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Latest Blogs | Scottish Landscape Art - Scottish Landscape Paintings - Part 16

Hot, hot, hot…..too hot

Posted by admin on July 10th, 2014
On Beinn Each

On Beinn Each

After what had been quite a busy week already, Nita and I decided to make the best of the fine weather and go for another walk.   For quite a few years now I’ve wanted to climb Stuc a’Chroin, the neighbour of Ben Vorlich in the Southern Highlands.  I decided that I would like to climb it via the smaller top of Beinn Each to the south and then along the broad, knobbly connecting ridge.  It would make quite a long day as the only way back would be to retrace your steps back over Beinn Each.

At the summit of Beinn Each

At the summit of Beinn Each

Well then, yesterday was going to be the day.  We started quite early and drove up to the hill under almost cloudless skies ….it looked perfect.  Perhaps though, in retrospect, it was a little too perfect for a long day!  I’d forgotten just how steep a pull up it was to reach the summit of Beinn Each.  Hardly surprising really seeing as we’d last walked this hill perhaps eight or nine years ago and if I remember rightly, it was a grey and misty damp day with little or no views higher up.

Stuc a' Chroin from Beinn Each

Stuc a’ Chroin from Beinn Each

The path itself isn’t a bad one when you can see, but for me it was quite difficult and about half way up where it scouted around the edge, above some good size crags; we went off paste and made our way straight up.  The going was much easier underfoot as we were on a mix of grass and heather but it was very steep in places.  The views were spectacular though in the bright hot sunshine it really was quite sapping on the energy.  As we approached the top and saw the view towards our main hill, Stuc a’ Chroin, our spirits flagged…..it looked a long two and a half kilometres in this heat.

Towards Ben Ledi

Towards Ben Ledi

Having spent the last 20 years learning how to adapt how I do things, I decided that it was perhaps time to adapt our route…..we’d call it a halt here at the top of Beinn Each and instead of having a tiring, hot and sweaty haul to Stuc a’ Chroin and back, we’d make camp here and sit and enjoy the views of it for an hour or so!   I have to say, that Nita was in full agreement and would possibly have mutinied if I’d even suggested trying to carry on!    We sat down, dug out the lunch packs and simply enjoyed the views ….although Nita later suggested I had done so for a short while ……while snoring!

And that is really about that, except for a rather disturbing incident on the way down.  We’d stopped to take some photos of Stuc a’ Chroin when we suddenly had a large insect buzzing around us.  It definitely wasn’t just a large bumble bee as it had a much deeper louder bussing sound.  And it was very persistent.  Nita said that it was large and torpedo shaped…..and it seemed pretty aggressive.  We tried to move away as quickly as possible but this wasn’t too easy for me on what was quite steep ground, especially as I was also flailing my walking poles around trying to fend the bug off!!!   For anyone who was watching it must have looked like that scene out of Mr Bean when he was bothered by a wasp!   The thing came back repeatedly for about five or six minutes I guess before finally losing interest.  Phew!

‘Below Suilvern, a wet afternoon’

Posted by admin on July 5th, 2014
1 'Below Suilvern, a wet afternoon', Work in progress

‘Below Suilvern, a wet afternoon’

‘Below Suilvern, a wet afternoon’, Acrylic & Pastel, 30 x 30 cm, (Work in progress)

This is the latest stage of the new small painting I’m doing based on a sketch I made back in May. We walked from Lochinver to the north side of the prominent peak of Suilvern and I stopped to make several small drawings of this fine hill. For the first few hours the weather had been dry but with an increasingly strong wind blowing. We walked to a point below the eastern end of the hill but as we made our way back west the weather deteriorated rapidly with driving rain and mist increasingly shrouding the hill. I worked into one of the sketches when I got back into the dry and tried to capture something of this damp and wild scene.

The painting is probably not quite finished yet but I’ll wait and see for a short while before doing any more to it. Visitors are always welcome to my studio so do call in if you’re in the area.

Lochnagar

Posted by admin on July 5th, 2014
The NE facing corrie of Lochnagar

The NE facing corrie of Lochnagar

When I visited the John Muir Trust centre in Pitlochry earlier this year to discuss my exhibition there in May / June 2015, I was asked whether I might include some paintings of that region. In the past I’d walked and created paintings of Ben Vrackie, Beinn a’ Ghlo and the Drumochter Hills but I’d always fancied heading a little further east and north to explore beyond Glen Shee. If ever I needed one, this seemed the perfect excuse to do some walking around Lochnagar and the White Mounth ….with the hope that I would get some interesting ideas for paintings.

