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February Report 2018: Kylesku Project & “Painting with Sound” Exhibition

There has been a lot happening since I last updated this home page back in November. 

The most significant happening, although not really art related ……. was that after just over 30 years of being together, Nita and I finally got married!  That was back at the start of December and we spent a fabulous week away staying in one of the old lodges in the Brodick Castle estate on the Isle of Arran.  We had magnificent weather the whole week and actually arrived as snow was falling.  We managed to get several good short walks done, enjoying the cold crisp weather and the amazing views of the snow covered Arran peaks.  Since returning to the studio, I’ve completed several new 30 x 30 cm paintings and one of them tries to capture the scene looking into Glen Sannox….see below.

'Glen Sannox, a December morning', Acrylic & Pastel, 2017, 30 x 30cm

“Glen Sannox”

 

'From the Devil's Staircase, winter', Acrylic & Pastel, 2018, 30 x 30 cm

‘From the Devil’s Staircase, winter’

1s 'A Coigach landscape, January', Acrylic & Pastel, 2018, 30 x 30 cm

‘A Coigach landscape, January’

1 Towards the Arran mountains from Brodick Castle ground

Towards the Arran mountains from Brodick Castle ground

Of course, much of my time has been taken up with the larger and more experimental audio paintings.   As you know, the first of these, called the Kylesku Project, has been on the go since the summer and in October we were able to test out the partially finished piece for a few days in the magnificent space at the Barony Centre in West Kilbride.  The work was only up for a few days, but it gave us a chance to assess how effective the 5.1 soundtrack was and how well it worked with the 120 x 120 cm Kylesku painting.   We were all very encouraged by this first test and especially by the response we had to the work from visitors and staff at the centre.  It was so positive that we have been invited back to the Barony for a full exhibition early in March.

 

The exhibition, which we are calling, “Painting with Sound”, will open on Monday 5th March and run until 22nd March.  Below is the exhibition poster with all the relevant details:

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“Painting with Sound”

“Painting with Sound” is an exhibition of work by Ayrshire artists and sound engineers, Keith Salmon, Graham Byron and Drew Kirkland.

The focal point of the exhibition is the “Kylesku Project”, the trio’s latest audio visual collaboration.  Created from a series of sound recordings made on the shore of the sea loch near Kylesku in Sutherland in May 2017, the work consists of a 120 x 120 cm oil painting, produced by Keith Salmon and inspired by a 30 minute long 5.1 surround-sound track. Engineered and installed by Graham Byron and Drew Kirkland, the sound track will be playing throughout the exhibition and contains sounds from the natural Kylesku environment, sounds recorded as the painter works in his studio and a unique selection of computer generated tones.  As a viewer looks at the painting and moves in front of it, different elements of the soundtrack are heard through the five surround-sound speakers.   The Kylesku Project is the first in a series of evolving and uniquely Scottish sound / landscapes.  

 The exhibition will also contain around 25 of Keith Salmon’s Scottish landscape paintings, along with drawing, text, video and projected film footage that will plot the development since 2014 of this new and exciting Ayrshire based audio visual collaboration.

 

Although we are only just about to exhibit the Kylesku Project for the first time, we have already started work on our second audio piece.  This will also focus on the dramatic coastal scenery of Sutherland in north west Scotland.  A week after New Year, Nita, me, Graham and his wife Tracy, headed up north, aiming for the Stoer Head lighthouse that is situated on the prominent and rugged Stoer peninsular about 10 miles to the north of Lochinver.  It’s a wild spot at the best of times and Nita and I had visited it on several occasions in the past.  On one such trip last year, we had seen a notice at the lighthouse saying that the two flats adjoining it were available to rent.  Now, just for instance, if you wanted to make sound recordings of waves breaking and crashing against huge cliffs…..where would be better? So that was our destination….. both cars arriving at this lonely spot just as the light was fading and the lighthouse was doing its business.  It was quite amazing unloading our gear and carrying it up the spiral staircase to the top flat….. with the sound of the waves crashing below.

