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Latest Blogs | Scottish Landscape Art - Scottish Landscape Paintings - Part 28

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

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

‘From the east ridge of Beinn Lui, April’

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

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

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

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

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

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

'Dusk, on Rannoch Moor'

‘Dusk, on Rannoch Moor’

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

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

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

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

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

Keith Salmon, exhibition poster

Keith Salmon, exhibition poster

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‘Fresh snow, January 1st 2013, the Ochil’s’

Posted by admin on February 15th, 2013
‘Fresh snow, January 1st 2013, the Ochil’s’

‘Fresh snow, January 1st 2013, the Ochil’s’

‘Fresh snow, January 1st 2013, the Ochil’s’, Acrylic & Pastel, 2013, 30 x 30 cm

You may remember we spent our New Years Day walking in the Ochil Hills.  It was perfect conditions with the higher slopes whitened with a light covering of fresh snow.  A mixture of heavy clouds and bright sunny breaks made for beautiful subtle light and colours.  This small painting is my first attempt at trying to capture a little of that day.

Seven drawings

Posted by admin on February 15th, 2013
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‘Early morning, Rannoch Moor’

Earlier this week I took the seven new graphite drawings down to my framer in Prestwick. I’ve asked them to mount the drawings only as there won’t be enough space in the gallery to hang them. The drawings though will be on display in a stand and will be available for sale should anyone take a fancy to any of them.

It’s now about 07.15 and I’m rushing to get things completed on this computer as I have to get down to the studio quite early today. Over the last few weeks or so I’ve been posting odd photos of some of the drawings but I thought I’d take this opportunity to show them all together. Of course this has the advantage that I don’t have to write much this morning ….it’s one of those ‘picture blogs’ this week! Anyway, I hope you find them of interest.

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‘East over Rannoch Moor, early morning’

They’re all done on thick off white paper …I think it was 220 g paper and I’ve used soft graphite pencils scribbled down in over lapping layers. I’ve also cut back through the dark areas using a soft rubber and have tried to control some of these marks by light applications of fixative at points throughout the drawing process. They are all A2 size, so not huge …but I think they may well deserve to be taken to a much larger scale.

This is just a thought at present but it would be nice to do something on the scale of the large drawing I did when I was in Speyer in the summer of 2010. That drawing was just over 4 m long by 1.5 m high! It would certainly mean using a lot of graphite sticks.

Anyway, here are the rest of the drawings ….if you can get along to see them for real they’ll be on display at ‘the gallery on the corner’, 34 Northumberland St, Edinburgh EH3 6LS throughout March. The gallery is open, Tues – Sat, 11.00 – 17.00. I must dash now…..

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‘East from Ba cottage, early morning’

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‘Fresh snow, the Ochils’

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‘Winter patterns, Beinn Dorain’

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‘Winter slopes, Blackmount’

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‘In the Luss hills’

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‘From Ghlas Beinn, December afternoon’

Posted by admin on February 10th, 2013
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‘From Ghlas Beinn, December afternoon’

‘From Ghlas Beinn, December afternoon’, Acrylic & Pastel, 2013, 76 x 23 cm

Here is one of the latest 76 x 23 cm paintings.  It is another work based on the views we had last December while walking Ghlas Beinn.  The brighter conditions of the morning and early afternoon had mostly gone to be replaced by heavier and slightly lower cloud.  The light and colours became more sombre but none the less beautiful.  This low undulating ridge on the edge of Rannoch Moor really is the perfect view point.  This painting has just been framed and will probably be included in my exhibition at ‘the gallery on the corner’ in Edinburgh.

Exhibition details:

 ‘the gallery on the corner’
34 Northumberland St
Edinburgh EH3 6LS

Tel: 0131 557 8969
‘In sun, rain, mist and snow’
An exhibition of recent paintings by Keith Salmon

Preview, Friday March 1st 2013, 6pm – 8pm

Exhibition runs until March 30th 2013

Gallery open; Tues – Sat, 11.00 – 17.00
I hope some of you can get along to see the work.  If you’d like an invitation to the preview, just let me know.

Well worth waiting for

Posted by admin on February 10th, 2013
Ben Lomond from the slopes of Beinn Dubh

Ben Lomond from the slopes of Beinn Dubh

It’s been over two weeks since we last had a day off to go walking….on that occasion, a wander up Glen Rosa over on the Isle of Arran.  Since then there seems to have been a continuous stream of gales racing in off the Atlantic  There have been a couple of quiet and fine days in between but one or both of us have been working!  This last week has been another busy one and with Nita working this weekend it looked like we wouldn’t get out for a walk until next week at the earliest.

