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‘In sun, rain, mist and snow’, an exhibition of recent work by Keith Salmon.

Posted by admin on February 28th, 2013
'From the east ridge of Beinn Lui, April'

‘From the east ridge of Beinn Lui, April’

‘In sun, rain, mist and snow’, an exhibition of recent work by Keith Salmon.
‘the gallery on the corner’, 34 Northumberland St, Edinburgh EH3 6LS
Preview, Friday March 1st, 6pm – 8pm
Exhibition runs until March 30th
Gallery open, Tues – Sat, 11.00 – 17.00

Well then, this time tomorrow the exhibition will just about be under way. It’s been a lot of work putting it all together, especially as I wanted to get a number of very new paintings completed in time. But I got there and we delivered the work on time last Saturday.

In the end, I selected 18 paintings; 10 of the 30 x 30 cm acrylic and pastel pieces, 4 of the 76 x 23 cm, 1 of the small 210 mm x 148 mm paintings and 3 of the 80 x 80 cm oil paintings. The choice of the last three larger pieces proved a difficult one. I think I must have changed my mind over which to take, about ten times over the last month or so. Part of the reason was that I was keen to include the new 80 x 80 cm acrylic and pastel painting of Beinn a’ Ghlo, that I’ve been working on. If you’ve been following my Face Book page you will have seen various versions of it ….but as I type I’m still not sure whether it’s finished or not. So then, as realisation dawned that it wasn’t going to be ready on time, I then had to find a substitute. In the end I went for three of the more abstract oil on canvas pieces I’ve done over the last year and I think they should work well and compliment the smaller acrylic and pastel pieces quite nicely.

'Snow shower, on the slopes of Ben Loyal, Sutherland'

‘Snow shower, on the slopes of Ben Loyal, Sutherland’

Even the selection of the 30 x 30 cm paintings wasn’t quite as straight forward as I’d thought. I’d initially planned to include eight pieces this size, but when they were framed and all together in the studio a few weeks ago, I realised that the selection didn’t sit as comfortably together as I’d hoped. Something wasn’t quite right and after much thought I decided that it was probably the mix of colours that wasn’t working. I decided that to pull them all together I needed a couple more paintings but done in more subtle blues, grey and green…..and so started painting again. Sometimes working under pressure is good and on this occasion it seems to have been so. I managed to complete the two new paintings and I’m very satisfied with both of them. They’ve done the trick too and the ten pieces now work well together I think, …though of course until I see them on the wall tomorrow evening I can’t say for sure!

'Dusk, on Rannoch Moor'

‘Dusk, on Rannoch Moor’

If you read last weeks blog you’ll have seen the seven new drawings I’m including in the show. There wasn’t enough space to hang them framed so I’ve just had them mounted and covered with acetate and they’ll be displayed in a stand. The more I’ve seen these drawings since they came back mounted from the framer, the more I’ve liked them and at £285 I think they’re a bargain! But then again I would say that wouldn’t I?!

Right then, that’s it for this week. The images here show paintings that will be in the exhibition, so if you like any why not either pop along to see them for real or contact ‘the gallery on the corner’, (tel; 0131, 557 8969) …or of course you can contact me.

I do hope some of you can get along to see the exhibition while it’s on and remember, if you would like to attend the preview tomorrow, then you’d be very welcome indeed.

'Memories of rain, mist and melting snow, Beinn Chonzie, January 2007'

‘Memories of rain, mist and melting snow, Beinn Chonzie, January 2007’

Keith Salmon, exhibition poster

Keith Salmon, exhibition poster

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Posted in abstract scottish landscape paintings, Exhibitions, Galleries with Keith Salmon artwork, Information Updates, Painting Themes Tags: , , , No Comments »

In need of a good wall!

Posted by admin on November 30th, 2012

As with last weeks, I’m once again using this blog to highlight a few of the paintings I currently have for sale at my studio.  My contact details are at the end of this blog ….please get in touch if you need any further information.