Enjoying a day on the hill

Enjoying a day on the hill

The main reason we’d not been to this area before is that it is just a little too far away from Irvine. We would need to stay over night somewhere in order to walk any of the hills here. When we were a little younger and sprightlier, Nita and I would take my old light weight Saunders tent and camp and walk ….but we gave that up a good few years ago. Indeed, the last such outing was back in 1999 not long after we’d moved to Scotland and we spent a few days out on the Isle of Jura and after that the wee tent was put into retirement!

Lochnagar

Lochnagar

Now, fifteen years later, we decided the best way for us to get walking in these more distant regions of Scotland, was to get ourselves another small tent …..and hope we were still agile enough to get in and out of it! Several weeks ago we went up to the large Tiso in Glasgow and bought ourselves a small light weight Vango tent…..and on Sunday afternoon did the drive up to Ballater and pitched it for the first time. It’s a great little tent and most importantly for me, very easy to pitch. We’d chosen the easy option for the first outing and had booked a couple of nights at the Ballater caravan and camping site…..and it proved a very good choice.

The summit of Lochnagar

The summit of Lochnagar

Although quite busy it was also quiet and had excellent facilities including a washroom, toilet and shower for disabled visitors. This might sound daft as my sole reason for being there was to try and get to the summit of Lochnagar, but when you’re visually impaired it’s often the simpler things that cause problems …like finding your way around public conveniences, camp site shower blocks etc. Suffice to say, I used the disabled facilities and it made my stay there so much easier. …. I would strongly recommend this site.

At the summit of Lochnagar

At the summit of Lochnagar

Anyway, on to the walk itself. We’d got up first thing and driven the 10 miles to the start point in Glen Muick where there is a good car park, toilets and the Balmoral Estate Visitor Centre. We arrived just before 08.00 and eating a quick breakfast headed off up the main path. Low cloud shrouded the hills and although it had been raining when we first arrived, this had stopped by the time we were walking and we were pleased to see the clouds rising and breaking as we gained height. The path led up to the beallach between the main bulk of Lochnagar and Meikle Pap and this overlooks the great NE facing corrie of Lochnagar. As we reached this point the cloud finally lifted off of the summit and a bright patch of sunshine lit up half of the corrie. This really is a fine view point with the huge cliffs dropping into the corrie and its beautiful small dark loch. We stood for a good time just taking the scene in…..and thinking of potential paintings. The rocks seemed to drop in vertical bands with several big gullies obvious and lower down there were several large chevron shaped patches of snow…..what a great hill ….what a great mountain.

Retreating ....and wet!

Retreating ….and wet!

From this point, the path led up steeply through boulders of all sizes and shapes. Being a very popular hill, the path makers had been busy and done an excellent job of creating a winding staircase up onto the plateau at around 1070 m. From this point on it was just a pleasant walk around the rim of the corrie to the summit at 1155m. The views didn’t last all the time as clouds rolled in on a couple of occasions, but thankfully lifted again as we approached the small cone of crags that marks the summit ….and we arrived in bright warm sunshine. The views were even bigger from here and mile after mile of Scotland lay all around us, a wonderful patchwork of colour, line and texture.

Rain and cloud clearing from Meikle Pap, evening

Rain and cloud clearing from Meikle Pap, evening

Not really fancying the descent back through the steep boulders, we decided to follow another path down, although this led eventually to a steep section by the side of waterfalls and when we reached this I decided it was going to be very difficult for me to get down safely ….especially as by this time it had become very dark and was raining heavily. We retraced our steps a half kilometre to where another path led back around the side of the hill and eventually back to our outward route ….but avoiding the steep boulders! This did add an hour or so onto our walk but when you can’t see too much it’s better to adapt your route and take a little longer than to risk having an accident. As it turned out, we got some great views later as the rain and low cloud once again broke and lifted off of the higher ground. The one big problem though, was that we got back to Ballater too late for a pub meal ….and had to make do with a couple of pints of ‘Trade Winds’ and a packet of crisps for our evening meal…..what a hardship! What a day!

Work in progress – Towards the Mamores

Posted by admin on June 29th, 2014
Work in progress, 'Towards the Mamores'

Work in progress, ‘Towards the Mamores’

One of the reasons I have always kept my studio door open to the public is that I think it important that people can see work in progress ….be it in a good state or not. This painting is one that I’ve been working on over the last week and is I guess about half way to completion ….if it ever makes it that is! You can see the way the painting is built up in layers of paint and pastel and get an idea of the rough nature of these pieces. I’ve used a magnifier to see what I’m doing on a couple of areas but generally I’m working with broad brushes in a loose manner.