 

We stayed there for a week, each day heading out, armed with a variety of sound recording equipment and cameras.  While Graham organised and set up each of the recordings, Tracy filmed everything so that we had a record of this part of the work for future promotional material.  It all worked very well and we were especially lucky with the weather, it not only being dry all week, but also not that windy.  On the Wednesday and Thursday it was very nearly calm….. but with a big swell rolling in that made for some great sound!  At the end of each afternoon we would retreat to the warmth of the flat and then spend several more hours checking through the sound and film we had recorded.  Beer, good food and conversation added to the enjoyment and the week raced by.  Before long it was Sunday morning and we were packing the cars for the journey back to Ayrshire.  Only then did the weather break and we had to battle our way around the side of the lighthouse in a howling gale to get to the cars!  It was certainly a dramatic departure and my final sound recording was made of the wind howling in the stairwell leading down from the flat.

We got some very good recordings from the trip and Graham has already edited the film footage Tracy took, into a series of short clips which we’ll be projecting onto a large screen as part of the “Painting with Sound” exhibition.  I do hope you can get along to both see and hear our work…. it will, I’m sure, be a very different and hopefully, thought provoking experience.

Ghlas Bheinn – what a difference a few months make!

It has all been work, work, and work these last few weeks and so it was great to have an excuse to stop for a couple of days last weekend.  Some friends of ours from Germany are over visiting Scotland for a couple of weeks and have hired a camper van for the duration.  On Saturday we drove up into the Highlands with them and did a gentle tour up to Arrochar, over the Rest and Be Thankful, past Loch Fyne and on through Tyndrum and Bridge of Orchy to Rannoch Moor.   Our visitors first few days in Scotland, spent exploring Edinburgh, were spent under cloudy skies and in wet conditions but on Saturday the conditions in the West Highlands were superb ….hot and sunny and the landscape looked at its very best.

vacation in Scotland

Andrea, Rudi and Nita on Ghlas Bheinn

Andrea and Rudi were keen to do some walking so long as it wasn’t a huge mountain hike and so our first thoughts were to take them for a wander along the Bridge of Orchy to Victoria Bridge section of the West Highland Way.  The path climbs a little but not much and reaches the most magnificent view point high above Loch Tulla…..we thought that this would be ideal.  And it would have been except that the annual West Highland Way race was taking part that weekend and as we arrived at the Bridge of Orchy…..the runners were passing through.  There were dozens of cars and vans and numerous people and stewards ….all very exciting but not the peaceful place we’d imagined we’d be able to show our friends from Germany!  We extricated ourselves, the camper van and our car from the mayhem and after a short re-think drove the few miles further on to the big view point on the road leading up onto Blackmount.

vacation in Scotland

Away from the crowds, a perfect summer evening in the West Highlands

We normally park here for our annual winter wander along the undulating little ridge leading to Ghlas Bheinn and this suddenly seemed to be the perfect solution for a walk now.  And so it was, with huge views and a good cooling breeze to keep the midges away, this short walk gave Andrea and Rudi a chance to experience a little bit of the Highlands off-piste as it were ….no paths and no other walkers.  For Nita and me it was great to see this familiar place under beautiful summer conditions with different colours and light.  We got back to the vehicles around half past eight in the evening and drove back to the Bridge of Orchy Hotel for food and refreshment ….a perfect end to a very enjoyable day.  My thanks to the staff at the hotel.  They must have been completely shattered by the time we wandered in at just after nine in the evening ….but they very kindly agreed to fix us some food despite us arriving after they had officially finished serving.  Great service and very friendly and if you are heading up or down the A82, this hotel is highly recommended.

