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Latest Blogs | Scottish Landscape Art - Scottish Landscape Paintings - Part 22

Summit meeting

Posted by admin on October 18th, 2013
View from Edinburgh castle

View from Edinburgh castle

It has been a case of ‘hold the front page’ this week.  My original plan was to do the entire blog about a visit we made to Edinburgh on Wednesday.  Then yesterday I got a very interesting email from a gentleman called Richard Baker…. and I decided that my plans for the blog would have to change a little.

But a bit about Edinburgh first as this really was an important occasion.  As you know, back in 2010 I was invited to act as patron to ‘the gallery on the corner’ in Edinburgh.  This wonderful gallery, run by Autism Initiative Scotland, not only supports and exhibits work by people affected by autism and other health issues, but it also trains young people affected by autism, in both the creative and retail sides of the business.  On Wednesday afternoon I was invited to attend the gallery to help celebrate the successful completion of their training by the galleries most recent five trainees.  It was good to meet them all and to be there as they were presented with their certificates by gallery manager Susie Anderson.  This is now the third group of young people to have completed training at the gallery and a new group of trainees has just started …..so the gallery staff and trainees are doing a great job and achieving a great deal.

As I’ve said in the past, if you are in Edinburgh at any point, do make it along to ‘the gallery on the corner’.  You’ll find a great selection of works, some by established artists and some created by the trainees in the studios below the gallery.  It’s well worth a visit and of course your support will help more young people get real practical training both creatively and in business and retail skills.  ‘the gallery on the corner’ really is a win win situation …do please support it if you can.

And now, as they say, for something completely different.  You’ll perhaps remember that back in August I think it was, we did a magnificent walk up the Corbett, Mam na Gualainn.  We’d been threatening to take our friend Guy there for a good number of years and so the three of us finally made it to the top on what was a particularly fine day.  It wasn’t clear blue skies, but rather a constantly changing scene as banks of low cloud drifted in from the west and broke around the mountains of Glencoe, the Mamores and….Mam na Gualainn.

Panorama Loch Leven by Richard Baker

Panorama Loch Leven by Richard Baker

A large group of walkers set off up hill a short while before we started but with my slow pace they soon disappeared and we saw no one all the way to the summit.  We’d sat for a while just below the summit eating our lunch and watching the clouds come and go and the views change every minute.  Our plan was to continue east along the grassy ridge for some way before retracing our steps.  As we got up to leave, a gentleman arrived at the summit and we stood and chatted for five minutes or so.  At the time it was just one of those meetings you occasionally have on Scottish hills …..you’ve perhaps been walking for three or four hours and haven’t seen anyone and then suddenly someone appears.  It’s nice to stop and have a chat before both going on your respective ways again.

Anyway, that would have been that, but a couple of days ago a got this email from Richard explaining that he had been the chap we’d spoken to near the summit of Mam na Gualainn back in August.  He said that he’d thought he’d recognised me as we spoke (he had apparently found my website while looking for paintings of Scotland a few months before) but it was only as we headed off that he realised where he’d seen my face before.  Richard was in the middle of a lengthy walk and was heading back towards Corrour.  Anyway, he sent me this magnificent photograph which he took, looking back towards Loch Leven, with Mam na Gualainn on the right and the Pap of Glencoe in the centre.  What a fantastic panorama … I’m going to have to do a walk in that direction myself sometime.

Anyway, thanks Richard, for getting in touch.  You say that you are away walking again this coming week …..hope you have a great time and hope to see you at the studio sometime …..or perhaps again by chance at the top of a hill somewhere.

‘At the summit of Ben Oss, winter’

Posted by admin on October 11th, 2013
261-at-the-summit-of-ben-oss-winter-acrylic-pastel-2012-30-x-30-cm

‘At the summit of Ben Oss, winter’

‘At the summit of Ben Oss, winter’, Acrylic & Pastel, 2012, 30 x 30 cm

As I’ve said in my blog this week ….it’s getting a little colder recently and my thoughts are already turning to winter and the prospects of snow on the hills again.  So then, this little picture seemed appropriate.  It is one of several I did based on the memories of reaching the summit of Ben Oss several years ago.  We’d plodded our way up in heavy driving snow but to our delight, as we stood at the top, the snow stopped and the cloud started to break.

