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Information Updates | Scottish Landscape Art - Scottish Landscape Paintings - Part 3

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Finally, back blogging again!

Posted by admin on November 24th, 2014

“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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Posted in Brazil, Exhibitions, Harbour Arts Centre, Information Updates Tags: , , , , 1 Comment »

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

Posted by admin on October 23rd, 2014

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.

Posted in Brazil, Buildings, city landscapes, Commissioned Artwork, Commissions, Courtyard Studios Open Weekend, Exhibitions, Harbour Arts Centre, Information Updates Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , No Comments »

A few days in Brazil

Posted by admin on October 12th, 2014

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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The Biscuit Factory, Contemporary Art Gallery, Newcastle upon Tyne

Posted by admin on September 6th, 2014

This is more of a picture blog; the purpose being to show images of the 10 pieces of work I’ll be exhibiting at the Autumn Exhibition in The Biscuit Factory in Newcastle upon Tyne. The preview is on Friday 12th September 2014 from 6 – 9pm.

I’ll be attending the event along with my partner Anita and I look forward to seeing you if by any chance you can make it along to the gallery that evening….all are welcome.  If not, you should be able to view the exhibition on their website soon.   Full details below:

 

'Below Clach Lethaidh, winter', Oil on canvas, 80 x 80 cm

‘Below Clach Lethaidh, winter’

'Below Suilven, a dreich afternoon', Acrylic & Pastel, 30 x 30 cm jpg

‘Below Suilven, a dreich afternoon’

'Crossing to Harris, a damp April evening', Acrylic & Pastel, 76 x 23 cm, RP £720

‘Crossing to Harris, a damp April evening’

'From Conival, May' Acrylic & Pastel 40 x 40 cm, RP £720

‘From Conival, May’

'Heavy down pour, Harris, May 2013', Acrylic & Pastel, 30 x 30 cm, RP £485

‘Heavy down pour, Harris, May 2013’

'January morning, Glen Rosa, Isle of Arran', Graphite on paper, 125 x 80 cm

‘January morning, Glen Rosa, Isle of Arran’

'Snow shower, Glen Rosa, Isle of Arran', Acrylic & Pastel, 80 x 80 cm

‘Snow shower, Glen Rosa, Isle of Arran’

268 'Sun and snow, in the Blackmount', Acrylic & Pastel, 2013, 30 x 30 cm

‘Sun and snow, in the Blackmount’

'Sun-lit slopes, Sgiath Chuil', Acrylic & Pastel, 30 x 30 cm

‘Sun-lit slopes, Sgiath Chuil’

'Towards the Mamores, a showery summers day', Acrylic & Pastel, 76 x 23 cm

‘Towards the Mamores, a showery summers day’

The Biscuit Factory, Contemporary Art Gallery, Newcastle upon Tyne
Autumn Exhibition – 12th September – 15th November 2014

The Biscuit Factory
16 Stoddart St
Newcastle upon Tyne
Tyne and Wear NE2 1AN
Tel: 0191 261 1103
Email: art@thebiscuitfactory.com
Website: www.thebiscuitfactory.com

The exhibition runs until 15th November 2014 so I hope you can get along to see it.

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An interesting week

Posted by admin on July 19th, 2014
'Towards the Isle of Arran, winter'

Sold: ‘Towards the Isle of Arran, winter’

It can’t be a bad week when the first thing to report is that one of my paintings at the 2014 North Ayrshire Open Art Exhibition, sold on the preview evening last Friday.  It’s always so encouraging when someone buys one of your paintings, so a very big thank you to the lady and gentleman and I do hope that you enjoy having the piece.   The exhibition looks very good and if you haven’t already done so, I’d recommend a visit to the Racquet Hall in Eglinton Country Park, Kilwinning to see it.  It’s open daily from 10 am – 4 pm until Saturday 26th July 2014.

On Wednesday we held our first studio meeting to discuss the forthcoming Open Studios Weekend.  The event will take place on the first weekend in October and as usual there should be a very good selection of work to see.  We’re waiting to hear about WASPS plans for the event this year before I can confirm all the details and we have another meeting on 31st July when Michelle from WASPS head office in Glasgow is visiting the Courtyard to tell us all about their plans.  Watch this space!