A long hot day in the Blackmount

This time last week, (Sunday morning) Nita and I were making our way along the West Highland Way between Victoria Bridge and Ba Bridge.  You’ll remember perhaps that we walked part of this section of the WHW a few months ago when we went to walk Beinn Toaig.  On that occasion the skies were as free of clouds as last Sunday, but the temperature was somewhat different with snow and ice on the mountains above about 600 metres.  Our lunchtime spot that day was high up on Beinn Toaig and we were sat looking out over the lonely glen through which the Ba River flows.    It has big mountains on three sides and is also the home of wee Meall Tionail, the craggy little hill sitting at the far end of the glen.

photo of Scotland - Blackmount

‘A very warm walk in the Blackmount’

 It was to this small hill that Nita and I made our slow hot way last Sunday.  It really was hot too as we walked the hard rough surface of the WHW, even at nine o’clock in the morning, but the views out over Rannoch Moor and to the surrounding mountains were beautiful.  Not surprisingly there were quite a few other folk out plodding their way along this famous path although to be honest, I didn’t envy them the prospect of continuing all day on this hard unyielding surface of the WHW.  By the time we had reached the beautiful Ba Bridge my feet were already quite sore and I couldn’t wait to get onto the soft grassy path that leads up the glen towards Meall Tionail.

Photos of Scotland - Blackmount

‘A very warm walk in the Blackmount’

One of my plans for the day was to make some new recordings of water flowing through the various streams, but after this unusually dry period, even the Ba River had precious little water flowing in it.  The last time we were here back in April 2012 all the streams and rivers were quite busy ……this time it was like they were all taking a siesta.  But that said, we did in the end get some interesting and what should be useful recordings.

As we moved slowly up the glen we became more sheltered from the occasional breeze and it became hotter and hotter.  It was idyllic however and so incredibly quiet and peaceful ….just the calls of birds, the buzz of insects and the trickles of water ….no human sounds at all.  By the time we were at the base of Meall Tionail we decided it was just too hot to do the short steep climb up to its summit and instead sat with our feet cooling in the small  stream  flowing off the hillside.  It had several little pools, into one of which Nita had plunged her feet.  After a short while she let out a yelp and moved her feet, saying that something, presumably a frog, had touched her foot!  She couldn’t see anything at first though but after several more minutes she saw the culprit  ….. a quite large brown trout, who’s home the pool must have been!

Photo of Scottish Highlands - Blackmount

‘A very warm walk in the Blackmount’

The walk back was if anything even hotter and we took numerous stops where ever we found places with a hint of a breeze.  We did get back to the car eventually, about ten hours after setting  out in the morning and both of us with very sore feet, but it had been some day and it was great to get back into the Highlands again.

A day exploring Beinn Toaig in the Blackmount, West Highlands

About 10 years ago, my good friend Guy, led me on a walk up the Munro Stob a’ Choire Odhair in the Blackmount region of the Scottish West Highlands.  Guy, never one to just follow the standard routes up hills, suggested we climb this Munro by way of its neighbouring top, Beinn Toaig.   We did this and it made for a very good route, but on that day, it was a very good route in thick cloud and we didn’t see very much.  Since then Nita and I had been back on two or three  occasions, and on one of them, we enjoyed hot clear conditions ….but still didn’t see much  because of very thick heat haze!

scottish mountains

‘In the Blackmount, the Scottish West Highlands’

Yesterday, with the weather once again set fine for the West Highlands of Scotland, we decided to go back to Beinn Toaig, but this time, spend a few hours exploring it and enjoying the fine views we expected to get.    That said however, it didn’t look too hopeful as we drove up the side of Loch Lomond at about eight o’clock yesterday morning.  There was thick dark cloud and it all looked very dreary.  We shouldn’t have worried however, the folk at the Mountain Weather Information Service had got it right and by the time we’d had a coffee and breakfast at the Green Welly, the thick cloud was breaking up and clear blue skies were taking over.

scottish mountains

‘In the Blackmount, the Scottish West Highlands’

We parked the car at the end of the road near Victoria Bridge on the West Highland Way and following the broad track through the trees until we reached the open moorland.  The views were already stunning and our hill, Beinn Toaig, looked very inviting with plenty of snow still on its steep upper slopes.   We weren’t really sure what the conditions would be like higher up as, after many weeks of freezing temperatures on the mountains, spring had suddenly arrived and the temperatures were quite high.   After a couple of kilometres on the WHW we turned off and made our way across the edge of the moorland, heading for the lower end of the broad ridge leading from the summit of Beinn Toaig.  I can’t quite say how wonderful it was to be out here with the mountains all around and the huge space of Rannoch Moor stretching out  below us.  Wow!   There was a lot of snow higher up but despite this there were still areas of snow free ground and for the most part we were able to follow these up the steep slopes leading onto the ridge.  By the time we needed to get onto the snow, the slopes were very gentle and the snow underfoot, fairly soft.

