counter hit xanga
Sound Recording | Scottish Landscape Art - Scottish Landscape Paintings

Archive for the ‘Sound Recording’ Category

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

Posted by admin on February 27th, 2018

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:

A2 Painting with sound poster 600px

“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.

Posted in Exhibitions, Information Updates, Mountain Photos, Personal, Sound Art, Sound Recording 1 Comment »

Update!

Posted by admin on October 17th, 2016

The Oregon Project

For the best part of the year you have heard me talking about the big sound and drawing project I’ve been working on.  The work is nearing completion with the installation almost built in Seattle and myself and Graham Byron flying out to assist the final install tomorrow.  The work will open to the public on Friday 21st October  as part of the big “9e2” exhibition in Seattle.  Below is a piece I wrote last week and this should give you a good idea of how everything has come together over the last few years.

Background

I trained in Fine Art in the early 1980’s, attending Shrewsbury School of Art, Falmouth School of Art and Newcastle upon Tyne Polytechnic.  In 1990 however, my sight which had until then been fine, deteriorated rapidly and by 1998 when I moved from Wales up to Ayrshire, I was officially registered as blind.

Throughout this period though, I was determined to continue doing my art and have, over the course of time, developed new ways of working that allow me to continue to paint and draw.  I turned professional in 2009 and now work from my studio on Irvine Harbour side, exhibit my work regularly and received the Jolomo Award for Scottish Landscape Painting.  Over the last few years I have been involved in several international projects that have involved creating works in Germany in 2010, Brazil in 2014 and now in Seattle in the USA.

In 2013, a chance meeting with Seattle based landscape photographer and independent film maker Daniel Thornton, (during the preview of my exhibition at ‘the gallery on the corner’ in Edinburgh) led to us working on a documentary project together. The documentary looks at my work as well as the role the visual impairment has played in its development.  The documentary is built around a large drawing project I worked on here in Scotland in late 2014. I created a 5m long, 1.5m high graphite drawing based on Glen Rosa on the Isle of Arran, in the main gallery of the Harbour Arts Centre here in Irvine.  I produced the drawing in the public gallery as part of a bigger exhibition of my work.   I worked on the drawing each day and visitors to the centre could watch it develop.  This was I guess, more a kind of performance piece.  I also wanted the work to be more than a local event and as such arranged for each day’s work to be recorded on a time-lapse camera and then have it posted each evening on the Internet.   The time lapse recordings were made by the resident sound engineer /technician, Graham Byron.

Around that time, I had become aware that the very limited sight I had, was gradually getting worse and I started to wonder what I would do if it became so limited that my drawings became very minimal.  How would I continue to work as a professional artist?   One of my ideas was to use sound in some way to supplement the visual image, but I had no idea how I might go about this.  While talking with Graham during the big drawing project, I mentioned my idea for using sound and asked him how best I go about making the recordings.  He was very enthusiastic and kindly lent me some sound recording equipment along with some basic instructions on using it.  For the whole of 2015 I took the sound recorder with me on our regular walks into the Scottish Highlands and started to develop ideas for possible new work.

I had kept Dan Thornton up to date on this work and by chance he heard of an interesting project being developed by Microsoft researcher Neel Joshi.  The idea was to use Microsoft Kinect technology to create a system to help visually impaired people interpret two dimensional images with sound.  Neel had created a prototype and was looking to work with a visual artist who also worked with sound.  Dan told him about me and put us in contact.

The Oregon Project

After a good deal of discussion in late 2015, Dan Thornton and I were invited to join the team working on the project, which itself had been established in order to take part in the big “9e2” arts and science exhibition taking place in Seattle in October 2016.  A general view of the exhibition, its purpose and aims, can be found by visiting the website: www.9e2seattle.com .

My partner Nita and I flew out to Seattle in early May where we joined the full team to talk about the project, test the prototype and set plans for the work.  We decided to try and create something that was more than just a rather blunt interpretive tool for visually impaired people.  Instead we planned to try and create an art installation that was experimental, challenging and enjoyable for all concerned but that also had as an integral part of it…. an audio interpretive element that would allow visually impaired people to better interpret the purely visual side of the piece….. this being 3 large (8’ x 4’) pastel drawings.