 

'From the studio, Irvine harbour side'

‘From the studio, Irvine harbour side’

‘From the studio,Irvine harbour side’, Acrylic & Pastel, 2011, 122 x 61 cm
Catalogue number 196
Price: £1250 framed, £1125 unframed

About this painting
As the title says, this painting was based on the view from my studio window …or it was until I moved to my current space just over a year ago.  My old studio was in the old part of the Courtyard studios that face Harbour Stand across that, the River Irvine and the tidal saltings.  It was a great view and it changed constantly with the tide, light and weather.  This piece is a fairly large and abstract view of this scene.  I exhibited this painting in the large gallery at the  early this year and even though I say it myself, it looked great on the big wall.

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'On Beinn a' Ghlo, autumn'

‘On Beinn a’ Ghlo, autumn’

‘On Beinn a’ Ghlo, autumn’, Acrylic & Pastel, 2011, 80 x 80 cm
Catalogue number: 194
Price: £1095 framed, £985 unframed

 About this painting
This is another of the large and more abstract paintings ….this time based on a view we had while wandering the high broad ridges of Beinn a’ Ghlo near Blair Athol.  The hills are heather covered lower down but a mixture of course grass and rock on the upper slopes and ridges. It makes for spectacular walking especially on the kind of day we had ….one of dark heavy clouds just clearing the summits and breaks that created a patchwork of light, colour and shade across the hillside.  This painting has been painted with thick paint using a large old traditional horse hair house painting brush.  Once again it needs a reasonable space …it’s quite big, bright and bold, and certainly one of my favourites.

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 'A walk in the wild. above Drumochter, winter'

‘A walk in the wild. above Drumochter, winter’

‘A walk in the wild.  above Drumochter, winter’, Oil on canvas, 2012, 80 x 80 cm
Catalogue number: 221
Price: £1035 framed, £985 unframed

About this painting
This was the first of my new oil paintings and was created earlier this year.  Once again it is erring towards the abstract but is based on a walk I did with my friend Guy in the hills to the east of Drumochter Pass a number of years ago.  The two Munro’s we walked over that day are really no more than slightly higher points set several miles apart on a huge area of wild moor-land.  Covered with a layer of soft snow it made for a very tiring walk.  Added to this, we were walking into a stiff and very cold east wind, and by the end of the day we were exhausted. It was certainly very memorable!  As with the other two paintings highlighted in this blog ..this painting appreciates a little space around it.

For more details about these three larger paintings or to arrange to view them at the studio, please contact me:

Tel: 07742 437425

Email: keith@keithsalmon.org or salmon21@freeuk.com

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Hard graft …

Posted by admin on November 24th, 2012

It’s been one of those weeks this week …a lot of rushing around, a lot of time down at the studio and a lot of interruptions .so not vast amounts achieved in the way of successful work done.  Oh well, I guess that’s just painting for you.  On top of this, it’s been horrible here in Irvine…no doubt like everywhere else…. I’d have been better owning a canoe rather than walking boots this last week …so much water.  With a lot of commitments too this week, one of the worst weather days coincided with our only ‘free’ day and so once again we failed to get out for a good walk.  On the up side though, in the last three days I’ve had two enquiries about paintings for sale which is very encouraging indeed…..fingers crossed!

So then …..there are not really vast amounts to tell this week and no nice landscape photos to show.  Instead I thought I might as well plug a few of the paintings I have hanging in my studio right now, what with it being that time of year.  You’ll have to excuse my blatant commercialism but well, even painters have to try and make a living.  Anyway, the following three paintings can all be seen in my studio so if you live in the region, do feel free to pop in and see them along with all the other pieces I have on show.  If you don’t live close by but are interested in one of them for a special gift, do contact me as I can always arrange delivery.  The paintings:

 

'Winter conditions, Ben Lui'

‘Winter conditions, Ben Lui’

‘Winter conditions, Ben Lui’, Acrylic & Pastel, 2012, 76 x 23 cm,
Catalogue number: 260
Price £620 framed, £575 unframed.
About this painting

This is one of four recent paintings I’ve created based on memories of a wonderful walk / scramble on Ben Lui a few years ago.  Despite it being quite late in the winter, indeed, I think it was early spring; there was still a lot of snow higher on this big and craggy mountain.  We tackled the east ridge of the hill but due to my incredible slowness, only managed to reach the level middle section of the ridge.  Even so, this was for me a spectacular and exhilarating day.  Before descending back to the grassy glen below we stopped to take in the very wintry scene before us.  This is a view looking across the main corrie and central gully of the hill …the upper section of the hill remained in the cloud most of the day.