scottish mountains

‘In the Blackmount, the Scottish West Highlands’

I had hoped before setting out, that the views from the ridge into the heart of the Blackmount, would be good.  When we gained the height and could see into the main group of mountains ….well, it was just breathtaking, especially so in this clear crisp spring light.  We spent so much time just stopping and looking and taking photographs and our lunch spot was one of the most enjoyable and spectacular we’ve had for a long time …..and that says something.  We could hear the distant roar of the river rushing through the glen below heading for Ba Bridge and Rannoch Moor and there were the occasional sounds of Raven, Plovers and at one point, high up, two Golden Eagles.  Nita watched them for quite a while but they were too high up for me to make out ……but it was great to know they were there.

scottish mountains

‘In the Blackmount, the Scottish West Highlands’

We didn’t quite reach the summit of Beinn Toaig in the end.  We carried on until about three o’ clock and still a short distance from the top, decided it was probably sensible to start heading back ….I really am very slow on the descent!  It was probably a good decision as in the end we only got back to the car at about half past six and the sun was down by then and everything was getting a little dark.  What a day though …… my jaw was aching from smiling so much!

scottish mountains

‘In the Blackmount, the Scottish West Highlands’

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A perfect spring walk – the Pentland Hills near Edinburgh

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A bright snowy morning in the Pentland Hills

We are finally starting to get out walking more regularly again and on Monday we drove over to the Pentland Hills near Edinburgh.  A bit like the Ochil Hills which we visited the other week, these small hills make an excellent walk without being a major expedition.  That said, also like the Ochils, you can still make a good long walk …..and as we found, end up stomping back to the car in the dark!

abstract scottish landscape art

Snow line on the Pentland Hills

We had decided to go to the Pentland Hills as the forecasts had suggested that there would be much more cloud in the west than over in the sunny east ….and we fancied a bit of sun even if it was a bit further to drive than we’d planned.  It was however a very beautiful drive over as by the time we had reached the M74 there was a covering of fresh snow lying everywhere.  It wasn’t much and in the bright and surprisingly warm early morning sun it was melting back quite quickly ….but it looked lovely.

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Keith Salmon on Carnethy Hill

A fairly leisurely start meant that we only set out on our walk at around 10.30 am and we hadn’t really planned exactly where we were going to go ….we’d head up onto the ridge, go as far as Carnethy Hill and then decide what to do from there on.  It’s always a steep little pull up onto the first in the long line of hills but the views as always were spectacular, especially with the snow.  Nita could see out to the Bass Rock apparently although of course, I missed out on this and instead enjoyed the hills close to me.  By the time we were up onto the first hill, the snow had already melted back on most of the south facing slopes and as we made our way up Carnethy Hill and looked back there was a very impressive and very distinct line between the bright green on one side of the ridge and the white of the snow on the north facing slopes…..it was very impressive.

abstract scottish landscape art

Approaching West Kip

At the summit of Carnethy Hill it was time to decide what to do with the rest of our day.  We sat down close to the snow / grass divide and ate our lunch in warm sunshine and with little more than a slight breeze.  The ridge continued ahead over Scald Law, South Black Hill, East Kip and onto West Kip.  We’d visited all of these in the past, except West Kip and so it seemed the perfect destination.

As you know, we don’t move very fast these days and time was already getting on by the time we’d finished our picnic in the sun on Carnethy Hill.   We decided therefore to miss out the summit of South Black Hill and make directly for East and West Kip once we’d passed the summit of Scald Law.

abstract scottish landscape art

Nita at the summit of West Kip

There is a short sharp pull up onto the summits of both these hills and when we finally reached the top of West Kip I have to say, that my legs were starting to complain a bit!  But it was so worth while …..it is quite a lofty little summit with the ground falling away steeply on both sides and with the snow still lying on the ground at the top and on it’s northern facing slopes, well, it looked really wonderful.  It certainly looked much grander than I’d expected.  The question now of course, was, which way back.