The painting is about a view we had last summer as we looked out towards the Mamores and the big hills around Ben Nevis beyond. They were all partially shrouded in cloud as big rain showers came and went with bright warm sunshine in between. I’m not sure quite how this painting will turn out or the direction it will take. I’m away walking for the next couple of days so I’ll see what I make of it when I get back. This for me is the exciting part of painting ….if I knew what I was going to get before I started painting ….well.

‘Glen Coe’

Posted by admin on June 19th, 2014
91s 'Glen Coe', Acrylic & Pastel, 2008, 20 x 32 cm

‘Glen Coe’

‘Glen Coe’, Acrylic & Pastel, 2008, 20 x 32 cm

As you may have seen on my Face Book page, Keith Salmon – Scottish Landscape Artist, I’ve been working on a couple of small paintings that have been about days when the conditions are far from clement.  I remembered this small piece I did back in 2008 after driving through Glen Coe in very misty, damp conditions……and thought it would be perfect for this week’s page.  As I write however, the sun is bright outside and it’s been the finest weather of the summer so far for the last few days.  Of course, I’ve been really busy this week and with Nita working night shifts again for the next few days we’ve not managed to get out in the hills.  Fingers crossed that the fine weather holds for next week ….we’re hoping to go somewhere with the tent and make the most of these wonderful long June days.

Plans

Posted by admin on June 19th, 2014

Yesterday I had a meeting with Alison and Graeme from the Harbour Arts Centre here in Irvine.  The meeting was to start to discuss my plans for the forthcoming exhibition and big drawing project, scheduled for the end of November through until 12th January.

Starting point, the Dom drawing, Speyer 2010

Starting point, the Dom drawing, Speyer 2010

There were a good number of things I wanted to check with them not least the practical side of doing the big drawing.  I wanted, in particular, to check just how much access I’d get to do the work…… creating a 4.5m x 1.5m drawing is going to take quite a lot of time.  Thankfully I needn’t have worried as I should be able to get to work on the drawing for up to 12 hours most days and should be able to work some of the days over the Christmas / New Year period if I’m running late!  This is quite a relief as I was thinking I’d only have about five weeks in which to complete everything…now it seems, I’ll have nearer 6 – 7 weeks.

Test drawings in my studio

Test drawings in my studio

As you know, as well as creating the drawing in the gallery, I’ll also be holding a standard exhibition of smaller works and we’ve decided that on the preview evening, I’ll speak about my work and the drawing project for five or so minutes so that everyone has an idea of what they’re looking at and what will be taking place throughout the course of the exhibition.  Slightly more unusual though is that we’ve also agreed to hold a ‘Post view’ at the end of the exhibition.  By this stage, I should with a modicum of luck and a bit of hard work, have finished the big drawing and it seems a good idea to invite everyone back to see what it looks like.  I’ve also proposed that I donate the finished drawing to the North Ayrshire Council art collection and the post view evening could be the ideal opportunity to formally hand the drawing over.

Among other topics discussed was the idea of setting up a web cam so that we can promote the project to an audience outside of Ayrshire.   Having something that would be ‘live’ however, made us all a little nervous I think and after some thought Graeme suggested that instead, we set up a time lapse camera that would record the work regularly throughout a 7 hour period.  At the end of each day, the resulting footage could be checked and uploaded to a website so that folk could follow the progress of the drawing on-line….but just not ‘live’.  It seems a very good idea and I’ll be very happy with that.  I’m leaving Graeme to sort all this technical stuff out…..needless to say I’m not very good with things like that!

More test drawings

More test drawings

Alison also asked me whether it’d be OK if she arranges for some schools to visit while I’m working on the drawing.  She’s suggested that I could perhaps do a formal talk in the Harbour Arts Centre theatre the same day.  This seems like another good idea and I’m more than happy to do this.  Over the last few years I’ve been asked to speak about my work on several occasions and although it involves quite a lot of preparatory work, it has always been worth while.  Indeed, I’ve recently had two enquiries to work as a guest speaker which is quite exciting especially as one of them is abroad.  Anyway, more of that another time; for the moment I have enough to think about with this project.  As you can see though, things are well under way and I’m really looking forward to starting the drawing in five months or so time.    I’ll keep you up to date on how things progress.

