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Latest Blogs | Scottish Landscape Art - Scottish Landscape Paintings - Part 38

‘West, above the Blackwater Reservoir’

Posted by admin on February 16th, 2012
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'West, above the Blackwater Reservoir'

‘West, above the Blackwater Reservoir’, Acrylic & Pastel, 2009, 76 x 23 cm

The forecast for the weekend is for a little bit more winter.  I thought therefore that I’d have one of my wintry paintings for the current work of the week.  I did this piece a few years ago and it’s based on the view we had from Leum Ulilleim.  This is a 906 m hill that lies just to the SW of Corrour Station on the West Highland line.

I had been with a group from the local club staying at the bunkhouse at the station and on the Saturday Guy and I headed for Leum Uilleum.  It’s quite a prominent hill from the station and makes for a good circuit.  We had a day of bright sun and very heavy snow showers and it was quite an exhilarating day for me …being the first proper winter walk I’d done.  As we stopped for lunch at a low point on the back of the hill, the clouds broke to give this wonderful snowy view out over the Blackwater Reservoir.  It didn’t last too long though and by the time we’d plodded our way up to the neighbouring top it was snowing hard again.  We finished our day though under almost cloud free skies and even had time before catching the train home to walk over to the end of Loch Ossian.

Booked

Posted by admin on February 16th, 2012

Well it’s just me and this machine today ….no painting I’m afraid, just writing.  I have though been down into town this morning to go to the bank to pay the deposit on the cottage we’ve just booked for our holiday in May.  Last week you’ll remember, I was wondering where to go and more to the point whether we’d be able to find anywhere still available for the two weeks in May.  Most of the places we looked at in Sutherland were booked for the weeks we wanted, but we did find one place just a little further to the east than we’d originally planned.   I think it is described as a former croft and is situated very close to the north coast.  It sounds great and well located for getting to some of the northern hills as well as exploring this magnificent bit of coastline.  Now we’ve booked I’m getting really excited and will have to order the OS 1:25000 maps for the area.  The magnifiers will be put to good use once the maps arrive.

I’ve been looking in the hill guides and one hill that does attract me …although it’ll be a little bit of a drive, is Morven.  It is 706 m and is apparently the highest point in Caithness.  Until last year I’d never heard of it but on the day we walked to the southern summit of Arkle and were sat looking out over the vast wild landscape of Sutherland and Caithness, Nita spotted this very distinctive hill a way over to the east.  Our maps didn’t cover the area and so it was only on returning to the caravan that evening that we were able to look in the hill guide …and Nita spotted it.  It really is quite a distinctive shape and I think the book said that it is of Old Red Sandstone.  There is a neighbouring hill of slightly less height and both look well worth a visit.  Situated not too far inland from the NE coast and in an area that is generally quite low, they should offer magnificent views on a clear day.

A couple of years ago I sold one of my larger paintings (of Coire an t’ Sneachda in the Cairngorms) to a gentleman living near Wick in Caithness.  He phoned me the morning that the painting arrived and after talking about the painting and where he was going to hang it, he asked me whether I’d ever visited the Flow Country.  When I told him that I hadn’t, he said he’d thoroughly recommend it….he thought its big horizons and skies would make wonderful paintings.  It’s an area I’ve often thought of visiting but as there aren’t so many hills I’ve always tended to head further west.  So then, finally we’re going to be close to this fabulous wild area.  I think I read that it is the biggest unbroken area of bog in Europe.  Sounds great.

No photos to go with the blog this week I’m afraid but I’ll hopefully have some new images for next week’s effort.

‘Dusk, on Rannoch Moor’

Posted by admin on February 10th, 2012
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'Dusk, on Rannoch Moor'

‘Dusk, on Rannoch Moor’, Acrylic & Pastel, 2012, 210 mm x 148 mm

Here’s another of my new small ‘post card’ sized paintings.  I’m working on these very small pieces at the same time as I’m trying to develop the new 80 x 80cm oil on canvas paintings.  It’s proving quite interesting as these small quite quick paintings are starting to give clues as to how I go about the larger pieces.