This little painting is currently on display at the ‘Scottish Showcase Gallery’ in Kirkcudbright.

Moving on…

Posted by admin on October 11th, 2013
' A cold evening - Irvine harbour side'

‘ A cold evening – Irvine harbour side’

Well then, that’s the Open Weekend over for another year and I’ve already ‘un-tidied’ the studio and am getting back to the work again. It’s amazing, after all the work that goes into the event, just how quickly it passes by. It was though, a very successful weekend with I think, just over 300 visitors to the studios. After speaking with many of my colleagues, I think most were very happy and had made either sales or useful contacts…..and for me, it was a bit of both.

My Open Weekend actually started on Friday afternoon as I was still putting the finishing touches to the studio. A gentleman came in and immediately took a fancy to one of the large 80 x 80 cm paintings. He spent a lot of time looking at it before leaving. He was back about an hour later asking if he could put a deposit on the painting ….so a very good start to the weekend…..and over the next couple of days another of the 80 x 80 cm paintings was also purchased making it the most successful ever Open Weekend for me. Of course, this event is not just about selling work, it is, perhaps more importantly, about people finding your studio, seeing the work and hopefully then going on to tell others about it. This really is the time to make contacts and with over 300 people coming into the courtyard this year, it was very successful in this aspect too. Of course, a successful event comes about from promoting it well and although we all did our part here at the studios, a big thank you must go out to all the local businesses and organisations who agreed to put our posters up and to the local newspapers and radio who gave us such good coverage.

I always think though, that once the Open Weekend is over, winter is just around the corner. As we left the studio yesterday evening under the last light of an almost clear sky, the temperature was decidedly on the wintry side. With all the pre open weekend work, Nita and I haven’t been out walking for almost four weeks now and with both of us working this weekend it’ll be next week before we get out again. Before we do, I think it’ll be time to check the rucksack and start putting back into it, all the extra gear I took out in the hot weather of July. I’ll also have to check the winter boots, crampons and spiders to make sure they are in good condition ready for the first time they are called into action. It’s incredible ….it only seemed a very short while ago that we were walking in t-shirts and complaining that it was too hot!

‘Below Ben Oss’

Posted by admin on October 3rd, 2013
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‘Below Ben Oss’

‘Below Ben Oss’, Acrylic & Pastel, 2013, 30 x 30 cm

This little painting has just some back from the framers and I’m really quite pleased with it.  Based on a view we had earlier this year when we walked up Cononish glen, it tries to capture the very misty scene looking up from below Ben Oss to the lower flanks of Ben Lui.  This was a low level walk but with the thick mist coming and going we got some beautiful views.  It’s amazing, even in the dullest of conditions there can be so much atmosphere.

This painting will be on display in my studio at the Courtyard Studios in Irvine, as part of our annual Open Studios Weekend this coming Saturday 5th and Sunday 6th October.  Open: 11 am – 5pm Saturday 5th Oct, 12 noon – 5pm Sunday 6th October.  I hope you can get along to see the work.

The big tidy-up!

Posted by admin on October 3rd, 2013

The annual Courtyard Studios Open Weekend isn’t just a great opportunity to promote and sell my work ….it is, by necessity, a great opportunity to clean, tidy and generally re-organise the studio.  I’d like to think I’d do this periodically even without the excuse of getting the studio ready for the Open Weekend once a year ….but well……I guess in all honesty, I would always prefer to paint and the tidying would get put off ….and off and off!

Mayhem in the Studio tidy-up

Mayhem in the Studio tidy-up

The thing is, when and how to do the ‘big tidy’.  There seems to be two opposing lines of thought on this subject.  There are those, (and I’ve been included in this camp before) that leave it to the last minute and have a mad ….and I mean MAD, long day on the Friday before the Open Weekend.  Our studio rep, Brian, is going for this option this year apparently, but I doubt that he can really come close to matching a former tenant, Jamie.  He really did leave it to the last minute and he, being a very prolific painter, really did have a lot of tidying to do each year.  When all the rest of us plodded wearily home around eight or nine O’clock on the Friday evening, Jamie studio would be a hive of activity with much moving of paintings, climbing of step ladders and cursing!  By all accounts this quite often went on into the early hours of the morning.  All credit to him though, he was always there with his studio open on the dot of eleven the next morning waiting for the first visitors….and his studio would be looking great.