Ever since first meeting with Dan Thornton, he had expressed an interest in seeing how I would interpret the NW American landscape and for this project he had organised a short artist’s residency for me at the Josephy Centre for Arts and Culture in the small town of Joseph in NE Oregon.  After our initial meeting at Microsoft we travelled down to Joseph where we spent 8 days exploring the stunningly varied landscape.  The plan was for me to gather as much information about it as possible and as such we were out in the landscape every day.  I did many small sketches, we all took numerous photos and Dan and his assistant Cindy Apple recorded the process on film.  We also made many sound recordings too.  By the time we had returned to Seattle we had formulated a plan for the work.  I would create three large pastel drawings based on three different views of the Hell’s Canyon region of Oregon.  One based on the view from the canyon rim, one from a position well down in the canyon and one based on the view we had at the river’s edge in the base of the canyon.

Hell's Canyon region, Oregon

Hell’s Canyon region, Oregon

Hell's Canyon region, Oregon

Hell’s Canyon region, Oregon

Hell's Canyon region, Oregon

Hell’s Canyon region, Oregon

As far as I understand it the Microsoft connect technology will recognise a person’s location within a three dimensional space.  We would use this system to direct sounds to a viewer and these sounds would change according to their position in front of the drawing ….whether they are close to or further back from the surface of the drawing .  The Kinect technology can also recognise a person pointing at different parts of the drawing and once again send a corresponding soundtrack.  We decided that the work would have three different levels of sound:

Level 3: Furthest away from the drawing.  Here you would hear sound tracks relating to the view depicted in the drawing and mixed from recordings we made out on location in the canyon.

Level 2:  A position closer to the drawing.  Here we have added computer generated tones to match the main blocks of colour within the drawings.  You would hear the main colours.

Level 1: Very close to the drawing surface.  In this position the sounds you would hear would be made from recordings of the actual drawing process ….you would be ‘in’ the drawing. These sound tracks are really quite abstract and relate directly to the different types of mark used in the creation of the drawings.

On returning to Scotland in late May, I started work on the three large drawings.  I also spent many hours listening to the sound recordings Dan and I had made during our time in Oregon and selecting the elements that might best be used.  At this stage of things we invited Graham Byron to join the team and together the two of us created 18 different individual soundtracks for each of the three drawings.  I had no idea how we could mix these sound tracks and so it was great working with Graham who had been in the music industry as a sound engineer and musician for over 30 years.  In short, it was like drawing with sound ….quite amazing.

Dan, Neel and a colleague of theirs, Ryan (along with several other folk) have been working away in Seattle designing the technical side of this project and they will shortly be starting to build the installation.  Graham and I will be travelling out there on 17th October in time to help with the final installation ….adding the sound tracks to the work.  The piece opens to the public, along with many other installations and performance projects …on 21st October.

This is a very experimental piece of work created by 4  people with very different skills……

Neel Joshi: Microsoft researcher  ….this project was his idea.

Daniel Thornton: Independent film maker, landscape photographer and educator.

Graham Byron: Sound engineer and musician.

Keith Salmon: Visual and audio artist

This is a collaborative work and each element and area of expertise is as vital to the whole as the others.  This is also a very experimental piece and we will only know how well it works once the installation is complete and we start getting feedback from visitors to the work.  Hopefully everyone will be able to enjoy it.

Future plans

The Oregon Project is to return to Scotland in April 2017 where it will be exhibited in the gallery in Edinburgh University.

I think we are all hoping that The Oregon Project is just a start and that we will develop these initial ideas to create new and even more exciting pieces in the future.  We are very keen to create a large Scottish sound drawing in 2017.  Watch and listen to this space!

Posted in Commissioned Artwork, Documentary, Exhibitions, Information Updates, Microsoft Project 2016, Sound Art, Sound Recording, Uncategorized Tags: , , No Comments »

A long overdue update!