This is quite an abstract little scene.  I’ve been playing around with the colours, using greens, blues and copper to try and put across something of the last light of day as we’ve experienced it a few times driving across Rannoch Moor.  The heavy skies reflect in the numerous pools and lochs visible from the road side, the bigger hills beyond disappearing into the cloud and gloom.  It’s such an amazing area, perhaps I should take my two weeks holiday here …camped in the middle of the moor.   Not sure Nita would be too happy if I suggested that though!  I definitely do need to take a few more walks around and through this fabulous wild area ….armed of course with sketch book, camera and some paint.  We’ve just been discussing where to go for our next walk …. Rannoch Moor could be the perfect place.

Where to go?

Posted by admin on February 10th, 2012
'North from the summit of Ben Hee'

'North from the summit of Ben Hee'

We still haven’t booked anywhere for our two week long holiday in May.  We’ve been more organised over the previous few years and had everything arranged by this time.  Of course, this has been quite easy as we’ve been going to the same place ….Achmelvich in Assynt.  It is very tempting to once again book one of the caravans at the little ‘Hillhead’ site there.  It is stunningly beautiful, very quiet and surrounded by amazing hills and mountains.

We have though, now walked many of these hills, Suilven, Canisp, Conival, Breabag, Sail Gharbh, Spidean Coinich, Glas Bheinn, Speicin Coinnich, Cul Mor and Cul Beag…..and have started to look further north.  We’ve done forays into Sutherland from our base in Achmelvich ….visiting Ben Hope, Ben Kilbreck, Ben Stack, Arkle and Ben Hee, but it’s a bit of a drive each time and so we’re thinking that this year we may try and find some accommodation somewhere in this most northerly part of the mainland.  I never mind revisiting hills but at the same time I get a great buzz out of walking somewhere I’ve never been before.

'Ben Hope from Arkle'

'Ben Hope from Arkle'

That said of course, we’re leaving it a bit late ….most self catering accommodation is booked quite early and so we may find it difficult to find anything in our price range that is still available for the two weeks in May.  I’m going to start searching the web and will contact the Scottish Tourist Board to get one of their brochures and then it’ll be a case of ringing around …no doubt to be told ‘fully booked, you should have booked back last autumn’!  We’ve been there before …or not ….and have ended up taking a holiday in a completely different part of Scotland!  But the thing about life is ….you have to be flexible, especially when you’re disorganised like Nita and I.  Hopefully though, we’ll see the kind of views we got last year from Ben Hee and Arkle.  But that’s the thing about Scotland…it really doesn’t matter where you go …it’s nearly all beautiful.  Any suggestions?!

'From Ben Hee, a little bit of weather!'

'From Ben Hee, a little bit of weather!'

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Work in progress

Posted by admin on February 2nd, 2012
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work in progress

Work in progress, oil on canvas, 80 x 80 cm

I normally put images of finished work on this page but thought it might be interesting to include a piece that is still a ‘work in progress’.  I took this snap yesterday evening before leaving the studio and as I haven’t been down there today, this is exactly how the painting is right now.  I’ve been working on this piece for around four weeks, adding paint in fairly thick broad overlapping bands using mainly flat course brushes of 3 – 12 cm wide. The painting is now at the stage where I’m going to have to leave it for a while and just get on with other pieces …then in a few weeks I can get back to it and try and finish it.  Watch this space …if it doesn’t reappear ….you’ll know that instead of finishing it …I wrecked it!  All part of the process.

Studio E

Posted by admin on February 2nd, 2012
'My old studio ....newly occupied'

'My old studio ....newly occupied'

It has been just over four months since I moved out of Studio E and into the bigger space in Studio J.  As I’ve said previously, it has actually taken me quite a while to get used to it.  I’ve had to move everything around to find the best use of the space ….and then learn where everything is!  I’m getting there though and starting to really enjoy having enough room to work on both acrylic and oil paintings at the same time and I’m not constantly tripping over things either.   That said, I do miss my old studio.  Being in the old part of the building it had a lot more character than the new space.  Its high ceiling and the old window overlooking the River Irvine and the salting beyond, made it a special place to work.