'Below Clach Lethaidh, winter'

‘Below Clach Lethaidh, winter’

Work wise, I’ve had a good week this week, getting quite a lot done.  It’s quite important as I have to make the final selection of work for the autumn exhibition at the Biscuit Factory in Tyne and Wear.  I’ve been asked to provide 10 pieces of work of differing sizes and prices.  I always find this part very difficult and seem to change my mind about which pieces to include on a regular basis!  I am getting there though and three paintings have already been put aside for the show.  As well as the paintings I would like to include one of my new large graphite drawings.  This should work well with the other pieces and make quite a focal point for the work.  Oh well, I have a couple more weeks yet before having to make the final decision ….plenty of time to change my mind again! The exhibition opens in September so full details a little nearer the time.

Talking of a little nearer the time, I have three paintings going into a local exhibition at Tour House, Kilmaurs, near Kilmarnock.  The group exhibition will include work by 6 artists and the preview is on Sunday evening.  I’m really looking forward to the event especially so as Kilmaurs was the place we lived when we first moved to Ayrshire back in October 1998.

From the summit of Stuc a' Chroin

From the summit of Stuc a’ Chroin

Of course, of course, we couldn’t go a whole week without heading out for the hills again, especially so as Nita has been on annual leave for the last two weeks.  After our over heated walk up Beinn Each last week and our failure to get across from it to the Munro, Stuc a’ Chroin, we had another go at reaching its summit on Tuesday.  The weather was once again fine but less hot thankfully and we approached the hill from a different direction this time.  We started from Glen Artney at 08.20 and after a very long walk, reached the top at 13.35.  It was a magnificent walk and gave us great views back over to Beinn Each ….although I couldn’t thankfully see or hear the bug that took a dislike to us last week!   Stuc a’ Chroin really is a magnificent hill and we were lucky to have clear conditions and patchy bright sun as we sat at the top.  This was our 3rd attempt to climb it, so I have to admit I felt quite a sense of achievement.  We saw some magnificent colours during the walk and so I think I may well try and get something in the way of a painting out of this trip.

Well then, that’s about that for this week.  I’ll be down my studio tomorrow and Sunday as Nita has pulled the short straw and is working night shifts.  She’ll be exhausted for a couple of days so no thoughts of more walking until she’s recovered.

Oh yes, one final thing.  We have a new branch of Wetherspoon’s in Irvine.  It opened a couple of days ago and I’m really pleased to say that they have two of my pictures on the wall…… I haven’t had a chance to go in and see them yet, but once Nita has finished her night shifts I think we may well call in ……just to see the paintings I hasten to add …..nothing to do with the beer ……honest!

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Big space

Posted by admin on June 6th, 2014
East of Glen Shee ....a lot of open space

East of Glen Shee ….a lot of open space

Last July Nita and I drove up to Glen Shee with the intention of walking four of the big grassy Munros to the north east of the ski centre. It’s quite a big walk but the hills are mainly grassy and it’s easy underfoot, so it should have been a very pleasant day. As it turned out it was a little too pleasant…….. we’d gone in the middle of the hottest part of the summer. When we reached Glen Shee at about half past eight in the morning it was already baking hot and we quickly decided to do a shorter walk to match the conditions. Instead of walking all four hills we did a more leisurely circuit over the nearest two tops.

So, after a busy week for both Nita and I last week, we decided at the last minute to make the most of a good forecast for Saturday and headed back to Glen Shee ….this time with the aim of walking the two more distant hills we’d missed in the heat last year. This time when we reached the ski centre at the top of Glen Shee it was perfect conditions for a walk ….high cloud with patchy sun and a gentle breeze……so good in fact that we just had to stop at the ski centre cafe for coffee and biscuits first!

From the broad ridge near Cairn of Claiss

From the broad ridge near Cairn of Claiss

The hills were looking great as we made our way uphill from the starting point about a kilometre below the ski centre, with big patches of snow picking out the edges of corries and filling hollows. There were particularly big areas of snow on the north slopes of Glas Meol and at one point Nita spotted a big herd of deer running across one of them. I have to say, that we were amazed at just how dry everywhere was…..it certainly didn’t look like there had been anywhere near as much rain there as we’d had up in Assynt the previous two weeks. Large areas of peat were starting to dry out and crack and it made for very pleasant walking.

Our route took us out past Cairn of Claiss, one of the two hills we’d walked back in the heat last summer. This high boulder strewn top makes a very good view point but we decided to keep going rather than making the short detour up the boulders and stones to the summit. Even so, the feeling of space here is really strong. The high, open and wild grass and heather covered hills stretch away in all directions ……you seem very small indeed in this magnificent setting. It had taken us about two and a half hours to reach Cairn of Claiss and, as we’d been walking the reverse of the route suggested in the Munro guide, we’d seen no one at all ….despite there being half a dozen vehicles parked in the car park.