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Evening reflections, the Pentland Hills

It was now about 16.00 and so a short sharp descent down the snowy slopes seemed to be the answer, and once the level ground had been reached, it was a simple case of following a track back to the start of the wee road that leads back to the car park past the two reservoirs.  It was quite a long way all the same and we were delayed en-route as we just had to stop and admire the stunning reflections on the surface of the reservoirs.  We ended up walking the last mile or so back in increasingly poor light and eventually almost complete darkness…..perhaps we should have started a little earlier in the morning, but it meant a little added mobility training that I hadn’t banked on!  Once again though, we’d had a wonderful day in these small hills and for the first time this year I felt that I’d finally stretched my legs properly.

From spring to winter in just a few metres – the Ochil Hills

We had a fabulous day last weekend walking up in the Ochil Hills near Stirling.  We visit these hills most years at some point and they make a great short winter day ….as we experienced on Saturday.

scottish landscapes

Spring ….. looking towards the summit of Craighorn

We weren’t planning to go far as once again Nita had to work a 12 hour shift at the hospital the following day so we decided to walk up onto Craighorn, the 583 metre high top that we returned over on our last visit to this area.    As we drove over towards the Ochil’s it certainly looked like being a very fine day with clear blue skies and stunning early morning colours and as we got closer Nita said she could make out a little snow on the upper slopes ….but not much.

Scottish Landscape Photos

Winter ….near the summit of Craighorn

We started walking from the small car park near Alva and were soon far too hot as we plodded up the steep twisting estate track that climbs up towards The Nebbit……it was the perfect early spring day.  The track splits after the initial steep bit and we took the one that contours around the side of The Nebbit and above the impressive Alva Glen with it’s even more impressive gorge……it looked beautiful in the bright sunshine.  Once beyond The Nebbit we left the path and headed straight up the front of Craighorn on steep but very pleasant grassy slopes.  This was quite hard going in the warm sun and jumpers, jackets and hats were being stripped off in order to keep reasonably cool…..I was even worrying about not having any sun-block for my head!  We gained height fairly quickly and as we did, the views opened up.  Looking south we could see the big sweeping lines of the Forth and off to our right, considerably more snow than we’d anticipated from the road side view earlier.  It was still nice and warm though and with the shelter given by the near by hills, there was very little in the way of wind.  We sat down and enjoyed the warm sun, the great views and the peace and quiet.

Scottish Landscape photos

Ben Ever from the perfect lunch spot

As the steep slopes gave way to the broad gradually rising ridge of Craighorn however, we finally found the wind and saw the extent of the snow over on Ben Ever and Ben Cleuch …it was really quite white and I was already thinking about putting the jumper back on ….but while we kept going, it was fine.  By this stage we must have been above 500 metres and although there was an occasional patch of snow, it was still mainly open grass ….and it appeared to be like this all the way up the final slopes.  Then, within just a few metres of both ascent and distance, what had been a pleasant early spring day, turned into winter!  Suddenly there was quite a lot of snow around.  It was still quite thick in places and icy too …… and the temperature seemed to suddenly have plummeted. In all honesty this was more down to the fact that as we had been walking, dark heavy clouds had appeared and the wind had picked up considerably too.  We had a mad dash to get all our warm gear on ….and then we were fine!  Even having walked the hills all my adult life and been out in some very unpleasant conditions over the years, it never ceases to amaze me quite how quickly you can go from having a warm pleasant wander ….to being seriously cold ….and needing all the gear.  We always tend to carry quite large and heavy rucksacks, even in the summer and sometimes when I see other folk walking along with tiny light weight bags and very little gear, I do wonder. That said however, I certainly wouldn’t be without all the gear I carry.  It’s so much better to have the gear and not need it than to be caught out and get seriously cold or wet ….or worse.