After I moved out of Studio E in late September, it remained empty despite the fact that the rent was low and on our returning from Germany in the first week of November my partner Anita said that she was going to apply for the lease if no one else was going to take it on.

Anita and I met almost 25 years ago at a time when she had just completed her Foundation Art Course and was about to head down to Carmarthen College to do a two year ceramic design course.  When she completed this in 1989, I quit the job I was doing and moved down to west Wales to join her.  We managed to find a great little cottage to rent in the beautiful little village of Laugharne but then both really struggled to find work.  A series of short lived jobs, cooking bar food at a time share place for me, being a waitress in a local restaurant for Nita ….and cleaning caravans on a Saturday morning for both of us ….well, it wasn’t too inspiring.  I was painting and drawing in the cottage and Nita was making small pieces in clay and then smoke firing them in a dustbin full of saw dust out in the back garden.

'My old studio ....newly occupied'

'My old studio ....newly occupied'

After about a year of this we took the plunge, found a studio (a converted pig sty two miles off the bus route on the side of a hill) and managed to get a grant to purchase a kiln and other equipment and materials …..and we became self employed.  We thought we could put Nita’s ceramic skills together with my more arty ones …and hopefully produce something good.  We were making ceramic jewellery that was just a little bit different …after firing them in a traditional kiln we then smoked them in the saw dust bin, leaving each individual item coloured and marked in a slightly different way.  Even though I say it myself, it was quite nice stuff but we didn’t have the money to promote or market it …and after a few years had to close and return to the more normal jobs …this time, garden centre for me, burger bar for Nita.

I was already struggling with my sight but continued to work at home on my drawing and painting.  Nita decided that she needed to retrain in a different profession and over the next few years qualified as a nurse.

Our move in 1998 from Wales to Scotland and to a slightly bigger house made a big difference.  At long last I had a decent space in which to paint and I was starting to regain confidence in what I was doing.  When I was offered a WASPS studio in 2003 though, this suddenly gave Nita the space to start doing some artwork again….and as time progressed she started to talk about getting another kiln and getting back to her ceramics again.  Just over a year ago, she decided to cut her hours at the hospital from full to part time (2 long twelve and a half hour shifts a week) and this allowed her to spend much more time doing her art work.  So then, the final piece fell into place when I moved studios back in October …now she not only had the time to get back to the ceramics but there was a perfect little studio just waiting to have a kiln fitted!

'My old studio ....newly occupied'

'My old studio ....newly occupied'

This has I have to admit been a long and rambling way of telling you that today after all this time, Nita has not only got her studio but the kiln too …the electrician arrived this morning to wire it all in ….she’s up and running!  It’s nice for me to see the little studio again and it’s already looking busy …I’m looking forward to see what she makes now that she not only has the time but the resources too.

Finally, last week I said that I’d been asked to hang a few pieces of work in one of Ayrshire’s top restaurants ….Braidwoods Restaurant, near Dalry.  This award winning restaurant now has four of my paintings on its walls and Nicola and Keith Braidwood kindly sent me some photos of a couple of the paintings in situ.   You can find out more about Braidwoods Restaurant by visiting their website: www.braidwoods.co.uk .

Braidwoods

Braidwoods

Braidwoods

Braidwoods

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

Posted by admin on January 28th, 2012
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‘Memories of rain, mist and melting snow, Beinn Chonzie, winter 2007’

‘Memories of rain, mist and melting snow, Beinn Chonzie, winter 2007’, Oil on canvas, 2012, 80 x 80 cm

Well then, this is the finished painting (still to be signed) that I’ve been working on for the last month or so.  It’s the first painting I’ve done using oil paint on canvas for a good few years.  The piece is based on a day back in 2007 when we walked Beinn Chonzie in pretty foul conditions.  The cloud was low and the wind was increasing as the day went by.  As we approached the final rise to the summit, it was pretty grim and we decided to give it a miss, choosing instead to walk around to gain some shelter from its steeper southern flanks.  There were the remains of some deep patches of snow here.  They were melting in what were relatively mild conditions but offered a place to sit and have our lunch.  It was a strange and bleak location especially as we were aware that the conditions were getting worse by the minute.  As we set off again and got back into the full force of the wind it was really wild …not a day for stopping to look for mountain hares!