A view from Tom Buidhe

A view from Tom Buidhe

Our walk then took us out across the open slopes towards Tom Buidhe…our first top of the day. Still classified as a Munro, (it’s a very strange business!) but being of less height than its neighbours beyond, Tom Buidhe rather merges into the landscape when seen from Cairn of Claiss but still makes a good view point from it’s lonely little summit cairn. It’s neighbour and our second top of the day, Tolmount, lay just a kilometre or so away and by this time we were meeting many of the occupants of the parked cars …for an hour or so the hills seemed quite busy …although in all honesty we probably only saw about 20 other folks the whole day.

Approaching the top of Tolmount

Approaching the top of Tolmount

It’s just a small descent and rise from Tom Buidhe to Tolmount and from the second hill you get a great view down the steep sided glen to Loch Callater . For us, it had just been a gentle wander up grassy slopes to reach the summit of Tolmount but from Jock’s Road down in the glen it must look quite an imposing sight.

We wandered our way back in increasingly bright and warm sunshine and this time made the detour up to the top of Cairn of Claiss ……the views by this time in the early evening were taking on a strangely blue hue and with everyone else back in their cars by this stage, Nita and I had a very quiet descent, enjoying the lengthening shadows and rich evening colours.

We’re off back to Glen Rosa on Friday in order for me to do some more preliminary drawings as preparation for the big drawing project in November and December. It’s going to be a working walk I guess….. it’s much better than being in an office though!!

Photos by Anita Groves

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Back from Assynt

Posted by admin on May 30th, 2014
From the summit of Cul Mor

From the summit of Cul Mor

That’s me back in Irvine after a two week long holiday in Assynt in the NW of Scotland.  As usual after we get back from a trip away, I’m madly rushing around trying to catch up with everything.  We were staying at the small caravan site at Achmelvich just a few miles to the north of Lochinver and getting an Internet connection was almost impossible.  We did have access to a couple of different networks but neither was available.  After a bit of asking around we found we could get connected if we went to the small sports centre in Lochinver and this was useful for keeping up to date with emails …..but I decided to take a break from the blog and FB……hence the silence on these pages for a couple of weeks.

I must admit it has been a very relaxing time without the hassle of crashing computers and I’ve come back feeling good for the break.  That said, I did use some bad language a short while ago when my computer screen reader decided to throw a wobbly and then refuse to work at all ….but we’ve got over that so hopefully this blog will get written without any more upsets!

Looking towards Suilvern

Looking towards Suilvern

As you know, we’ve been up to Assynt on a number of occasions in the past.  It’s a wonderful part of Scotland with a very distinctive landscape that I just love.  Over the years we’ve walked many of the fine hills here but these are always worth revisiting and there are  always others just a little further away to be explored.  As it turned out, the weather didn’t really play ball and we had a lot of low cloud, rain and on occasion’s high winds which tended to keep us low rather than venturing onto the tops.    Even so, we got to see some great views and wander through some really wild places.  When it wasn’t raining, I even managed to sit down and get some quick sketches made, a couple of which I’m hoping to develop into larger more finished drawings now that I’m back in the studio.

From Cul Mor

From Cul Mor

We did get a couple of nice days however and on these we headed up –hill.  Back in 2008 we’d had a fabulous day on Cul Mor and I’d always wanted to do a return trip ….so that’s where we headed last Monday.  Have to say that it didn’t look altogether promising as we drove south the few miles towards the hill ….we couldn’t see it at all to start with …thick low cloud was completely shrouding the hill.  There were however a few small breaks in the cloud and as we were putting the boots on we noticed one of the tops  breaking clear of the cloud.  For the next half an hour we had some great views as the hills all started to shrug off their covering of cloud to leave everything bathed in a pale sunshine……it was looking good for the rest of the day.  On our previous visit in 2008 we’d tackled this hill via a steep rocky slope to the north of the hill that lead directly to the summit.  This time we headed into the big grassy corrie between the hills two main summits, and took a gentler route up.  It’s a fabulous  place with the steep rocky summits rising on two sides and a very big view east to mainly empty country and remote hills.   This grassy corrie was like an oven with the sun by this time, fairly blazing down and the hillsides protecting us from the breeze.