The other option, and this is the one I’ve gone for this year, is to take several days getting the studio ready.  It means of course, you don’t get any actual painting done, but it is a bit more relaxed and certainly less stressful.  I started clearing the top of one of my tables on Monday afternoon, did a little bit more on Tuesday and then got into the swing of it properly, yesterday.  I did say to Nita though, that doing it this way, the job does tend to expand to fit the time!  Indeed, yesterday after repainting the end walls, I spent many hours just moving paintings around ….and around before finally selecting and hanging five pieces.

Finally, yesterday evening, I repainted the floor at the far end of the studio.  This is usually the area where I do all my work and so was in a bad state.  Along with all the splashes of paint there was also a good covering of graphite after all the big drawings I’ve been doing.  Needless to say, I painted myself away from the sink which I’d left full of soapy water to clean the brush in!  Hopefully the floor will be dry when I get in later today and I can start moving all the stuff currently stacked everywhere in the front section of the studio, onto the clean floor at the back. Once this is done, I can start painting the main wall and hanging pictures on that.  If I can get this done by this evening I’ll have all Friday to do the final tidying and then go around fixing labels, cleaning picture glass etc.

It always seems a bit daunting when everything is in disarray, but once you get a few paintings up and a bit of the floor looking clean (ish), it all seems worth it.  This year I do actually have a cut off point on Friday evening.  A former college friend of mine is calling in at eight o’clock on Friday evening on his way up to see his mum who lives on the Isle of Bute.  We’ve assured him we’ll both have our studios ready by eight so that we can all go off for a meal in our local Indian restaurant.  It’ll be a nice way to finish off the week of tidying.

A lot of work still to do

A lot of work still to do

Anyway, if you live in the area do come down to the Courtyard studios this weekend.  There will be 12 of us taking part and it’s a great opportunity to see the very latest work by some of Ayrshire’s leading artists and makers…..including, painting, drawing, photography, ceramics, stained glass, hand book-binding and jewellery.  Hope to see some of you there.

‘West coast scene, Isle of Harris’

Posted by admin on September 27th, 2013
'West coast scene, Isle of Harris'

‘West coast scene, Isle of Harris’

‘West coast scene, Isle of Harris’, Oil on canvas, 2013, 80 x 80 cm

Well then, this is the final version of an oil painting I started four or five months ago.  It’s based on a view we saw as we were driving down the road along the west coast of Harris back in May.  At one point the road climbs just a little and from the lay-by conveniently situated at the high point, we had a superb view out over the rock, sand and surf.  It was quite a rough sea and there was a lot of movement in the scene.  This painting is done entirely from the memories I have of standing there just looking and listening.  I wanted to create something that was hopefully both abstract and landscape / seascape and use very thick paint applied almost entirely with my fathers old six inch wide horse hair house painting brush.  The paint has been built up over time with the thick paint put down in slightly different directions, the brush strokes overlapping each other.

This is quite different from much of my acrylic and pastel work and I must admit I’m finding it hard and very different working in oil …but it’s been great fun and I think I’ve learn quite a lot from doing this piece.  I’ve already started work on several other pieces …but before I go much further I may need to track down a manufacturer of traditional horse hair brushes as my father’s old house painting brush, (I remember him using it on our house in Epping in the mid 1960’s) is shouting out for retirement!

12 Open Doors ….

Posted by admin on September 27th, 2013

Courtyard Studios Open Weekend Saturday 5th / Sunday 6th October

With just over one week to go until our annual Open Studios Weekend, artists at the Courtyard Studios are starting to get into the swing of it. Brian Craig created the posters and invitations and these arrived back from the printers last week and have been either displayed or sent out to customers. Nita and I put together a press release and sent this along with photos of several of the artists, to all the local press and radio stations. The real job of getting the studios ready for the weekend starts next week and if everything goes as usual ….most of us will be madly cleaning, tidying and hanging pictures etc until late on the evening of Friday 4th Oct! I usually reckon it takes me two days to get my studio sorted out but I like to leave it until the latest possible moment so that I can continue painting for as long as possible.