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The Nebbit and the Forth from the sunny slopes of Craighorn

We wandered along the length of Craighorn before finding a sheltered spot for lunch ….and then simply retraced our steps.  It was so beautiful and although Nita could see plenty of other walkers over on Ben Ever and Ben Cleuch, we only saw one other person…. a hill runner who was moving far too fast to get cold I guess.  I really like these little hills and next time we visit we’ve promised ourselves to explore some of the many other tops and glens in the area.  Anyway, they are well worth a visit, especially so on a crisp winter day.

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Early spring colours, the Ochil Hills

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A very short walk on the West Highland Way

Walking the West Highland Way from end to end isn’t really for me, although I can certainly see the attraction and see why so many people each year set out to complete the full route…….it really does go through some amazing scenery.  We tend to walk short sections of the path, often on the way to or back from one of the many hills and mountains that rise on either side of it.

West Highland Way

Loch Lomond from the slopes of Connich Hill

If you read my blog a few weeks ago, you know that I am hoping to put together images of 12 paintings that are based on or around the West Highland Way and last Monday, wanting just a short little walk, we decided to have a wander up the small steep Connich (Conic) Hill that rises above the southern shores of Loch Lomond.  It’s a magnificent little hill giving fine views across the loch and north to Ben Lomond and the Arrochar Alps and as such I thought it might be a perfect place for the first painting in my West Highland Way collection.  I’ve walked this hill on a couple of previous occasions, but never worked on any paintings after these trips.

West Highland Way

Connich Hill

So then, on Monday last, Nita and I travelled up to Loch Lomond with the aim of walking this wee hill, taking a few photos, doing some sketching and maybe making a couple of sound recordings.  Well, that was the plan anyway!  What we hadn’t taken into account however was the fact that it was the school half term and when we arrived at the base of the hill, there were a lot of families who had had the same idea …to walk this wee hill and enjoy the spectacular scenery under almost clear blue skies.  We normally tend to wander off of the main paths and visit the places less popular with other walkers, and so the volumes of people making their way up the West Highland Way footpath to the top of Connich Hill, were somewhat over-whelming!

West Highland Way

Ben Lomond from below Connich Hill

By the time we had reached a point about three quarters of the way up, both Nita and I were gritting our teeth and we stopped to sit down and look at the views  ….with our backs to the crowds!  It was just so noisy ….which was fine as it was great that so many people were enjoying themselves ….but it wasn’t for us.   To make matters worse for us two grumpy old folk, a couple of local farmers were rounding up sheep using one of those four wheeled vehicles, ….and shouting a lot.  Then just as I thought things couldn’t get any noisier on a hill, one of those powered flying triangles came over, swooping and gunning its engine!  That was that, we decided not to bother going on to the top and after examining the map, noticed a footpath making its way back down to the road well away from the WHW.  We took it and within ten minutes we were out of reach of the voices and had the hillside to ourselves. ….phew!  It was beautiful and the short descent made for a very enjoyable last hour.

West Highland Way

Loch Lomond from our quiet descent route!

I didn’t get any sketching done and certainly no sound recordings, but we did see some great views and colours and I may get something in the way of a painting out of our short day.   In all honesty, I’m sure I used to be just as noisy when I was young and walking the hills with my dad ….now I’ve turned into him ….I’m one of those grumpy old men too!

A sound plan – my new Loch Lomond National Park drawing project …… and more?

Yesterday we were out walking in the Luss Hills again. These fabulous steep sided, mainly grassy little hills are situated on the edge of the Loch Lomond National Park and give fabulous views in all directions. As you know, we are particularly keen on walking the two hills of Beinn Dubh and Mid Hill that sit behind the village of Luss and over the 15 years since our friend Guy first introduced us to the hills, (on a cold, damp, misty day) we must have been back at least a couple of times each year. In the summer they make for a very pleasant short day …perfect for ambling along and sitting just looking and enjoying the scenery. In winter they are a perfect place for the short daylight hours …especially if like me, you can’t see too much and move very slowly.