From the beallach at the top of the corrie, it’s a short and rather rocky little pull up the main summit but instead of heading there we decided to wander out to the western end of the hill where big cliffs fall down to the loch strewn moor-land below.  It’s a great place to sit for a while with many of the classic Assynt hills all around .   Our walk back from here not only took in the main summit but many little detours to look at some of the strange and beautiful rock formations caused by erosion of the flat beds of sandstone from which much of the upper section of the mountain is formed.  Indeed, much of the soil there is almost completely made up of sand …. you could be on a beach in places!

Suilvern from Cul Mor

Suilvern from Cul Mor

We normally get back from these May holidays a few pounds lighter but this year I think we may well have put some weight on …….we certainly ate out a few more times especially after finding a fantastic bistro in Lochinver that served really excellent food and beer.   They also made a wonderful range of pies which I managed to resist during the holiday only to find that they do a ‘Pies by post’ service …..so I may just have to order a couple next time we have something to celebrate.

Anyway, I’m back in my studio this week and starting to enjoy the painting again.  It’s always difficult after a break away but I’ve started a new 120 x 120 cm painting …..so not a bad start.

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Art on the Hill

Posted by admin on May 10th, 2014
'Art on the Hill'

‘Art on the Hill’

Just a very short blog today as I’ve been very busy this week and am running late as usual!

I thought I’d use this space to plug the ‘Art on the Hill‘ exhibition which runs until 31st May and is open daily from 12 noon until 10pm. Artist and exhibition organiser Peter Gillies kindly invited me to take part in this big exhibition that includes work by around 80 artists and makers.

The exhibition is in the upper level of the Church on the Hill in Battlefield, Queens Park, Glasgow. This is a really magnificent building and the space is just huge ….it really is very impressive.

‘Art on the Hill’ is part of the Southside Fringe Festival, so do check out what else is going on throughout the month.

Full details:

www.glasgowartfairscotland.co.uk

I have three of my paintings in the exhibition…..hope you can get to see the show.

'Art on the Hill'

‘Art on the Hill’

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Stretching the legs…..

Posted by admin on April 25th, 2014

As you will have noticed, there has been a slight blip on the blog front recently….. that can be put for the most part down to a troublesome computer.   Anyway, I’m back in business now, so, at long last….. a blog.

On Carn Chreag

On Carn Chreag

As I look out of the window now, it’s a grey overcast scene, but for the most of the last week, ten days, it’s been really good weather here in the west of Scotland….. and I’ve been making the most of it.  Being both school and bank holidays, there have been a lot of people down on the harbour side here in Irvine and so it’s been important that I’ve been at my studio.  I’ve certainly had a lot of visitors which has been good and as this has been the run up to the Open Studios Ayrshire event this year, it’s been a good way of promoting that too.  Of course, having my studio open to the public is nothing out of the ordinary for me …when I’m working, the door is always open and visitors are always welcome to call in and see what work is on the go.  However, taking part in an official Open Studios event like this, is very good publicity for me  and I’ve been delighted to get involved and be one of the 47 studios open in Ayrshire over this coming weekend Saturday 26th and Sunday 27th April.  It should be a good event and of course, for many folk it’s the only time of the year when they open the studio door.   If you’re not doing anything else this weekend why not visit some of the many artists and craftspeople taking part this year.  You can find full details by visiting: www.openstudiosayrshire.com .

From the summit of Beinn nam Fuaran

From the summit of Beinn nam Fuaran

But, fine weather is not just about working and being in my studio.  I just had to get out in the hills and we managed three walks in just eight days …which was pretty good for us.   We’d started out by taking a day in the Pentland Hills near Edinburgh, (see my last blog), then a very gentle wander up Meall Odhar near Tyndrum last Tuesday.  Finally with the forecast set for almost cloudless skies, we decided we’d have to do a longer walk on the Friday.   I’ve wanted to reach the top of Beinn nam Fuaran, a steep grassy hill that rises to just over 800m but is somewhat tucked out of the way.  In the guidebooks they suggest it can be walked as part of a big circular day taking in five hills in total but I’ve always felt that this would just be a slog with no time to enjoy your surroundings.  So then, over the years we’ve visited these hills individually or in pairs, but Beinn nam Fuaran has always been a little out of reach.  This time however, I was determined to reach its summit…..but not before a good breakfast!

We timed our drive north so that we arrived at the Green Welly in Tyndrum just as they opened their doors at 08.30 and were second in line for coffee and bacon roll.  They really do make an exceedingly fine and well filled bacon roll at the Green Welly.   A five minute drive back down the road took us to a small car park just off the main road on the line of the West Highland Way.  As the crow flies, it’s just over 9km from the car park to the summit of Beinn nam Fuaran but there’s quite a bit of ascent and descent in between.