Posted by admin on July 29th, 2016

It’s almost 3 weeks since my last blog so I thought I’d better get down to it and write some kind of piece updating everyone with what I’ve been doing during this time.  Unfortunately there aren’t vast amounts to write about as in short, all I’ve been doing is working!  In all honesty though, I did have one day off a little over a week ago and spent it pottering around the garden at home.

We’ve done no walking of any note sadly and I just know that when we do eventually get time to head out into the hills again, my legs will be COMPLAINING!

climbing a mountain

Mountain Climbing

The reason for this lull in blogs and walking is simply because I am completely tied up with working on this big drawing / audio project.  There is so much to do in what is a relatively short space of time.  I have to complete the three big Oregon drawings, (each almost 8’ x 4’) and we have to sort out all the recordings we made, make new recordings and then mix 54 individual one minute long sound tracks, (18 for each drawing)……. all by the end of September so that we have time to ship everything over to Seattle ready for the team over there to install it in the exhibition space.

Now that the 3 drawings are well underway, sound engineer Graham Byron, has been working alongside me to help create and mix the kind of audio tracks I want.  I have to say that this side of things has been a bit of a worry for me as I couldn’t really see how we could manipulate and use the recordings we’d made.  When we finally came to starting to mix the sounds however, suddenly I started to see the light!  It was amazing; it was like drawing with sound….. really exciting.  I’m suddenly now a lot more confident about the outcome of this project and what is even more important; I am a lot more confident about my future as a professional artist.  The whole reason for my starting to explore the use of sound with my work, is that I am concerned about the gradual deterioration of the little bit of sight I have.

Abstract Landscape Art

Abstract Landscape

On top of all this work I have also been preparing for my talk, ‘Recording the landscape’, at the Harbour Arts Centre theatre.  This took place yesterday evening and was a 2 hour event.  I’m glad to say that it went off really well and that we had a good turn out.  It took a lot of work preparing for it as I have to get everything I’m going to say, into my head…. I can’t see a script or anything written. ….. I just have to talk.  I divided the evening into two halves, the first being mainly about my early career and how I came to join my art with the hill walking I do.  I used photographs to illustrate this.  After the break however, I just had a selection of paintings and drawings on stage and spent the second half of the evening talking about and explaining how the work is created.  I finished off by speaking briefly about this new use of sound and where I hoped this project would lead in the future.

I’m glad to say it seemed to go down extremely well and it was certainly very enjoyable.  Another important reason however for organizing this event was so that I could record the talk in order to promote myself as a guest speaker.  I see this as a very good way to promote my work as an artist and after doing a number of talks for various organisations over the past few years, it seems like this could be a good addition to my art practice.  As such, the whole talk was filmed last night and once we get it edited, we’ll have something to show folk what they will get if they book me as guest speaker

Right then, there are no obvious photos to include with this blog so I think I’ll just pluck a couple of nice hill snaps from the album and put them up so there is something interesting to look at!

Learning to climb

Learning to climb in snow

-o-o-o-o-

Impression of Irvine Church

Irvine Church

-o-o-o-o-

Posted in Buildings, Harbour Arts Centre, Microsoft Project 2016, Personal, Sound Recording, Visual Disability No Comments »

Seattle / Oregon drawing project – a quick update

Posted by admin on July 8th, 2016

At this time of year we would normally be getting out for long summer hikes in the mountains, but this year I am so busy that I’ve been in my studio nearly every day since we got back from the United States about six weeks ago.

I’ve basically been working on the big Seattle / Oregon drawing and audio project nearly all of this time.  As you know, I’m creating three large 8’ x 4’ pastel drawings for the project, all based on the Hell’s Canyon area of Oregon.  Anyone who has been to my studio will know also that it is pretty cluttered and so finding the space to do all three drawings has meant some major rearrangements!  This would have been impossible if it wasn’t for a wee bit of luck.  When I got back to my studio from Seattle on May 24th I learnt that my colleague, photographic artist Alex Boyd, was leaving the Courtyard to take up an exciting new arts based job on the Isle of Lewis. It is a great shame he is leaving, but it freed up his studio and painter Maree Hughes who has been working in the small studio upstairs from mine, took the opportunity to move to the bigger space vacated by Alex.  This of course meant that I had the opportunity to rent this additional space upstairs which in turn has allowed me to work on all three large drawings at the same time downstairs.  Phew!!!