‘From the summit of Ben Vrackie’

Posted by admin on June 14th, 2014
127 'From the summit of Ben Vrackie', Acrylic & Pastel, 2009, 60 x 30 cm

‘From the summit of Ben Vrackie’

‘From the summit of Ben Vrackie’, Acrylic & Pastel, 2009, 60 x 30 cm

With our walks starting to take us further east this summer, I thought I’d try and select something for the Artwork of the week that matched.  I chose this piece which I’ve always liked and although it’s not as east as Glen Shee, it’s certainly heading that way!  This painting, based on a view we had from the summit of Ben Vrackie, looks north towards I guess, the Beinn a’ Ghlo hills.

As you know, I’ll be holding an exhibition of work at the John Muir Trust Wild Space in Pitlochry next May / June and I think I’ll have to try and create another painting based on this fine hill before then…..we’ll just have to go back and walk up it again …..It’s a tough job, but….!

Another piece in the jigsaw

Posted by admin on June 14th, 2014

On Wednesday evening after what had already been a very busy week for us both, we fell prey to a good weather forecast for the east of Scotland and Nita suggested we do another trip to Glen Shee and have a recce of the glen leading up to Loch Callater …and maybe up onto one of the Munro’s too.  Until the other week on Tolmount we never even knew of Loch Callater or that you could get to it from the northern end of Glen Shee using Jock’s Road.  It’s amazing what you can see from the top of a hill!

Overlooking Loch Callater

Overlooking Loch Callater

Another early start saw us at the Glen Shee ski centre cafe at about nine o’clock and after succumbing  to the call of a bacon sandwich and coffee, we started walking just under an hour later.  It’s a five km walk up the glen to Loch Callater but it’s a very beautiful walk with the river rushing along at your side.  When we reached the end of the loch we took the path marked on the map that leads all the way to the summit of Carn an t’Segairt Mor.  In a way it was quite strange following what was in most places a very good path all the way to the top of a hill rather than wandering over open hillside … but it was a very pleasant walk and we reached the summit just in time for a late lunch.  The views on the way up had been good, especially so as we were looking across to the hills we’d walk just a couple of weeks ago.  From the summit though, the views took us into new territory…..taking in several other Munro’s and the fine summit of Lochnagar rising above the others a good few kilometres away.  I always find it particularly exciting seeing new hills for the first time and we’ll certainly be going back later this summer to explore further…..taking the tent though so that we avoid the long drive before the walk.

The flat summit of Carn an t'Segairt Mor

The flat summit of Carn an t’Segairt Mor

As we were leaving the summit of Carn an t’Segairt Mor we met a couple of young chaps and their dog and stopped to have a quick chat.  It turned out that they’d already walked all the way over from Lochnagar and were making for the next Munro in the group ….quite a walk.  We of course were moving at a slightly more leisurely pace and after leaving them, we headed slowly back down towards the car.   By the time we’d got back I really felt that I’d fitted the latest piece of the magnificent Scottish landscape jig saw into place ….can’t wait to get back.

‘Below Goat Fell, winter’

Posted by admin on June 6th, 2014
3 'Below Goat Fell, winter', Graphite pencil on paper, 2013, 125 x 80 cm

‘Below Goat Fell, winter’

 ‘Below Goat Fell, winter’, Graphite pencil on paper, 2013, 125 x 80 cm

We’re heading over to the Isle of Arran and Glen Rosa again tomorrow.  I need to walk up to the head of the glen to do some more sketching and to take some more photos as preparation for my big drawing project in November and December this year.  I am starting to get quite a good idea now as to how to go about this big piece of work and tomorrows visit to the glen will hopefully give me all the information I need.   That said, the forecast is a little ‘iffy’ so if the cloud is right down we may have to make another visit later in the summer.

Anyway, this got me thinking about the work I’d already done on Glen Rosa and I thought I’d use this drawing as my ‘artwork of the week’.  This is one of several I’ve created as trial pieces for the big drawing ….this is approximately 125 x 80 cm and is currently at the studio …rolled up.  Should you like to see it up close however …do pop into the studio.

Big space

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

East of Glen Shee ….a lot of open space

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

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

From the broad ridge near Cairn of Claiss

From the broad ridge near Cairn of Claiss

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

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

A view from Tom Buidhe

A view from Tom Buidhe

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

Approaching the top of Tolmount

Approaching the top of Tolmount

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

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

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

Photos by Anita Groves

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