Anyway, this year 12 artists will be opening their studio doors and I thought I’d use this week’s blog to let you know who they are and what they do.

Studio A: Chick McGeehan, painting.

Chick McGeehan

Chick McGeehan

Studio B: Sheila Kerr, jewellery.

Sheila Kerr jewellery

Sheila Kerr jewellery

Studio D: Margaret Carslaw, painting.

Margaret Carslaw, Painting

Margaret Carslaw, Painting

Studio E: Nita Groves, ceramics

Nita Groves - Ceramics

Nita Groves – Ceramics

Studio G: David Reid, painting

David Reid, Studio G, Portrait painting class

David Reid, Studio G, Portrait painting class

 

Studio H/I: Tom McEwan, hand book-binding.
Michelle Muir, painting
Ethan Foy, painting.

Tom McEwan, Hand book-binding

Tom McEwan, Hand book-binding

Studio J: Keith Salmon, painting.

Keith Salmon

Keith Salmon

Studio K: Stewart Souter, painting, stained glass.

Stewart Souter, Stained Glass & Painting

Stewart Souter, Stained Glass & Painting

Studio L: Brian Craig, painting, photography and graphics.

Studio M: Alison Thomas, painting. Alison will also be running some drop-in craft workshops for children aged between 5 and 14 years, throughout the weekend.

Alison Thomas

Alison Thomas

The Courtyard Studios are situated on Harbour St, next door to the Ship Inn and close to the Harbour Arts Centre and bar, the Magnum Sports Centre and Small Talk, a very popular and traditional café /tea room.

The studios will be open: Saturday 5th October, 11am – 5pm and Sunday 6th October, 12 noon – 5pm. Entry free.

I hope you can make it along.

Courtyard Studios, Irvine

Courtyard Studios, Irvine

‘Below Ben Lui, a cold, damp spring afternoon’

Posted by admin on September 22nd, 2013
'Below Ben Lui, a cold, damp spring afternoon'

‘Below Ben Lui, a cold, damp spring afternoon’

‘Below Ben Lui, a cold, damp spring afternoon’, Acrylic & Pastel, 2013, 30 x 30 cm

I tend to get drawn back to the Cononish Glen and to Ben Lui on a fairly regular basis.  The two hour long walk to the base of Ben Lui from Tyndrum is a real pleasure in its own right even if you don’t go on to climb the hill.

This new little painting is based on a day a few years ago when we’d planned to walk Ben Lui by its south ridge.  We’d gone with a couple of friends but the conditions where far from good and they weren’t really kitted out for what higher up turned out to be very cold, wet and snowy conditions.  We’d reached the bealach between Ben Oss and Ben Lui but had met the snow at that point and it really didn’t take much thinking about to decide that the prudent course of action was to head back down.  As we once again reached the end of the main track in Cononish Glen and stood right below the main bulk of Ben Lui, a heavy snow shower swept in.  I remember standing there watching the big white snow flakes fall against the dark background of the hill.  It wasn’t a hugely successful walk but that short moment has stuck in my mind and helped make the cold wet day a memorable one.

A busy little week…

Posted by admin on September 22nd, 2013
From above the Devils Staircase

From above the Devils Staircase

This time last week, (Saturday 14 at 13.17), Nita and I were sat with some friends Stewart and Evelyn on a rocky little top overlooking Glencoe.  We’d not walked far, just followed the West Highland Way up to the high point of the Devil’s Staircase and headed north up the grass and heather slopes to the first little summit at around 800m.  It was however a wonderful view point and we’d been very lucky with the weather.  It was I guess the perfect Glencoe weather …a mix of bright sun and dark heavy shower clouds that rolled in filling the glen with mist and rain before passing on over Rannoch Moor.  Stewart, an Irvine man, has been living in Germany with his wife Evelyn for many years and so I think he particularly enjoyed seeing this very special bit of Scotland in very special Scottish conditions.