 

'Dusk, on Rannoch Moor'

‘Dusk, on Rannoch Moor’

‘Dusk, on Rannoch Moor’, Acrylic & Pastel, 2012, 210 mm x 148 mm
Price: £285 framed, £245 unframed
Catalogue number: 228
About this painting

You may remember that earlier this year I did a series of small ‘postcard’ sized paintings.  This is one of them, and one, I have to say, that I particularly like.  Due no doubt to my strange sight, I find several colours much more difficult to see …and use.  Green is one of these and so this little piece was quite a challenge.  Anyway, I think this works well and it reminds me of the many times we’ve been walking on the edge of Rannoch Moor in poor light.  It’s a wonderfully wild expanse and I’m just going to have to keep on returning and painting my impressions of it.

 

'Above Glen Coe, late autumn'

‘Above Glen Coe, late autumn’

‘Above Glen Coe, late autumn’, Acrylic & Pastel, 2011, 60 x 30 cm
Price: £620 framed, £575 unframed
Catalogue number 210

About this painting

A couple of years ago we had a fine day walking the two summits of Buachaille Etive Beag in Glen Coe.  It was cloudy as we made our way up to Stob Dubh at the south west end of the hill, but as we sat at its summit, the cloud occasionally broke giving views towards Glen Etive and the head of the loch.  On starting to retrace our steps down the short steep section below the summit, the cloud once again broke around us.  This time clearing to the east side but remaining thick to the west. It only stayed like this for a short time before filling in again and I took no photos. This painting is then, very much about my memory from the day.  Hopefully it captures a little of this amazing place.

For more information about these or any other paintings, contact: Keith Salmon

Tel: 07742 437425

Email: keith@keithsalmon.org or salmon21@freeuk.com

So then, it’s been hard graft this last week.  Being a painter isn’t always quite what it’s cracked up to be ….but I wouldn’t change it for anything!  I hope you can get along to the studio sometime soon.

Posted in abstract scottish landscape paintings, Information Updates, New Artworks, Studio, Visual Disability Tags: , , , , , No Comments »

Courtyard Studios Open Weekend, 6th / 7th October 2012

Posted by admin on September 27th, 2012
Open Weekend 2012 - Courtyard Studios - Irvine, Ayrshire

Open Weekend 2012 – Courtyard Studios – Irvine, Ayrshire

Courtyard Studios Open Weekend, 6th / 7th October 2012.

Open Sat. 11am – 5pm, Sunday 12 noon – 5pm

Things are getting very hectic this week and I’m running out of time to do everything I need to do in time for our Open Studios Weekend on Saturday 6th and Sunday 7th October.  As such, this is going to be a ‘picture’ blog …alright; it’s just a way of saving me some time by not writing a proper blog!  Guilty as charged!  Anyway, I’m the one who is doing the typing …or not ….and so pictures it is.

Below the event poster we’ve put together is a selection of the new paintings you’ll be able to see in my studio if you can get along to the event.  I look forward to meeting you.

'Snow showers, over the Flow Country, Sutherland'

‘Snow showers, over the Flow Country, Sutherland’

 

'Approaching snow shower, Ben Loyal, Sutherland'

‘Approaching snow shower, Ben Loyal, Sutherland’

 

'West from Beinn Griam Mor, Sutherland'

‘West from Beinn Griam Mor, Sutherland’

'Break in the cloud, Beinn Griam Beg, Sutherland'

‘Break in the cloud, Beinn Griam Beg, Sutherland’

'December afternoon, above Glen Shee'

‘December afternoon, above Glen Shee’

'Late afternoon, from Beinn a' Chrulaiste'

‘Late afternoon, from Beinn a’ Chrulaiste’

'In the Flow Country, Sutherland'

‘In the Flow Country, Sutherland’

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Posted in abstract scottish landscape paintings, Exhibitions, Information Updates, New Artworks, Painting Themes, Scottish Mountains Tags: , , , , , No Comments »

A bit of an artistic wander!

