple grey blue and the far horizon a thin dark line.  The saltings though were an intense bright mass of yellows and then back to ochre’s, olive greens and umbers in the shadow in the foreground.  It was beautiful.  I thought about photographing it but realised that it probably wouldn’t capture much of this and so instead just grabbed my small digital voice recorder (used to record meetings, lists of things to do and what to buy on my next visit to Asda) and simply tried to describe what I could see …a sort of audio sketch.  The conditions, light and colours changed rapidly over the next hour and so I made four or five short recordings and decided to use these as the basis for my first couple of paintings.

I’d never really thought about using the voice recorder as a kind of sketch book before and it has been pleasing how well it’s working for me.  The first two paintings have developed quite well and I’m now starting on two others that are going to be about the view at or around high tide …and in different light….I’ve been making further recordings during the last few days while the high tides have coincided with the best daylight.   I’ve tried to use just my bigger brushes …a one and a half inch flat brush being the smallest and then working right up to my large old six inch bristle house painting brushes.  I have still drawn into these with pastel but this is quite limited and this just helps to create a nice balance of marks rather than being a main feature as in a lot of my previous paintings.  It really has been an interesting couple of weeks and at long last this is much more what I’ve wanted to do.

Work in progress - Studio E

Work in progress - Studio E

Of course having the funds to be able to purchase the materials (these paints are quite expensive …and a six inch house brush swallows a lot of paint) and being able to afford to spend time experimenting …is all down to the Jolomo Award.  Without it I’d be forced to keep producing smaller more sellable paintings rather than trying to develop new and better and perhaps more challenging work.  I was a lucky chap back in June 2009 when I won that award and its funding has supported me to this point and will probably do so for at least a couple of years more.  The 2011 Jolomo Awards are in progress now and so it’ll be great to see who eventually wins through when the awards are announced in June.  Who ever it is, they’ll certainly find it makes a huge difference to their career …it’s certainly made a huge change to my work as an artist.

Anyway, I’ve got until the 12th March before the show ends at the Strathearn Gallery and my studio gets some what more cluttered again.  That said, the gallery have sold a number of pieces to date so that has been very encouraging …and of course it means I’ll have to keep painting …I have a busy year ahead.   There should be a list on my website shortly, giving details of forthcoming exhibitions throughout 2011.

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Just right…

Posted by admin on February 19th, 2011
On Ben Inverveigh

On Ben Inverveigh

In the past when I had more time, I’d be happy to go out walking even if the forecast was for very low cloud and rain and general gloom. It’s interesting and quite a challenge. As my work has developed though, to take up more of my time, I’ve started to realise that the walks I go on need to be both work and play and as such I tend now to be a little more selective about the weather conditions on the days we walk.

Over the last few days it has been just the case. We’ve wanted to get out again on a fairly regular basis in order to build up our fitness again but looking ahead this week, the forecasts were pretty miserable. Bands of rain and hill snow coupled with low cloud didn’t look too promising. That said however, Wednesday seemed to offer the best chance of getting a few breaks and slightly higher cloud …although it did appear that we might get quite wet too.

We chose to walk Ben Inverveigh, the very modest little hill we’ve visited several times before. It lies close to Loch Tulla and makes for a gentle walk in an excellent location.

Frozen lochan on Ben Inverveigh

Frozen lochan on Ben Inverveigh

As it wasn’t going to be a great hike we didn’t set off too early and stopped for a quick late breakfast at the ‘Green Welly in Tyndrum. The forecast seemed about right and the cloud was very firmly settled at around 650m but with quite a number of breaks offering occasional brightness and even a brief glimpse of blue sky. The snow was a little lower than I’d expected and seemed to start at around 500m. It’s just a short drive from Tyndrum over to our starting point at the Bridge of Orchy and as we approached it we got the first view of our hill …definitely snow topped and with its upper slopes in mist ….but it was dry and so things were looking good.

The big hills of Beinn Dorain and Beinn an Dothaidh were well shrouded in mist but the corrie that lies between them looked great..the steep crags on each side of it appearing out of the whiteness of snow and mist.

Our route followed the West Highland Way from Bridge of Orchy gently uphill through some forestry before emerging onto open hillside …the northeast end of Ben Inverveigh.

The WHW climbs over this shoulder before descending down to the wee road near the Inveroran Hotel. Our route though left the WHW at its highest point and followed a green track across rough ground before petering out not far below a prominent little top at just over 500m. We’d just got into the patchy snow and in the gloomy light it made everything come alive. Ben Inverveigh is just a long broad grass, heather and stone covered ridge or lump but it is superbly located with bigger hills all around and the beautiful Loch Tulla below.