Beinn Dubh

Beinn Dubh and Glen Luss, Loch Lomond National Park

So then, we were back there yesterday in what was, for this last few months, a rare day of calm and bright conditions. This time though, we didn’t just go for the walk and the scenery; this time it was for me, a working walk.

Glen Luss

Overlooking Glen Luss from Beinn Dubh

Since completing the big Glen Rosa drawing project at the end of 2014, I’ve been keen to do another large drawing project and as you may know, I’ve been starting to work on using sound with my paintings and drawings. I was very kindly lent a sound recorder by a local theatre sound engineer and told to go out and just see what happened. For most of last year I was taking the recorder with me on our walks into the hills and just seeing what kind of sounds I captured. I didn’t really have much idea of what I wanted or what I was doing ….just that I wanted to capture sounds that conveyed something of the place we were in. I have to admit that I made many really poor recordings during last year but that said, I have started to have a better idea of what I’m after now and have several quite interesting recordings.

Beinn Dubh summit

From near the summit of Beinn Dubh

I decided a few months ago that it was important for me to fix some kind of actual project so that I wasn’t just going out making random recordings. I wanted to do a piece of work that was based on somewhere I knew really well and that we could reach fairly quickly without too long a drive …. and somewhere that we could go throughout the year and in all sorts of conditions. Beinn Dubh and Mid Hill seemed to fit the bill and so this new large drawing / sound project is to be based on these hills.

Loch Lomond

Over looking Loch Lomond

With the Glen Rosa piece I wanted it to be one large drawing and this meant ‘borrowing’ the local Harbour Arts Centre gallery wall to do it. That drawing was done in graphite and as it turned out only took 17 days to complete. But of course, I can’t keep on borrowing the HAC gallery wall every time I want to do a big drawing and so I’ve decided that this new project (to be completed in pastel rather than graphite) will be done in sections or panels, each one being based on view points on Beinn Dubh and each one based on the scene viewed under different light and conditions.

I started the first section back before Christmas and am about to start the second piece shortly. I think that the completed work will be made up of around 7 sections. I am now in process of trying to gather sound recordings and to work out exactly how I might use them when the finished work is finally exhibited. At the moment I’m working along the lines of having a different recording for each section of the drawing and these to be played as a loop during the course of the exhibition. But, as you know, most of my work evolves and so these early plans may well change. I haven’t yet got a way to share these early recording with you but am planning to seek advice soon.

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Section 1 of new drawing

Finally, as you know, I’ve been working with US landscape photographer and film maker, Daniel Thornton over the last couple of years. He is making an hour long documentary about my work and this project is still in progress. A few months ago he put me in touch with some colleagues of his who work for a very big software company and who are working on new technology to help blind and visually impaired people appreciate two dimensional images ….. paintings, drawings, photographs etc. They are keen to work with an artist and when Dan told them about my own work they were interested in discussing some kind of collaboration. The discussions are at an early stage but I think we all feel that there is huge potential. It would be great to have the opportunity to create another large sound / drawing work based on a landscape in the US and combines it, not just with a background sound but also with different levels of audio that would help other visually impaired people enjoy the work. Perhaps the new Loch Lomond NP / Beinn Dubh work could be exhibited alongside a new American work? A long way to go in more ways than one, but it is really interesting and it may allow me to continue working as a professional artist even if my sight deteriorates further in the future. I’ll keep you updated with developments.

A snowy Saturday in the Southern Highlands

Last Saturday we were out for a short wander up near Tyndrum.  For once, the weather forecast got it a little wrong.  It had seemed to suggest that a band of rain and snow would move down from the north west late Saturday afternoon and so as we were only planning on a fairly short low level walk into Cononish Glen, we thought we’d have plenty of time to do our walk and get home before the bad weather arrived.  That was the plan anyway!

When we left Irvine just after eight o’clock in the morning however, there was already a lot of low dark clouds around and the few breaks in the east soon disappeared……and of course, the sun rise was quite interesting ….what do they say about red sky in the morning?! 