Earlier I’d spent quite a bit of time getting images and text ready for the invitation cards for my exhibition, two new business post cards, and four new greetings cards.  For a number of years I’ve been asked by Steve and Sylvia up at Blairmore Gallery, if I’d have a few greetings cards made for sale at their gallery.  I’d never really got around to looking into it until now but as I had to go to our local printer for the new business cards I thought I might as well ask.  In short, not only could they print the greetings cards, they could also supply them with envelopes and packed in clear cellophane bags.  I’ve decided to have four different cards printed and have ordered 100 of each.  This will allow me to pass some onto the Blairmore Gallery, have some for the forthcoming exhibition in Edinburgh and also have them for sale at my studio and possibly on-line through my website too.  Anyway, as you can imagine, all this took quite a lot of time …probably the reason I’d put off doing it previously if I’m honest.  I got the proofs back from Kestrel Press on Thursday and they look quite good I think ….so have given the go ahead and am now waiting to see what the actual things look like when they’re printed and packaged.  Exciting stuff!

Loch Lomond from the slopes of Beinn Dubh

Loch Lomond from the slopes of Beinn Dubh

As I said, I got the 8 different digital prints back on Thursday and I’m pleased with the majority of them.  A couple haven’t quite come out as I’d hoped but the other six look great and I’ll be taking two copies each down to my framer to get them mounted ready for the exhibition.  Like the greetings cards, this is all rather new and so will be a learning process for me.  It’ll be interesting to see if I’ve made the correct selection of images for the prints and cards….whether the more abstract images are as popular as the others.

In the Luss Hills, from Beinn Dubh

In the Luss Hills, from Beinn Dubh

I’ve now almost decided on the 17 pieces to be included in my exhibition …although to be honest my choice has changed several times already!  I’ve got four paintings waiting at the framers to be collected so once they are back and I have all the work in the studio it should be easier to decide.  One of the big questions is whether to have two of my new A2 drawings framed and on the wall …instead of two of the paintings.  I had planned just to get the drawings mounted and displayed in a stand.  Ahhhhhh …still can’t decide!

The Luss Hills, from the summit of Beinn Dubh

The Luss Hills, from the summit of Beinn Dubh

Loch Lomond from Beinn Dubh

Loch Lomond from Beinn Dubh

With all this on the go, it was a great pleasure to hear my partner suggest that we take advantage of a dry day on Friday to get away from it and out into the hills for a few hours.  As you know, we like the Luss Hills and they are about the closest to get to from Irvine.  They’re steep but not very high so they make an excellent work-out even though you can still have quite a short day.  This was just what we needed.  With Nita working 12.5 hour shifts today and Sunday, she didn’t want a long drive or a too exhausting walk.  We’re regulars to Beinn Dubh and Mid Hill but the views out over Loch Lomond and the surrounding hills of the southern Highlands are just so good you can keep on going back time after time.  Yesterday there was a little snow higher up which made everything look extra special and we had a slow haul up to the top, avoiding much of the path so that we could get better views into Glen Luss.  This also had the advantage of keeping off of the increasingly frozen and quite slippery path.  Higher up though we were back to the path and I came a cropper ….slipping on some ice hidden under some powdery snow.  I landed rather heavily on my backside but thankfully I was just shaken …nothing more.  I should have stopped to put on my ‘spiders’ earlier but had planned to do that at the top so that I had them for the more difficult descent.  What a prat …I should have known better after all these years.  There we are, no real harm done. except perhaps to my confidence and pride!  Back out again next week if we can catch another good day.

Preparations

Posted by admin on February 3rd, 2013
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‘ One of the new paintings for the Edinburgh exhibition’

It would have been the perfect day to go walking today …its clear blue skies outside and a heavy frost. Alas, both Nita and I are working! Our friend Guy has gone out to have a wander around one of the two local wind farms …and I would have joined him if I hadn’t been so busy. This certainly would have been the day to do our long walk with him on Rannoch Moor but we’ll just have to wait for another opportunity.

Basically this last week has just been work. I’ve now got just over three weeks to get everything finished, framed and organised for my exhibition at ‘the gallery on the corner’ in Edinburgh. We deliver the work on the 26th ….but I’m getting there. The most important thing I guess is making sure I’ve got the paintings ready and this side of things has gone well this last week. I’ve completed the two new 76 x 23 cm paintings and so have enough new work for the show. We took these two paintings along with two new 30 x 30 pieces to the Waverley Gallery in Prestwick yesterday to get them framed and collected five other pieces that I took for framing a couple of weeks ago. I didn’t have time to look at these yesterday so am looking forward to getting down the studio in a couple of hours and unwrapping them. I always find it a bit nerve wracking seeing paintings in a frame for the first time …occasionally it can be the moment that you realise a piece is not finished! Hopefully I’ll be happy with these once I get them up on the wall.

I still have several more drawings to complete. I’m planning to take around half a dozen A2 sized graphite drawings to the exhibition. I’m not going to get them framed, just mounted and covered with a sheet of clear acetate. These will then be displayed in a separate stand in the gallery along with some new small prints I’m having done.