abstract landscape paintings

The new look studio ….three big drawing boards

It has been a hectic  last week for all three of us with a mass shuffle of gear but everything is now done and with a bit of luck Alex is now on or heading for the Isle of Lewis. The very best of luck to him with his work up north.  We recently swapped a piece of work each …… he selected one of my big graphite drawings for his new wall and I selected one of his fine prints of Cir Mhor on Arran.  I have this piece hanging in my small work room at home alongside another fabulous photograph by Courtyard Studios rep Brian Craig.  The two pieces look fabulous together as Brian’s photo is also black and white and also landscape.

abstract landscape paintings

Hells Canyon drawings 1 and 2, in progress

On Sunday last I moved all my painting gear upstairs where I’ll now be doing all my smaller acrylic and pastel work.  It took me most of the day to sort it all out but I now have the third wall free downstairs and on Tuesday morning I had another 8’ x 4’ drawing board delivered and Nita and I set about fixing it to the wall.  We are not the fastest of carpenters but after almost six hours not only was the new board all firmly in place but the final large piece of 200 gm white cartridge paper was all fixed to it and ready for me to start drawing.

The first two pieces are well under way and later today I’ll be starting the final drawing ….this piece to be based on a location in the bottom of Hell’s Canyon, right by the side of the river where it cut through a narrow cliff lined section.

abstract landscape painting

the new big drawing board …all ready to go

With all three pieces now on the go, I’ve turned my efforts more towards the audio side of things.  I’ve been working with Ayrshire based sound engineer Graham Byron and we are starting to sort out all the various recordings Dan and I made while in Oregon.  Graham has been ‘cleaning’ them up so that Dan and his team over in Seattle can start to fit them to the audio system they have been creating for the purpose of this project.  I’m going to be spending many many hours listening to sound files over the next couple of months and will also be heading out into the landscape soon to record extra close up material.  It’s all go but very exciting.  Must get a good relaxing walk in the Highlands soon though ….or my head will explode!

Posted in Commissioned Artwork, Commissions, Documentary, Microsoft Project 2016, N. America, Sound Art, Sound Recording Tags: , , , No Comments »

A long hot day in the Blackmount

Posted by admin on June 12th, 2016

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.

Posted in Inspiring Mountain Walks, Sound Recording, West Highland Way Tags: , , , , , , No Comments »

Art and landscape – a short trip to the American North West

Posted by admin on May 24th, 2016

This morning before leaving home for my studio, I had another quick look at the map of the United States of America. I looked at the state of Washington in the far North West and then across and down just a little bit to the state of Oregon. It looked just a short distance on the map until you glance at how much more …much, much, much more of the USA there is. The journey we made from Seattle to the small town of Joseph in Oregon seemed long and the landscape amazingly varied and huge and yet the map says there is so much more. It really is a very big country.

In reality of course we caught just a tiny glimpse of its beauty and grandeur but it has quite taken me aback. I wonder now why it has taken me 56 years to get to see some of this amazing country. Probably something to do with being an artist and always being skint I guess. Strange then that art was the reason Nita and I were over exploring this stunning landscape but very exciting and rewarding.

art trip to Oregon

Wild flowers at Buckhorn, Hells Canyon, Oregon

As you already know, I am taking part in a collaborative art and science project with a small research team working at Microsoft in Seattle. The piece of work we are creating will combine 2 dimensional visual arts with an audio system that delivers different levels of audio / sound interpretation depending on the proximity of the viewer to the artwork. The purpose of the two week long trip was two fold. Firstly, we went to meet up with the team I’ll be working with. We needed to fix the basics for the work and to start planning how the audio and technological side of this piece might work. In short, we had two full meetings at one of the huge Microsoft buildings just outside of Seattle and two more informal meetings in restaurants in the city.