By the time we got to Loch Lomond it was already very gloomy although Nita said you could see the snow covered tops of the mountains.  At the southern end of the loch the snow level was a couple of hundred metres above the road but by the time we got to the top end of the loch …it was down to road level and at Crianlarich and Tyndrum there was quite a bit laying everywhere and the snow plough had piled it up a little at the sides of the road.

Of course, of course, we had to go into the Green Welly for a cuppa (we were good though …we didn’t have a bacon or egg roll this time) but on emerging out into the car park to get our gear on …Nita said that it was starting to snow lightly.  Not in the plan at all …but it didn’t seem much and so we headed off on our walk.  By the time we had crossed the railway by the station and started up the forestry track that leads over into the glen, it was snowing properly and a half hour after that ….it was snowing heavily.  It looked great though as there was no wind and it was falling straight down and settling on every little twig and branch.  

 

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Cononish Glen ….a rather white scene

Cononish Glen is really spectacular with big mountains all around and our plan had been to take some photos and to stop and for me to make some new sound recordings.  When we reached the glen it really was pretty snowy and white.  You couldn’t see more than a couple of hundred metres up the hillside and ice had made the river much narrower than normal.  At this point though, we did stop for 15 minutes while I set my sound recorder to work …inside a water proof rucksack!  On returning home I found I’d captured the soft noise of the snow flakes hitting the outside of the rucksack with the very faint sound of the river in the background.

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Meeting the West Highland Way

Anyway, by this time we were starting to think that the roads might not be so clever and so decided to cut short the walk and to head back.  We didn’t just retrace our steps though but followed the glen back to a point where we could meet the West Highland Way ….and then follow that back through the beautiful Tyndrum Community Woodland into the village. 

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By the West Highland Way, near Tyndrum

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In Tyndrum Community Woodland

It made for a lovely walk and we were back at the Green Welly by about two o’clock.  The road wasn’t looking great …snow with tyre tracks ….but as we got out of our gear the snow plough / gritter came along.

I had said to Nita that we shouldn’t worry as by the time we were back down to Loch Lomond it would be warmer and the roads would be fine there.  Got that wrong ….if anything it got worse and the snow fell harder…..and kept on falling all the way back to Irvine!!  Took us over two and a half hours to get back ….but it did look great and we’d had a fabulous if short day out.

West Highland Way Work – a plan for the future

I’ve never walked the whole of the famous and hugely popular West Highland Way long distance footpath, but over the last sixteen years Nita and I have walked much of it.  We’ve walked sections of it at a time, usually in the winter when the weather up on the tops is too wild for high level trips and have used the path many times to reach or get back from the foot of a hill.  However you walk this path in a continuous trip from end to end, or as we’ve done, in short sections, there can be no argument that it takes a fabulous route and passes through some superb scenery.

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‘East from Ba Cottage, first light’

This year we’ve used the WHW on several occasions to reach hills.  In the spring we followed it south along the eastern shores of Loch Lomond for several kilometres before climbing steeply up the hillside and heading up to the lonely little summit of Cruin a’ Bheinn.   Couple of months ago we used the path once again to get to the base of Beinn Odhair near Tyndrum and only a few weeks ago we once again set off along it’s well trodden surface, this time heading for the wee hill of Ben Inverveigh.  Back on a really fine day day, we followed it up the famous Devil’s Staircase opposite Buachaille Etive Beag, before leaving it for a fine wander along the ridge.  All of these walks gave fabulous views both on the path itself and from the hills surrounding it.

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‘The Buachaille from the Devil’s Staircase’

Over the years I’ve created quite a number of paintings and drawings based on views we’ve had from or above this famous footpath and I’ve decided that it would be nice to put together a selection of work based on my experiences of the path.  It will mean visiting the sections we haven’t been on before and revisiting other sections, but it’ll be a damn good excuse for doing so ….if ever I needed one that is!

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‘A damp morning, Buachaille Etive Beag, Glen Coe’

There’s a lot of work to be done but when the paintings are complete I’m hoping that I’ll be able to produce a collection of West Highland Way cards and prints from them and maybe even produce a book.  First things first though, more walking, more painting.  Heck, it’s a tough job isn’t it!

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‘From the eastern shores of Loch Lomond’

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