After returning from Prestwick yesterday we jumped on the train and headed through to Edinburgh. The gallery had recommended using their local printer to get the work done. We arrived in Edinburgh to be met by dark skies and a very cold wind (it had been sunny in Irvine when we left!) and we had a decidedly cool half hour walk over to the printers. Anyway, they were very helpful and I’ve ordered two copies of each of eight images to be printed on two types of paper … one smooth and white, the other off white and with a slight texture. I’m not really sure how these will come out but it’ll be interesting to see and give me a better idea whether I want to go down the prints ‘line’ in future.

It was then straight back on the train to Glasgow and after portion of fries and a rather tasteless cup of coffee on the station we rushed over to Millers, the big art supply store ….and spent an hour or so wandering around ….spending the tokens I’d won back in July in the North Ayrshire Open Exhibition. I wasn’t very sure whether I’d be able to spend them all ….but I shouldn’t have worried. In the end it was quite good as I found a selection of different types of sketch book, squares rather than rectangles and in a range of different papers. A few pastels and a large bottle of acrylic gloss medium / varnish and I’d used up my tokens …great stuff. Normally when I buy art materials I get just what I know I need …yesterday I felt free to try out a few different things. Thanks then rather belatedly, to Millers for sponsoring the prize at the North Ayrshire Open Exhibition and to the judges who awarded the 2012 Millers Prize to yours truly. That’s another good reason to get down the studio today ….I can’t wait to get everything I bought out of the bag. As I think I said in my last blog or Work of the Week, I’ve wanted to do more drawing again and so with all these great sketch books I’ve got no excuses not to!

So then, the preparations for my forth coming exhibition are well under way and with a bit of luck I should have everything done and ready in time. Next week I have to get invitation cards printed and a press release written …and go back over to Edinburgh to collect the prints…that’ll be interesting. If I’m happy with them it’ll then be another trip down to Prestwick to get them all mounted. I haven’t had an exhibition since October 2011 (at the Queens Gallery in Dundee and also at the Künstlerhaus in Speyer) and although it’s quite hectic, I’m really enjoying being back in the thick of it. I do hope some of you can get along to see the exhibition during March. Full details soon. If anyone wants an invitation to the preview please just let me know.

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

Posted by admin on February 3rd, 2013
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‘Snow shower, on the slopes of Ben Loyal, Sutherland’

 ‘Snow shower, on the slopes of Ben Loyal, Sutherland’, Acrylic & Pastel, 2013, 76 x 23 cm

Back in May as you may recall, we had two great days walking on Ben Loyal in Sutherland.  On our first attempt at getting to the top of this wonderful hill, we decided to turn back just a few hundred feet below the main broad ridge.  The reason for this was that there was a sudden change in the weather, from bright and sunny to cloud and snow.  The snow showers came in very quickly and for a short while we had some amazing views through the falling snow up to the main ridge above.  I did one 30 x 30 cm painting based on this scene, after we returned from our holiday in Sutherland and this piece sold recently at the Christmas exhibition at The Strathearn Gallery in Crieff.   I have however been planning to do a second version in the long 76 x 23 cm format.  This is it.  This painting is away being framed at present and will be included in my exhibition at ‘the gallery on the corner’ in Edinburgh throughout March.

‘East over Rannoch Moor, early morning’

Posted by admin on January 24th, 2013
'East over Rannoch Moor, early morning', Graphite on paper

‘East over Rannoch Moor, early morning’, Graphite on paper

‘East over Rannoch Moor, early morning’, Graphite on paper, 2013, 40 x 60 cm

This is a drawing I completed yesterday ….indeed as you can see, this is a quick photo of it still attached to my drawing board on the easel.  Anyway I hope this gives a reasonable idea of it.  It is one of a number of similar sized graphite drawings I’ve been doing recently and is loosely based on the walk we did towards Ba Bridge back in the spring.  That said, it could be anything really but I like the marks and contrasts.  I do like my drawings to have their own edge rather than running up to the edge of the paper …but this makes it slightly more difficult to mount and frame.  I’ll ask the framer to cut a mount that allows the rough and scratchy edge to be seen.

Over the last few years I’ve really concentrated on my paintings and have rather let my drawing slip.  I’m glad I’ve started again and am really enjoying the process.  I’m trying to put an hour or so in every day …it’s quite nice to spend the last hour in the studio with the music turned up a little …scribbling away.  Hopefully more to follow.