Posted by admin on September 14th, 2012
'December afternoon, above Glen Shee'

‘December afternoon, above Glen Shee’

Last week I talked about my using this year to try and develop my work.  This short blog is about the painting I’ve been working on for many weeks and finally finished yesterday.  The painting has gone through many stages and has changed dramatically since I first started working on it.  The only thing that stayed the same throughout its making was the fact that I wanted to do a painting that was about an afternoon a few years ago when Nita and I got a little lost in the hills above Glen Shee.  We’d started walking in reasonable weather, blue skies and broken cloud and a forecast of a reasonable day before a weather front would move in from the west in the evening.  As this was early December, we were confident that we’d be long off the hill before the bad weather arrived.  Instead, low cloud enveloped us quite early on but we continued our walk.  With the ground covered in snow and the cloud getting thicker, it made for careful navigation.  We found our summit but then on our return we got careless and a little lost in the deteriorating visibility.    With my sight as it is, I become almost totally blind once the light fades and with the prospect of rain or snow arriving soon this was not a good position to be in.  Of course, we dug out the GPS, found out where we’d wandered and plotted a course back ….but for a short while it was a little scary.

I took no photos that afternoon as we headed back but have very strong impressions of the gloomy conditions as the light faded.  Almost ever since that day, I’ve wanted to do a painting that had a little bit of that in it.  This painting has I think finally made it after many detours and (a bit like the walk itself) after getting a little lost for a while.  As I said last week, I wanted the painting to be as much abstract as landscape and I wanted it to be done in thick paint.  What happened was that I kept letting it drift too much into the landscape …and kept having to rework it.  I also found that using the paint thickly had its own problems too….it kept looking too contrived.

Anyway, here is the final painting after much hard work and head scratching and feeling many times that I was close to chucking it in the bin!  I think that this works now and I’m pleased with it finally.  I’ve learnt a lot from doing it and certainly wouldn’t have been able to spare the time last year.  A big thanks to the Jolomo Award once again, for allowing me the financial and artistic freedom to do this kind of thing.

'December afternoon, above Glen Shee'

‘December afternoon, above Glen Shee’ (Bigger Photo)

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Posted in abstract scottish landscape paintings, Gallery: Northern Highlands, Information Updates, New Artworks, Painting Themes, Personal, Scottish Mountains, Studio Tags: , , , , 1 Comment »

A year to myself

Posted by admin on September 8th, 2012
In the studio

In the studio

Around this time last year I took the decision not to go looking for exhibitions in 2012 but instead use my time trying to move my work on.  It was a great couple of years after winning the Jolomo Award back in 2009 and as a result I had a good number of solo exhibitions, but this did mean that I had very little time to develop my work.  I paint very slowly, especially so when I’m trying to tackle something very new and between 2009 and the end of 2011 I just didn’t have time to risk work going seriously wrong.

For me, developing work means taking a few risks…..risks that what I’m doing might not work and might after a month of hard graft simply end up stacked behind the bench.  This year, as I don’t have any shows to work towards, the pressure is off and I’ve been able to try out some new things.  As you’ve seen, I’ve gone back to working with oil paint for the first time in a little over eight years.  It’s amazing just how different it is from using acrylic and I’ve been battling hard to get it to do what I want!  I have then spent much time over these new paintings, cursing many times and no doubt rubbing some of what is left of my hair away!  That said and despite many false starts and many pieces ending up behind the bench, I am starting I think to get somewhere with these pieces.  I’ve been trying to create paintings that are both Scottish landscape and almost abstract at the same time.  It is a very difficult balance to achieve without the paintings looking contrived.  Anyway, this is a brief look back at the oil paintings I’ve been working on this year.

'In the Flow Country, Sutherland'

‘In the Flow Country, Sutherland’

'Evening, from Beinn a' Chrulaiste, late March'

‘Evening, from Beinn a’ Chrulaiste, late March’

'West from Beinn Griam Mor, Sutherland'

‘West from Beinn Griam Mor, Sutherland’

'A walk in the wild. above Drumochter, winter'

‘A walk in the wild. above Drumochter, winter’

'Rannoch Moor - variations'

‘Rannoch Moor – variations’

'Memories of rain, mist and melting snow, Beinn Chonzie, January 2007'

‘Memories of rain, mist and melting snow, Beinn Chonzie, January 2007’

 

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    Contact Details

  • Tel: 07568 380552 or 01294 216427
    E-mail: keith@keithsalmon.org