City of Adelaide ....heading south

City of Adelaide ….heading south

The rest of my week was spent either at my studio or standing on the harbour side waiting to see if the grand old clipper, City of Adelaide would finally start her journey by barge down to London.  Getting this vast wooden ship on a barge out of the River Irvine needed a lot of skill, two tugs and some reasonably fine weather.  The latter was the problem for the first part of the week, with constant gales or at least high winds.  All looked good on Thursday morning and a big crowd once again gathered at the mouth of the River Irvine to witness this historical event but at the last minute with the wind picking up, the wise decision was made to once again call it off.  Finally, on Friday lunchtime, with the crowds once again lining the harbour side, the City of Adelaide was towed out to sea to start its trip down to London.  As I write, it’s now well into the Irish Sea apparently ….so good luck to all on board.  I’m not sure of the exact time table but it will be heading to Greenwich for a short while before being lifted onto a really big container ship for the long voyage down to Adelaide.  If you are interested and haven’t already found it, www.cityofadelaide.org.au is a great website and has masses of information and photos.

Art wise, it’s been a good week too.  I’ve had a week of working on an 80 x 80 cm oil painting.  It is as you can see, a more abstract piece created using a large house painting brush and lots of thick oil paint.  I’ve been enjoying working like this after several weeks of doing finer, tighter acrylic and pastel pieces.  Not sure what to make of it though ….so will have to wait and see.

Work in progress, oil on canvas 80 x 80 cm

Work in progress, oil on canvas 80 x 80 cm

Finally, yesterday I also had a visit from a couple from Edinburgh.  They’ve been following my work on-line for a good while now and decided to call into the studio on their way back from a short holiday on the Isle of Arran.  They left my studio an hour later with two of my paintings …..including one of the new Harris pieces.  So then …a very big thanks to them and I hope they get much pleasure from the paintings once they are up on their wall.

I’m spending today trying to get the press release and photos together to send to the local papers and radio stations in order to promote our Open Studios Weekend on Saturday 5th / Sunday 6th October.  The event posters and flyers have been printed and are starting to get displayed …if you live in the region you may see one soon.  I’ll be sending out flyers and email invitations to all who have left their names in my visitors book, but remember, the event is open to all and is free ….so mark it in your diary and come along and enjoy seeing a great selection of work produced by some of Ayrshire’s leading artists, including; painting, drawing, prints, ceramics, stained glass, hand book-binding, photography and jewellery….one of the artists, Alison Thomas, will even be running some drop-in workshops for children too.  Hope to see you at the studios on Saturday 5th October (11am – 5pm), or Sunday 6th October (12 noon – 5pm).

Invitation 2013

Invitation 2013

Countdown to the Courtyard Studios Open Weekend – Sat / Sun 5th / 6th October 2013

Posted by admin on September 13th, 2013

It’s that time of year and we’re once again getting ready for the annual Open Studios Weekend at the Courtyard Studios.  Brian Craig, the current studio rep and resident graphics expert, has just put together the event poster and invitation and so here it is.  Looks good and there should be a really interesting selection of work to see at the weekend.  Twelve artists will be taking part including three new tenants at the Courtyard; painters Michelle Muir and Ethan Foy and award winning hand book-binder Tom McEwan.  Other artists include, painters Chick McGeehan, Margaret Carslaw, David Reid, Stewart Souter, Alison Thomas and me.  Away from painting, you will see ceramics by Nita Groves, photography by Brian Craig and jewellery by Ayrshire’s Business Woman of the Year, Sheila Kerr.  We have a new tenant who is in the process of moving in, but other than that she’s a painter, I’m afraid I know nothing else, not even her name or whether she’ll be in her studio on the weekend …so there may just be thirteen artists and some new work for all of us to see.

Full details of the event are on the Invitation below.  I do hope you can get along to the Courtyard Studios that weekend, but if not, remember that visitors are always welcome.  There’s a good variety of food and refreshments available within a short walk of the studios including The Ship Inn, the Harbour Arts Centre bar and café and the very traditional café / tea shop – Small talk…..so something for most tastes.  Hope to see you on Saturday 5th or Sunday 6th October.

Invitation 2013

Invitation 2013

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