Descending Ben Inverveigh

Descending Ben Inverveigh

As we went along this ridge we were surprised at the snow ..it was a good covering of 10 – 15 cm with occasional drifts and banked out hollows. There are a number of small lochans along the way and these were coated in a thin layer of ice which was then covered in snow …care was needed, especially when the cloud came down, not to inadvertently walk over …and no doubt into one of these icy little baths. The summit is at the far end of the ridge …about an hours walk, and is marked by a small cairn perched atop one of the numerous rocky outcrops. We were lucky and arrived in clear conditions and had good views around us ….it was even dry and with very light winds it made for a pleasant if short lunch spot. We retraced out steps back along the ridge and down to the WHW and then followed the track down to the Inveroran Hotel before walking the single track road back to the Bridge of Orvhy.

Loch Tulla, late afternoon

Loch Tulla, late afternoon

As we descended though, the cloud started to lift and break all around and we got wonderful views of Loch Tulla and the remnants of the Caledonian Forest all shown to their advantage in the bright late afternoon sunlight. But the best was saved till last. As we followed the road back to our starting point, Beinn an Dothaidh and Beinn Dorain became clear of mist and were illuminated by the last rays of the fast sinking sun ….quite stunning and the best view of these hills I’ve ever had.

We got back to the car just after the sun had set and after changing out of the walking gear, decided to check out the Bridge of Orchy Hotel. Perfect timing …they started serving food at six o’clock. With a warm fire, friendly service and great food it made for the perfect end to our day.

Last light, Beinn Dorain

Last light, Beinn Dorain

We had a fine day the previous Saturday at the preview to the exhibition at The Strathearn Gallery. The show, comprising paintings by myself and a wonderful selection of glassware and sculpture by Scott Irvine, looks great …even though I say it myself! I was very pleased with the way it had all gone together and Fiona, the gallery owner, had done a fantastic job at hanging and presenting all the work. We had a pretty good turn out despite forecasts for snow. So, if you haven’t had a chance t get along to see it …well, I think you’ll find it a worth while trip.

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Light relief

Posted by admin on February 11th, 2011
Fairly moor

Fairlie moor

If you’ve been reading these blogs over the last month or so you’ve probably gathered that there’s been one thing very much on my mind …the exhibition at The Strathearn Gallery.  Getting all the work finished, framed, photographed, catalogued and wrapped …has been quite a lot of work.

On Monday we went into town and hired a Transit van, and went back to the house to load all the pictures.  Of course, after several weeks of generally mild weather, Monday morning dawned very wet but cold …just 3 C here in Irvine and the forecast of snow for the Central Belt of Scotland …great!  The rain was really heavy here and we decided we could afford to wait a while to see if it would ease before loading the paintings into the van.  Thankfully it did improve and we were able to get everything on board in a relatively dry state.  The journey up to Crieff though was interesting. The rain turned to snow on the M77 and we had a mixture of rain, sleet and snow all the way.

Towards Arran from Whatside Hill

Towards Arran from Whatside Hill

By the time we reached Stirling the ground all around was white and on leaving the A9 to take the smaller road to Crieff ….well, everything was really quite white, including the road!  This particular road goes up quite high at one point and Nita found herself driving a hired Transit van containing almost a years worth of work, along a snow, slush, ice and water covered road.  At one point we went through a huge pool of water that sprayed up onto the screen and made it impossible to see.  No sooner had the wipers cleared this than a large lump of snow fell from an overhanging tree and once again covered the screen!  At this point, Nita just started laughing …well, it was rather funny.

Overlooking the Firth of Clyde

Overlooking the Firth of Clyde

We got to Crieff unscathed though and quickly had the work unloaded and into the gallery. What a relief, now it was in somebody else’s hands.  Mind you, I still fretted for a couple of days about whether the work would look any good but was most relieved to receive an email from the gallery yesterday to say it was all up and looking great …phew!  Oh, and they’d sold a piece as well …so a fine start.  I’m really looking forward to the preview tomorrow.

After all this, I really needed to take a wee break and yesterday in clear sunny calm weather I went for a smashing little walk with my friend Guy.    He’d plotted a nice route that led up onto Fairlie Moor and along its western edge over Whatside Hill before descending into and then walking through Kelburn Glen and on along the shore to Largs.  It made a great little day, catching the train to Fairlie and then returning by train in the evening from Largs.

Overlooking Great Cumbrae

Overlooking Great Cumbrae

As we were right on the edge of the North Ayrshire coast we had superb views out over the Firth of Clyde, across Great Cumbrae and Little Cumbrae islands to their bigger neighbours of Bute and Arran.  From this location you get an interesting view of the Arran Hills.  In the bright sunshine, the colours looked lovely and it was definitely very spring like.