What a week!

Posted by admin on January 28th, 2012
Windfarm on Eaglesham Moor

Windfarm on Eaglesham Moor

Late …….it’s been a difficult week ending with me getting a nasty cold and feeling quite rough this last couple of days.  I had planned to get the blog etc written on Friday but everything seems to be taking me an age.  The week started off well though with a fine wander around the Eaglesham Moors, following the broad paths connecting all the wind turbines.  It was a very windy day but a mostly dry one with just a few short sharp showers.  We walked for about six and a half hours, with a couple of detours off the main tracks to take in a couple of low hills en route.   This was the first real outing for our friend Guy, who you may remember, broke his leg on the low hills above Largs last spring.  It’s taken a long time to heal fully and so this mainly level and gentle walk was an ideal starter to get his leg back into the habit of wearing boots.  I think he enjoyed himself and apparently he has had no adverse reactions from his leg.

Windfarm on Eaglesham Moor

Windfarm on Eaglesham Moor

Big problems though down at the studio …one of my colleagues has been told he’s lost his lease.  It’s all rather complicated but there has been much talking, listening and thinking being done….and not much work.  The tenant in question is a really dedicated artist and has been one of the regulars here for many years and has always been very active in promoting the studios.   It will be a great shame if he has to leave and the studios will, in my opinion, be poorer for it.  A majority of artists at the Courtyard have put a letter / petition together and will be sending this to WASPS to air our concerns about what has happened ….but as I say it’s all rather complicated so quite what the outcome will be is anyone’s guess.

Windfarm on Eaglesham Moor

Windfarm on Eaglesham Moor

I have been asked this week for work by three places in Ayrshire ….a new gallery in Ayr as part of a Courtyard Studio exhibition starting in May, a new gallery in Dalry…..and a top restaurant also near Dalry.  As I haven’t got much lined up this year it will be interesting to see how things work out.  Full details to come soon.

I am also working with a sculptor I met in Germany….Jürgen Fischer.  He works in bog oak and lived and worked in Ireland for eight years.  His stuff looks very good and very stylish …we reckon our two works would look good together and could make an interesting exhibition.  We’ve decided to see if we can organise two exhibitions …one in Germany…possibly Berlin and one in Scotland or Ireland.  I spent this morning putting together a CD of images and information for him to take when he starts seeking venues in Germany.  His work is quite big ..1.5 – 2m tall so we’ll need a good size venue.  I have a couple of places in mind for a show over here and will start making some enquiries fairly soon.  We’re thinking about trying to set these exhibitions up for 2013 or 2014.  A lot of work but it could be very interesting I think.

Finally, we had a very good and enjoyable preview for the ‘Six into 12 plus Hornel’, exhibition at the Dick Institute in Kilmarnock the other Friday.  Despite it being a cold and very wet evening, there was a great turn out and the gallery was busy for much of the two hour long preview.  I was delighted with how my work looked in such a big space …it held its own among what was a very strong selection of work by the other five artists.  Everyone seemed to be pleased with how it looked and went and so a big thank you to Kate Davies and her team at the Dick Institute and to East Ayrshire Council for supporting this group of Ayrshire based artists.  I’m planning to go for a proper look around soon (too much talking at previews) and will try and take a few more general photos of the exhibition then.

Preview of Six into 12, Dick Institute, Kilmarnock

Preview of Six into 12, Dick Institute, Kilmarnock

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‘Beinn Toaig, winter’

Posted by admin on January 19th, 2012
'Beinn Taoig, winter'

'Beinn Taoig, winter'

‘Beinn Toaig, winter’, Acrylic & Pastel, 2012 Ref: 215

Still on the theme of post card sized paintings, this is another of the recent small works I’ve completed.  As with the previous ones, this is based on earlier larger paintings of the same subject ….Beinn Toaig in winter.  At this scale, I’ve used the harder wax pastels rather than the oil pastels.  I can sharpen them to create finer lines and marks as they are scribbled into the hard acrylic paint surface.