Art trip to Oregon

In the Hells Canyon area of Oregon

The second part of the trip, lasting for 11 days, saw us driving down to the small town of Joseph in Oregon where a week long artist’s residency had been arranged for me at the Josephy Center of Arts and Culture. The main emphasis of this part of the trip was for me to explore the very varied and rich landscape of this part of Oregon and to record as much information as possible about it in order for me to create three large (8’ x 4’) pastel drawings on my return to Scotland. We also needed to make a large number of sound recordings while out in the landscape in order to support the audio side of the artwork. We made the journey with film maker and photographers, Daniel Thornton and Cindy Apple, Dan who is the lead audio artist for the project and Cindy who was making a photographic / film record of the trip and work.

As I say, the landscape in this region of Oregon is incredibly varied and has three main areas. The small town of Joseph sits at a little over 4000 ft and has the huge 10,000 ft peaks of the Wallowa Mountains rising immediately behind it. In the opposite direction lie two very different regions, a huge area of high prairie and an even larger area of deep canyons known as the Hell’s Canyon area. All three of these very distinct geological regions are stunningly beautiful and are very individual. We needed to visit all three areas on our arrival and with time so short, I had to make a decision as to which area I would base my drawings on. The mountains and prairie were amazing but I decided that I’d work on the canyon area ….it is so different from the landscape I’m used to.

Art trip to Oregon

Nita and Kendrick, Hells Canyon region, Oregon

We were very lucky to be guided on three occasions by a local botanist and wildlife photographer called Kendrick Moholt and he took us to some amazing locations within the complex region of canyons. On the Monday we drove to Buckhorn, a view point over looking one of the huge deep canyons. When we arrived everywhere was in cloud (we were at around 5000ft) but as we waited in this high and quiet place, gradually the cloud started to break up and lift and the scale and depth of the canyon became evident. It was quite a breathtaking scene. The following day saw us way down in the canyon driving along a dirt road to reach a magnificent viewpoint where I spent several hours drawing. The canyon at this point dropped steeply down to the river but also climbed high above. Finally Kendrick took us to the farm of a friend of his, situated right in the base of the canyon next to the river. It was an impressive situation and once again I was able to spend quite a while drawing and recording. The final large works will I think be based on these three locations and I am hoping that the sound recordings we made will convey the different positions within the canyon.

Art trip to Oregon

The Columbia River Gorge

We got back to Scotland yesterday morning and this is the first day back in my studio. I’m planning to start work on some preliminary studies in the next day or so and will also be starting work on sorting through the numerous sound recordings we made.

It was a really amazing trip and the people we met were so friendly and helpful. There is a huge amount of work to be done for this project over the next four months but it is very exciting. When all is complete we’ll be exhibiting it as part of the big “9e2”project in Seattle in late October. After that, we are hoping that the work can be shown in other locations and with a bit of luck, brought over to Scotland…..hopefully to be exhibited alongside a large Scottish audio / drawing work that I’m planning. As they say ….watch this space!

Finally, my thanks must go out to Dan who has done so much to put this project into place. …. I look forward to working with you and the others on the project over the next few months or so.

Posted in Documentary, Information Updates, Microsoft Project 2016, N. America, Sound Art, Sound Recording Tags: , , , , , , , , No Comments »

An art and science collaboration in Seattle

Posted by admin on April 17th, 2016

As you will know if you’ve been following my blogs over the last year or so, I’ve been starting to experiment with the idea of using sound with my large drawings and paintings. The original idea developed as a result of further deterioration in my sight over the last five years and although so far, this gradual deterioration hasn’t affected my ability to paint too much, I am aware that there may be a point sometime down the line where my work becomes more and more minimal. So then, I’ve started thinking about how I might continue working as a professional artist if this happens. My original plans had always been to return to making sculpture in a purely tactile way……I trained and worked as a sculptor right up until my sight started to fail back in 1990. I decided instead, however, to see if it is possible to create works that combine drawings or paintings with sound ….with the sound helping to convey the subject depicted in the two dimensional work.