Rosa not Rannoch

Posted by admin on January 24th, 2013
Below Cir Mhor, Glen Rosa

Below Cir Mhor, Glen Rosa

Well then, all our plans to go and walk some of the paths out over Rannoch Moor on Tuesday, came to nothing ….the bad weather that has been causing mayhem in most of the UK, finally caught up with us here and although it didn’t sound like it would be anything like as bad as elsewhere, we certainly didn’t fancy setting out on the 90 mile drive north with snow forecast and the roads likely to be bad. Instead then, after a quick rethink, we decided to go across to Arran and do a low level walk there. We’re very lucky here in North Ayrshire in that if ever the road conditions look to bad further north, we can nearly always get the few miles to Ardrossan and catch the ferry over to Arran and its fantastic mountains …some of the finest, south of Glen Coe.

Glen Rosa ...a wild and beautiful place

Glen Rosa …a wild and beautiful place

We got up at 04.00 to find a couple of centimetres of snow everywhere …but it seemed to have stopped and once out of the estate where we live the roads here were fine. First a quick detour to Kilwinning train station to pick up Guy at just after 06.00 and then on to Ardrossan and the ferry terminal …where we had a brief surprise …the ferry wasn’t sitting waiting where it normally does! Instead it was in a second space further away. After getting out tickets we were told that we would be boarding by way of the vehicle ramp …not a gangway. Different. Even more different when we emerged from the car decks to find that the layout of the ship seemed to have changed!!! When we wandered into a completely re designed café, finally it dawned on us that this was a different ship! Apparently the normal ferry was in dry dock having some work done. The breakfast though was up to its usual high standards and we were soon on our way.

My patient guides!

My patient guides!

Guy had been planning on catching the bus to Sannox and then walking up Glen Sannox, then up and out onto the Saddle and down Glen Rosa back to Brodick. When I heard his plans I have to admit that I said a very loud ‘No’. Nita and I had done this a number of years ago on a perfect summer day and although 97% of the route is a straight forward walk, the final section oft the climb up to the Saddle is interesting to say the least, and proved challenging for me even in good summer conditions. The route climbs steeply at the head of Glen Sannox up a very well made path …but it’s a bit misleading. High up this little motorway ends abruptly and the only way to continue is to scrabble up a very steep and eroded gully and then out to gain the final small path onto the top of the Saddle ….the col between North Goat Fell and Cir Mhor. With the prospect of climbing this gully with snow and ice in it …well …No! As Guy said, he can always go back and do that himself sometime. Instead, with forecasts of strong winds higher up, we opted for the gentle route to the Saddle …from Glen Rosa … returning the same way.

Snow covered slopes below North Goat Fell

Snow covered slopes below North Goat Fell

Although we’ve done this walk several times over the years it is always very beautiful and this would be the first time we done it on a real winter day. The snow wasn’t right down in the base of the glen at first but we reached it higher up. Near to the head of the glen, the point where you cross the stream and go up easy slopes to the Saddle, we stopped. We’d spent so long stopping and looking, taking photos and generally enjoying the complete peace and quiet that we were running a little behind time and decided it was far enough.

Looking down Glen Rosa

Looking down Glen Rosa

The mountains look wonderful in the snow, their upper slopes disappearing into the clouds. I snapped away with the camera and more importantly spend long minutes just stood looking and trying to fix in my mind the subtle colours and tones created under these wild and wintry conditions …I’m looking forward to trying to create some paintings or drawings based on what I saw. My two guides, Nita and Guy had a good day spotting wild life too. There were plenty of deer to see and Nita spotted a couple of Golden Eagles …confirmed by a very interesting local gentleman who we met …and who spent quite a bit of time trying to point them out to me. Alas, I never did get to see one of them this time …but with all the excitement of the others …I feel like I did. I’m not sure who the chap was, but he spoke with so much enthusiasm and passion for the glen. He was pointing out the colours and telling us about how they change over the year ….he was a man after my own heart …he might have been a painter too. Hopefully we’ll meet up again another time when we’re wandering the hills or glens on Arran …and I can remember to give him one of my business cards!

‘In the Blackmount, December’

Posted by admin on January 19th, 2013
'In the Blackmount, December'

‘In the Blackmount, December’

‘In the Blackmount, December’, Acrylic & Pastel, 2012, 76 x 23 cm

I did this painting at the end of December, shortly after we walked Ghlas Beinn on the edge of Rannoch Moor.  When we first did this walk back in December 2009, I did a similar piece.  Both the new painting and the earlier version are based on the view we had looking across to the big hills of the Blackmount.  On both occasions there was snow lying on these big hills making them look very dramatic against the dark skies.  This is one of the paintings I am hoping to show in my exhibition at ‘the gallery on the corner’ in Edinburgh in March.

We’re going back to Rannoch Moor on Tuesday with a bit of luck.  This time though we will be following the tracks east from the Kingshouse Hotel.  Apparently the forecast is for the cold conditions to stay until then …so with a bit of luck we’ll see the moor and its surrounding mountains with more snow.  I’ll hopefully get some ideas for new paintings on this flat winter walk.

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    Contact Details

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