´On the edge of Rannoch Moor, December´
Well, as I said at the end of last week’s blog a trip over to the Fisher Gallery in Pittenweem in Fife was planned. We were going to travel on over there after first driving to the Strathearn Gallery in Crieff, but then on the Friday I received a message from the Strathearn Gallery saying that another painting had sold and could they hang on to the two unsold pieces for their next show. That was great news and of course it meant that we could have a much more leisurely trip over to Pittenweem.
Having never really ventured over to Fife before we decided to take in a bit of the coast line on the way and return through the centre to see the landscape there. Weather-wise it wasn’t looking too promising when we left Irvine, with dark heavy clouds and patches of rain but as we headed along the motorway east towards Edinburgh this broke to give bright patches of sun and blue sky. We’d obviously arrived in what my Angus based friend Norma calls ‘the sunny east’! As we crossed the bridge over the Firth of Forth, everything looked great. The plan was to follow the coast road around to the small fishing village of Pittenweem. This bit of the trip was in all honesty a little disappointing. I’d imagined great views out over the sea, interspersed with old villages and small towns…..and in a way, this was what we found. We did get some very big and fine views… ..but only briefly, The coast line was much more built up than I’d expected. That said, I’m sure if we’d had much more time to get off the main road and explore more closely, we’d have found some lovely spots.
Winter Day, Blackmount
Pittenweem was great. It’s a proper wee fishing village with steep little roads and paths winding down to the small harbour. The Fisher Gallery is on the main street and occupies two buildings, one on either side of the street. We were made very welcome and were fed cakes and coffee on our arrival. There was some great work on the walls and I’m hoping the three pieces I took will fit in well. This, their first exhibition of the year, opens tomorrow, Saturday 27th March.
'Above Cononish'
We left about an hour later and this time drove inland by small roads towards Cupar. Now then, this was much more to my liking …wow …great big horizons across gently rolling countryside. With the heavy skies and bright patches of sunlight everything looked particularly grand. I normally paint hills, but this Fife landscape was very impressive and I certainly think I’ll be making a return visit to explore, do some drawing and take some photos. This became even more likely when I spotted two hills. I think they were the Lomond hills. Not too high but they’d offer I’m sure a magnificent view over the Fife landscape. I really was very impressed. We returned using the Kincardine bridge and got some wonderful views towards the Ochil Hills …still holding quite large patches of snow.
In the end, a very worth while day and one that left me plenty to think about and plan for. It’ll probably now be the autumn before I can get back to do a walk, but it’ll be something to look forward to. Anyway, if you get a chance to visit the Fisher Gallery I’d strongly recommend it ….you’ll see some good work and have a great day out.
Posted in 
Tags: 
Well, the run up to Christmas this year has been quite a good one. I’ve got a number of paintings completed this month ready for the exhibition at Strathearn Gallery in February. This is a group exhibition, containing work by the seven finalists of the Jolomo Awards 2009. They’re asking for around eight pieces so I’m hoping to include nearly all new work.
Tomorrow will be the last day for a couple. This year I’ll be spending a quiet couple of days with my partner Anita. Last year however, things were a little different. Anita, who works at the local hospital, had drawn the short straw and was working a twelve and a half hour shift on Christmas Day. I decided I might as well do the same thing …and we’d start our Christmas at 8 pm when Anita finished work. She said that she’d drive down to the studio and pick me up on the way home. Well, all was fine. I had a nice walk down to the studio in bright winter sunshine on Christmas morning and then spent an enjoyable day painting. By evening though the weather had turned bad and a fierce gale was blowing and it was raining very hard. At eight o’clock Anita rang to say she was leaving work and I closed shop and made my way from the back door of the studios to the main gate …which I had to close and lock. Not concentrating, I put my white cane under my arm and proceeded to walk across the courtyard towards the gate … trying to find the padlock key as I went. In the total darkness I hadn’t notice a large wheelie bin that had been blown across the courtyard in the gales and was lying on its side right in my path. I tripped over it’s open lid and fell face first into the empty filthy, wet bin!
It’s been an interesting day today, partly because of the weather and partly because of the work.
Oh yer, the weather. It poured all day …and is still pouring. From my studio door I could watch the high tide racing in and completely covering the saltings opposite. It was a wonderful spectacle,. An interesting place to work …in very interesting times.
I decided then to enter two of these new paintings for the RSA exhibition. Both of them are slightly bigger than I normally work on and this increase in size has allowed me to be a little more expressive in the way in which I put the paint down. The two paintings are:
Well then, the two paintings are now in the hands of the RSA along with no doubt several thousand other hopefuls work. With these ‘open’ exhibitions it’s always a bit of a gamble …you never really know whether your work will be accepted …but it’s always good fun entering. I always say to people who come into my studio and who are entering works in such exhibitions …don’t get disappointed if your painting is rejected. But of course, when the rejection letter arrives, it really is hard not to be just a wee bit aggrieved!