The air that day was really clear despite the bright sun and the big hills with their splattering of snow, looked especially fine. Streams rushed down the hillsides, full and busy from the melting snow above …it was really quite idyllic.  We did pass a few people on the long crossing between Carn Chreag and Beinn nam Fuaran ….but they had their heads down and were I think doing the five hills in a oner …..best of luck to them …we were going much slower!

We had to descend to about 400 m before the steep pull up to the summit of Beinn nam Fuaran which we reached just before 15.00.  It was well worth the effort, (even the cramping legs on the last hundred feet up the hill).  The views were really big and there was no noise except for the wind, an occasional passing insect and the call of a Raven circling overhead.

Below Ben Challum ....evening light

Below Ben Challum ….evening light

In all honesty we were running a bit late and there was the definite possibility of us finishing our walk in the dark …but what the heck.  As it turned out, we got back to the car about 20.45 and there was still plenty of light.  We even made it back to Tyndrum in time to get some chips and coffees before the chippy closed …so what more can you ask?!  What a day….

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Working on a larger scale

Posted by admin on April 4th, 2014
Work in progress, 120 x 120 cm

Work in progress, 120 x 120 cm

One of my colleagues at the Courtyard Studios, Margaret Carslaw, nearly always works on a large scale.  Her drawings and paintings are rarely smaller than 120 x 120 cm and usually bigger.  As someone who generally works on pieces that are less than a metre square, I’ve always found it fascinating seeing Margaret’s large paintings and watching how she approaches them.  Over the years we’ve had many discussions about our work and she’s tried to persuade me of the merits of working on a large scale while I’ve been trying to persuade her that it’s just as challenging working on something small!  I guess when it comes down to it, we’re probably both right but I’ve certainly found myself drifting towards creating larger work.

Of course, all the creative bumf aside, there is a practical side to this which if you want to exhibit and sell work, does come into it ……..the simple question of how to transport large works.  When we changed vehicles back in 2010 we had originally thought of getting a small van instead of a car.  It seemed to make sense except for the fact that we occasionally need to carry passengers…..apart from the legality or otherwise of it, we didn’t think our friend Guy would enjoy sitting on the floor bouncing around in the back of a van all the way to Glencoe and back and Nita’s parents on their annual visit certainly wouldn’t enjoy the experience either, even if it was just to go down to the Harbourside!  So then, Nita spent many hours pawing through the ‘What car’ magazines before finally coming up with a Citroen Nemo …..a boxy thing that would take a lot of paintings up to a metre wide and a vehicle that was very economic too.  It’s been a very good compromise and I can fit a lot of this smaller sized work in it when I need to and Guy and Nita’s parents can ride in it comfortably.

As I say though, I’ve gradually been moving towards doing larger work and decided last year that I had, in the exhibition / drawing project arranged for Nov / Dec at the our neighbouring Harbour Arts Centre, an excuse to do a couple of larger paintings …..it’s less than 100 metres from the Courtyard to the HAC so no vehicles needed to transport the work ….I can simply carry the paintings across.   I bought what for me is quite a large canvas ….120 x 120 cm back before Christmas and started work on it almost straight away.

It’s been a really good experience and I decided from the outset that I’d try using my father’s big old horse hair house painting brush on this painting.  I want it to be quite bold as well as quite textural.  The brush is at least six inches wide and the course hairs leave wonderful marks in the thick oil paint.   Four months on from starting it, the painting is still in progress but starting to come together now. I’ve been spending a day on it and then letting the paint dry for a few days so that I can build up overlapping layers of colour and mark.  The painting is a reworking of an idea I had back in 2008 but which at the time I did on a much smaller scale and in a landscape format.   I want the painting to be as much about the colour, composition and texture as about the landscape…..but as usual will try to create a balance between the two.

Anyway, with this piece well under way, I’ve just made a note to order another 120 x 120 cm canvas as well as something around 120 x 40 cm ……this to create something based on the wild snow covered landscape that we experienced around Corrour the other week.  Margaret may well be winning the battle of wills…..I seem to be getting hooked on doing bigger work!  And what about my transportation argument I hear you shout?  Well, just last week a lady visited my studio who is planning to set up a small business in the area transporting artwork in a large van she owns.  She’s a painter herself…..so if she gets set up, transporting the occasional large canvas may not be so problematic…..that’s my excuse anyway!

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