Both Guy and I tend to like the bigger hills and the wilder places but this really was an excellent walk and one to be recommended to anyone living in North Ayrshire.  For me, the surprise came towards the end.  On descending into Kelburn Glen, we followed the path that led down the glen through beautiful woods and above the roar of the river as it poured over a whole series of waterfalls.  It was really quite spectacular especially with the late afternoon sunlight illuminating all the trees and rocks.


In Kelburn Glen

In Kelburn Glen

Kelburn Glen Waterfall

Kelburn Glen Waterfall


A fish supper while waiting for our train home finished off the day nicely and I’m now already thinking about the next walk.  With the exhibition opening tomorrow morning, I can now just get back to the painting and getting some more walks done.  I’ve started a new piece of work based, not on the hills, but on the view across the river and saltings outside my studio.  It’s a bit different but still Scottish landscape.  I’m quite enjoying this slight tangent and it’ll be interesting to see where it leads.

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A change for the better

Posted by admin on February 3rd, 2011
'Heavy weather, October, Beinn Inverveigh'

'Heavy weather, October, Beinn Inverveigh'

Ever since I first picked up a paint brush I’ve been told time and time again …‘don’t go back to a painting once it is finished’.   Everyone, it seems, knows this, but I’m not sure quite how many people who paint actually adhere to this….come on,….it’s just too tempting isn’t it!

There really can’t be that much worse than seeing one of your finished paintings …and then realising that you’d conned yourself when you put it into a frame…….you’d got caught up in the moment and simply allowed your ego to take over.  You know what its like …you’re painting away late into the evening and its all going well.  You’re happy, you’ve got your music blasting out and before you know it, you’re thinking the painting on the easel in front of you is the best thing you’ve ever done, in fact, it’s possibly a mini masterpiece!  You wash your brushes and waltz about the studio on a real high ..and leave for home planning your acceptance speech for the Turner Prize!!  Of course, when you return in the morning eager to reacquaint yourself with the previous evenings work …all is not so good.  In fact, all is far from good.  All is really dreadful.  The colours are insane, the composition simply appalling and quite just how you failed to notice the piece of kitchen towel stuck to the paint in the top left corner …well, it just beggars belief!  Where had the masterpiece that was surely to lead to fame and fortune, gone?  Had someone entered the studio and painted over the top of it while you were sleeping, or simply repaced it with this ill considered daub?

Over the years, I’ve had far too many disappointments like this. I’ve become rather wary of any initial excitement on my part over a new piece of work.  Now when I return in the morning I kind of sidle up to the studio door, let myself in and avoid eye contact with the previous evenings work.  By concentrating on everything but the work, I can usually put my sign out, turn on all the lights, fill the kettle and open the shutters …and sometimes even manage half a mug of coffee before taking a peek.  Then of course, if it’s ***** …I can be very casual and grown up about it.  It’s just a point on the way to a painting …not the finished item.  In this way, I’ve learnt to avoid much of the gloom that comes with realising that you’re not quite the painter you imagined you were the evening before!

This said, somehow, pieces still occasionally get under the radar and it is at this point that I have to go against that old advice …and take the painting back out of the frame and try and put things right.  The whole reason for this weeks ramble is that I’ve just completed a re-working of a painting I did about a year ago.  The painting I guess, was ok …but the problem was that I’d done the piece specifically for a show and as things sometimes happen, completed it rather too close to the exhibition deadline.  The painting came back from the framer and the work went up to the gallery straight after.  When I saw the piece at the preview I had a little bit of a panic …it looked fine  …just not finished!  If I’d allowed more time between finishing it and having it framed I’d probably have spotted it quite quickly …but I didn’t and there it was looking rather weak and letting down my other pieces.   The painting didn’t sell and so that may well tell a story in itself, but of course once back in the studio there was no way that I could simply leave the piece as it was. I was quite happy with the general composition …it just lacked any atmosphere.  The painting is based on a day in October the other year when a friend and I took a walk up the wee Beinn Inverveigh.  It was a foul day, with heavy driving rain and low clouds being blasted along by a gale force wind.  Despite the conditions we had a great little day and as we were descending the rain became more patchy and odd patches of brightness brought out the vivid autumn colours of the various grasses.

'Heavy weather, October, Beinn Inverveigh,

BEFORE

'Heavy weather, October, Beinn Inverveigh'

AFTER

After having the painting back in the studio for a couple of months I eventually decided to tackle the problem.  I spent perhaps the best part of two days painting into the original piece, using colours in thin glazes to try and bring out the misty atmosphere of that wet autumn afternoon.  I’m far happier with the piece now. It is almost the same composition but has for me, much more of the feel of that wild and wet October afternoon.  Of course, I’m wondering now whether I have the nerve to put up a ‘before’ and ‘after’ image of this work.  I think I will …comments please on my Face book page …I’ve found the delete button now, so if anyone thinks that the original version was better than the new one ….. need I say more?!

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