I first mentioned this to Graham, the then sound engineer working at the Harbour Arts Centre, back in December 2014 when I was working there creating my large Glen Rosa drawing. He was very keen on the idea and lent me the use of one of his sound recorders. Since then, I’ve been taking the recorder out with me on our walks into the hills and have just been experimenting with it.

abstract landscape painting

Beinn Dubh drawing (Section 2)

This new work is progressing slowly and I have in the last few months been starting to work on my first drawing / sound project. I want to create a large multi section drawing based on Beinn Dubh in the Luss Hills. This wee hill offers great views and a range of different terrain. Although generally grass covered, the shortish climb from the village of Luss to the cairn marking the top at around 650m, takes you over or past a variety of ground. In places lower down, the path is stony and eroded and picks its way under broad leaf trees and then out onto open bracken covered hillside. Higher up, a level section is in places extremely boggy and waterlogged with tussocks of grass and reeds. To one side are conifer plantations and higher up small rocky outcrops. This not only offers rich visual material but also rich audio material too. Nita and I are heading back to Beinn Dubh again tomorrow to collect more recordings but I’m still not too sure exactly how I’ll use them with the drawings yet.

abstract landscape painting

Beinn Dubh drawing (Section 1)

Right then, with this work starting to develop, another angle has just opened up…..and a very exciting one too. You’ll remember that over the last three years I’ve been working with Seattle based independent film maker Daniel Thornton to create a documentary about my work. This project is still on going and as such I’m in regular contact with Dan and have been keeping him updated with the new developments. Well then, a few months ago he put me in contact with a small research team working at Microsoft in Seattle. They are currently working on a project to create a system that will help blind and visually impaired people better interpret 2 dimensional images ….paintings, drawings etc, using different levels and types of audio interpretation. They were keen to work alongside an artist and when Dan explained that I was an artist who was starting to work with sound and drawing, and that I was visually impaired too, they got in contact.

In short it has been agreed that we will collaborate on the project and all is arranged for Nita and I to fly out to Seattle in a few weeks time. We will be visiting the team along with Dan, for a day when we first get there, to see the system they are working on. Then, Dan, Cindy, Nita and I will be driving down to Joseph in Oregon where a short residency has been arranged. The point of this is for me to explore the surrounding landscape and to gather as much information, both visual and audio so that on my return to Scotland I can create a new large (8ft wide x 4ft high) pastel drawing. Before heading back home however, we’ll be visiting the team at Microsoft once again to look at the material we’ve collected and discuss how we use it to interpret the new large drawing I’ll be creating. Wow!

Back in Scotland, I’ll then have until the end of August to create the new drawing and as it develops, we’ll all be working together to create the audio interpretation to go with it. At the end, the work will go back to Seattle and I’ll be heading back there too to help present it as part of a much larger art and science project taking place in Seattle in October. I’ll be giving more information as the project develops and I should be able to post regular updates while we’re away in May.

Finally, I’ve been doing quite a lot of work on the sound for my new Beinn Dubh piece and so with a bit of luck we’ll be able to get something for you to hear soon……..listen to this space!!!

Posted in Documentary, Harbour Arts Centre, Information Updates, Sound Art, Sound Recording, Visual Disability Tags: , , , No Comments »

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

Posted by admin on February 5th, 2016

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.

art project

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.

Posted in Documentary, Inspiring Mountain Walks, Mountain Photos, Sound Art, Sound Recording, Visual Disability Tags: , , , , , No Comments »

Light and subtle sounds …….back on the hill again

Posted by admin on November 5th, 2015

It’s damp, grey and dark here in Irvine today, but on Sunday last, Nita and I caught the end of the fine weather and made the most of it with a working walk in the hills.

We hadn’t been out for a week or two so it was with a real sense of excitement that we drove north through the beautiful scenery of the Loch Lomond National Park.  Huge banks of fog lay over the loch, sometimes shrouding everything including the road, sometimes pulling back out onto the water to give amazing views of the summit of Ben Lomond sticking out above it.  The colours were superb in the bright early sunshine and I had the feeling that even if I didn’t get any sound recordings made during the day, I’d certainly see some great views and maybe get some new ideas for paintings.