Beinn Toaig is an eight hundred metre hill that rises above Loch Tulla on the edge of Blackmount and Rannoch Moor.

Back to Ben Chonzie

Posted by admin on January 19th, 2012
Ben Chonzie, near the start of the walk

Ben Chonzie, near the start of the walk

If you walk the hills regularly, you reach a point at some time where you find you’ve walked many of the main tops that lie within a day trip distance of your home.  This really isn’t a problem though as you can always walk them again, and again and again! If there’s one thing you can absolutely guarantee on, it’s that they’ll always look different.  As anyone who reads this blog will know, we regularly go back to hills we like, especially those that are close …the Luss Hills, the Arrochar Alps, the Arran Hills etc.  On Sunday last, we revisited another of our favourite haunts ….Ben Chonzie, the large lump of a hill that rises above Loch Turret.  It is not a dramatic hill but is well set back from the main roads and so tends to be quiet.  It is the highest point in what is a very large expanse of wild, rough upland country.  In the past we’ve normally approached the hill from the Loch Turret….parking the car at the end of the road near the dam.  To reach the summit of Ben Chonzie from here makes quite a long day but there is plenty of fine walking to be had on the lower hills around.

Ben Chonzie, the fine start already fading

Ben Chonzie, the fine start already fading

The other usual (and shorter) approach is from the south west of the summit.  A four wheel drive track leads from a small car park on a single track road, high onto the hill.  This can be followed to its end and then up onto the main back of the hill a short distance from the summit.  We’d gone this way just once before, on a dark, damp and very windy day a few winters ago.  It really was quite a grim day and we saw nothing of the views as the cloud was very low the whole time.  When we got out onto the upper slopes the wind was really starting to pick up and as we followed the line of the old fence up towards the summit it appeared to be getting stronger by the minute.  There seemed little point in continuing to the top (we’d all been there on a fine day a year or so earlier) and so we headed through the mists towards the steep slopes below the summit and the shelter they offered from the increasingly strong winds.  I remember we stamped seats into the large patch of melting snow we found there, and sat down to ‘enjoy’ our lunch.  By the time we’d finished and were making our way down, the wind had become exceedingly strong and it was hard to walk and for a while it was decidedly unpleasant.

Ben Chonzie, looking towards the summit

Ben Chonzie, looking towards the summit

So then, on Sunday we decided it was time to revisit this side of the hill and try and see it under better conditions.  The forecast was certainly hopeful and indeed we arrived at the wee car park at the start of the path in bright sunshine and there was frost on everything around.  We’d seen nothing of our surroundings last time we were here and so it was great to see the hills all around us this time …it really is a beautiful and quiet location.  Several other people had had the same idea as us and there were a couple of cars already parked and a couple more arrived as we were getting the boots on.  We enjoyed the fine weather for about an hour and a half I guess but as we gained height the blue skies turned gradually to grey and then the grey descended onto the tops and the summit of Ben Chonzie disappeared.  As we emerged once again onto the back of the hill, we felt the wind, not strong this time but very cold.  The ground was covered in frost and there were frozen pools and patches of icy snow all around.  The final rise to the summit came and went in the grey mist and we once again decided that we wouldn’t bother with the top but would instead walk over towards the lunch spot on our previous visit.

Ben Chonzie

Ben Chonzie

We got some interesting views of the big snow patches lying on the steep slopes and Nita spotted several mountain hares …resplendent in their white winter coats.  After this, we made a hasty retreat, back down the way we’d come.  In the end then, we still didn’t get the fine views from the top that we’d hoped for but we did see enough in the morning to want to come back once again.  There was a fantastic line of smaller hills just to the west that will have to be visited at some point in the future and this could well be a good place to do some sketching on a slightly warmer, clearer day.

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