Hills around Bridge of Orchy

The Bridge of Orchy Hills, morning

But that said, you do have to get your priorities right and as we drove through this spectacular autumn landscape our minds were firmly fixed on breakfast at the Green Welly and one of their fine bacon rolls!  Once this was accomplished I’d put my mind to work ….but not before!

One of the problems I’ve encountered during my first attempts at making sound recordings in the wild is that there can often be a lot of background man-made noise.  I decided therefore to head back to a small hill we’ve walked several times in the past and one that is set well back from the main roads and isn’t an ‘anything’ …like a Munro or Corbett or Graham.  Being unclassified it, tends to be less frequented by other walkers.   The wee hill in question was Ben Inverveigh……rising between Glen Orchy and Loch Tulla.  I hoped that from its broad rough summit ridge I might be able to capture something of the wild in a recording.   It’s difficult to explain quite what I’m after except that there are wonderfully subtle sounds of space and quiet when you’re up in the hills ….and these are what I want to try and capture with the sound recorder.

View from Ben Inverveigh

From Ben Inverveigh

Ben Inverveigh is only around 650m high but even so its upper slopes were periodically shrouded with cloud and it made for quite a strange atmosphere as the mists came and went, sometimes reducing the visibility considerably and sometimes breaking so that we could see the bigger hills around us.   We stopped by one of the two small cairns marking the official top and after a quick bite of lunch, I set the sound recorder working…..propped on a small rock with its microphone sheltered from the cold breeze.  Over the ten months I’ve had use of this recorder, I’ve made quite a lot of recordings, but most have failed to capture quite what I want.  Many of them have as I said, captured the background noise of traffic or passing aircraft…..or me sneezing or Nita eating a bag of crisps as happened on one occasion!  Recording sound is not easy you know!  Anyway, on Sunday we did seem to have perfect conditions and when I switched the recorder on I felt rather more optimistic about the results than normal.  I’d have to wait until I got home to have a listen to the recording, if for no other reason than that it was bloody cold up there and we needed to get moving.

WHW & Beinn Dorain

Beinn Dorain from the West Highland Way, late afternoon

The walk back saw conditions improve considerably and before we were half way down we found ourselves in bright late afternoon sunshine.  The colours were once again, very beautiful and quite intense.  The spiky clumps of grass that made up much of the covering vegetation on this hill were a strange mixture of colours, ranging from a reddish brown at the tips, to a rich straw colour and to a vivid yellow green at the base of each blade of grass.  This meant that the overall colour seemed to change depending on which way the breeze blew.

By the time we got back to the car the light was fading fast but we’d had a great little day.  Not only did I get some ideas for new paintings, I also, it turned out, managed to get my first half decent sound recording.  I haven’t worked out yet how I’m going to use these recordings ……but it’s a step forward and quite an exciting one too.  At some point in the future I’ll get some of these recordings on-line so that you can get an idea of what this crazy painter is trying to do!

Posted in Inspiring Mountain Walks, Mountain Photos, Sound Art, Sound Recording Tags: , , , , , , , , , No Comments »

Diary of a trip to Assynt – week 1

Posted by admin on June 9th, 2015

Saturday 23rd May 

Had the perfect start for our trip and drive north, with clear blue skies and the hills of the Southern Highlands looking stunning in their spring colours.  Warm too, it being 17 C when we stopped for breakfast at the Green Welly in Tyndrum.  But the bright conditions weren’t to last, even by the time we were a few miles up the road driving across Rannoch Moor, we could see the high grey cloud moving down from the north west.  By the time we were in Glencoe village it was grey all over and just 9°C!  Little did we know that this was a taste of things to come?  The remainder of the trip north to Assynt was under increasingly dark skies and the final few miles along the single track road to the cottage we’d booked for the first week on the Storr peninsular, saw the rain start falling.  We’d picked a beautiful spot to stay all the same and even in the gloomy light and rain of the first evening, Nita could see wild geese grazing the rough pasture outside the cottage window.

Sunday 24th May 

Woke to bright sunlight and beautiful views across the land to the sea.  In between, in the hollow in these small hills, lay a wee loch and a short wander from the cottage took us to its shore.  I was surprised to find small banks of reeds growing around the edge which made for interesting patterns and possibly, some drawings in the future.

Monday 25th May  

Quinag, Assynt

Below Quinag, heavy shower

Heavy showers and high winds forecast, so decided on a lazy day checking out access to the ground leading up to below Sail Gorm on Quinag.  I’ve wanted to try and get up to below this part of the hill for some years in order to do some sketching and perhaps make a recording or two.  We found a convenient parking place and access, at least to start with seemed good …..we just needed a little dry weather.  Even the water proof drawing pen my colleague Alex Boyd had given me, would not do too well in the very  heavy showers that kept racing in from the north west.  Got some great views of Quinag as it was engulfed in one of these showers.  Time to head for lunch at the Scourie Hotel!

Tuesday 26th May

Assynt, Sutherland

The Old Man of Storr

More heavy showers and strong winds and so not a day for the high tops.  Instead, Nita suggested we walk the few kilometres from the cottage, out to Storr Head and the Old Man of Storr.    The 1:25000 map showed no fences all the way from the road near the cottage but we soon found  our way blocked and we had an annoying  hour and a half trying to find our way as two more tracks were blocked by fences and gates.  We did finally get to the open ground and had a fine walk out to Storr Head via a small hill that even at I think, 169m, gave impressive views.  The Old Man of Storr, a huge sea stack, was well worth seeing and the roar of the sea crashing against its base, made for some interesting recordings hopefully.  We returned along the cliff tops to the Storr lighthouse and then back to the cottage along the single track road in bright early evening sunshine.  Despite a few heavy showers early on, we arrived home dry!

Wednesday 27th May

Heavy rain and gales all day.  Feet up, heaters on, food, drink and much reading  / listening to books.  It finally eased around 21.00 and a few bursts of late sun had us driving the couple of miles to the nearest beach.  Big waves and very strange light …but good to get an airing.

Thursday 28th May

Scotttish Landscape

On the lower slopes of Canisp, 28th May 2015

No let up in the cold, showers and wind ….but it did seem that conditions would be a little better, so we decided to go for a proper walk and we headed for Canisp.  We’d done two big walks on this hill in the past.  One of them, on a fine hot day, saw us reach the summit of this fine hill.  The other attempt saw us do a circular walk up to a point about 600m on the hill before being turned back by high winds.  It seemed that conditions would be similar today and so we planned to walk the same route.

Sutherland, Scottish Landscape

Between showers, Canisp, 28th May 2015

This involved crossing a large footbridge over one of the streams flowing from below Canisp.  When we got to it though ….well, it was there ….but not crossing the stream.  At some point in the past it had been swept away and was left high and dry on the bank of the stream!  All was not lost though as we were walking in one of Scotland’s finest limestone areas ….and this stream simply disappeared underground a few hundred metres up-stream!  With the water levels being so high, it hadn’t completely disappeared and we spent quite a time picking our way through and across small but luckily narrow rushing streams.  Back on course we had a fabulous walk.  At first, enjoying some bright patches of sunlight but then becoming engulfed by a series of huge hail showers that blasted down with real force.  The landscape around Canisp is so wild and rough  and these conditions really made you feel quite isolated …..there was no-one else stupid enough to be out  that day, not on this hill anyway.

Friday 29th May

Suilven, Scottish Landscape

Suilven from the near the Stoor lighthouse, 29th May 2015

After the long walk the day before, we decided to head back to the Storr lighthouse so that I could do some sketching and try and make some more sound recordings.  It was still cold but the sun was shining and the cliffs and churning waves looked great.  Had a well earned cup of tea at Living the Dream …. sat with our mugs of tea looking out over the sea…. a magnificent end to a very enjoyable first week in Assynt.

We headed a few miles south for our second week, staying in one of the caravans close to the beautiful beach at Achmelvich.  More about this second week in Assynt in my next blog.

Posted in #1 Art Blog, Inspiring Mountain Walks, Mountain Photos, Sound Recording, Vacations Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , No Comments »
« Older Entries

    Contact Details

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