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Latest Blogs | Scottish Landscape Art - Scottish Landscape Paintings - Part 45

Back to work …with a bit of walking as well

Posted by admin on May 22nd, 2011

Ben Lawers and Loch Tay

Ben Lawers and Loch Tay

It’s amazing to think that a week has gone by already since we returned from Assynt. It’s been a good one though and I’ve got quite a lot of work done.  When I left for Assynt I had three paintings on the go (two 80 x 80 cm and one 76 x 23 cm) and so I’ve spent my time trying to develop and finish these.  I’m pleased to say that yesterday I completed one of the big 80 x 80 cm pieces and have brought the other two paintings on quite well.  I’ll be back down the studio later this morning for another eight hours and I’m feeling quite confident that I can get close to finishing one of the other two pieces by the end of the evening ….but it’s always easy to be confident before starting to slap on the paint!  We’ll have to wait and see.

From Creag Uchdag

From Creag Uchdag

In between the painting I’ve also been priming several boards ready for new work.  This is surprisingly time consuming as each board needs at least four coats of primer, but I now have five boards of different sizes ready to start work on.  I returned from holiday with quite a few new ideas for work and so one of the important jobs this weekend is to start to develop these a little in the sketch book so that I can start new paintings early next week.

After getting a little fitter over the holiday we’re keen to make sure we don’t let things slip and so were determined to get out for a walk one day during the week.  With Nita working all weekend, the weather not looking very good and myself with a dentists appointment on the Thursday, it wasn’t looking promising!  Of course, the best weather for the week seemed to be forecast for Thursday …the one day I couldn’t go and then on Wednesday I had a call from the dentist to say that they’d have to cancel my appointment and rearrange it for another week….suddenly we had a day to go walking…..we just had to decide where exactly to walk.

The grassy summit of Creag Uchdag

The grassy summit of Creag Uchdag

In the end we decided to go up to an area of high rolling hills that lie just to the south of Loch Tay.  We’d not been there before so it’d have added interest and the thought of good views north to the Ben Lawers group of hills, was quite enticing.

'Spot the hare'

'Spot the hare'

Our target for the day was an 878m hill called Creag Uchdag.  I have to say that it didn’t look from the map that it was going to be anything other than a good walk….just a high lump with broad ridges and easy angled slopes….but in a fine location.   I expected though for it to be a mixture of grass, heather and on the higher areas perhaps some stone …a little like its bigger neighbour Ben Chonzie a few kilometres to the south east.  But no, this was a grass hill …well, with some peat hags thrown in for good measure.  I would be lying if I said there were no stones …but you could almost count them on one hand.  In fact, I don’t really remember walking for so long on just grass ..it was everywhere …a great grassy wilderness!  On it’s slightly steeper southern flanks it did appear to have  a few minor outcrops of rock but that was about it …quite amazing.  It was certainly different from the rocky northern hills of last week and we saw no one the entire day.  There was though quite a lot of wild life around and as well as the regular calls of Curlews and Sky Larks, Nita spotted  several hares …one close enough for me to see with my monocular which was very nice.  On our return she also watched a large bird of prey which she was fairly certain was a Red Kite.  Having lived in west Wales for a good number of years we were used to seeing these birds while out walking Carmarthen Fan and so I’m confident Nita got the identification right.  We did see one last year over the hills near Loch Turret so I guess as Red Kites fly, it’s no distance at all.

So then, it’s been a pretty good week.  Two good days work at the studio this weekend and it’ll round it off nicely.  I’m collecting framed work from my framer at the Waverley Gallery in Prestwick on Monday and will be starting to put everything together for my show at Blairmore Gallery starting in June.  Full details of this to follow in a week or so.

‘On Ben Oss, winter afternoon’

Posted by admin on May 22nd, 2011
'On Ben Oss, winter afternoon'

'On Ben Oss, winter afternoon'

‘On Ben Oss, winter afternoon’, Acrylic & Pastel, 2011, 80 x 80 cm

I have almost completed this painting.  Based on a smaller piece I did a number of years ago, this piece tries to develop the more abstract nature of the view.  On the afternoon in question, we’d climbed the hill in driving snow and buffeting winds.  It really wasn’t very pleasant and we came close to turning back at one point.  The forecast though had said the band of snow would be short lived and pass through after a couple of hours.  The snow stopped as we arrived at the summit and after a short while the cloud started to break.  We got glimpses down into Cononish glen and across to Ben Lui and Beinn Chuirn.

I think this piece is finished but I’ll need to let it sit now before I’m sure.  I have though signed it and I doubt there’ll be much more work done on it.  This photo was just a quick ‘snap’ so please excuse the poor image quality ….I’ll get it photographed properly later.

 

Filling in the gap

Posted by admin on May 16th, 2011

Arkle, approaching weather

Arkle, approaching weather

Well, firstly I guess I’d better apologise for the lack of a blog last week.  I had planned to write one but in the end never quite got around to it!   But I do have a slight excuse ….. we’ve been away on holiday to Assynt for the last couple of weeks and I decided that a short break would do me good.  I am as I write, sitting in the caravan we’ve rented at Achmelvich just a few miles to the north of Lochinver in the north west of Scotland.  This is the final day of the holiday and we’re heading back to Irvine and work tomorrow.

Anyway, we’ve had a great time and have done particularly well with the weather.  Indeed we’ve had many days of hot sunny weather, especially the first week and even this week has been pretty good too, although it’s gone decidedly cool today.

This is the forth time since 2006 that we’ve stayed here and yet this amazing region of Scotland never ceases to impress.  In early May there are a few visitors but places are generally quiet and so everywhere is very peaceful.  Two weeks up here gives me the chance to relax and  re-charge my batteries while at the same time get some serious walking done and gather information for my new paintings.  And that just about sums up what we’ve been doing this last 13 days …well with some nice meals and some excellent local beer thrown in for good measure of course!

Arkle, Sutherland

Arkle, Sutherland

Taking advantage of the particularly fine weather in our first week here, we climbed two of the local hills – Sail Garbh ….one of the summits of Quinag and Braebag, a long high quartz covered whaleback of a hill that lies close to its rather larger neighbours, Conival and Ben More Assynt.  We’d climbed Sail Garbh about four years ago but it was great to get back there again …the views being especially fine from its rocky summit.  As we weren’t planning to go on and climb either of the other two tops of  Quinag we were able to take our time and we spent a good hour at the summit just enjoying the silence.  We’d never visited Braebag before and this turned out to be a wonderful walk.  It is, as I said, just a big long broad stony ridge, but when you get up there you find these great piles of quartzite blocks and rubble laid out in long ridges with large areas of moss and grass separating them.  It was really quite a strange and beautiful landscape especially with the bright sunshine reflecting off of the quartzite.  To be honest, we weren’t really expecting to see anyone on this hill but not long after we’d sat down to eat our sandwiches by a wee cairn marking one of the stony tops, another couple appeared on an adjacent pile of boulders.  At this point we started to wonder if ‘our’ top was actually the summit ….their top now looked a wee bit higher.  There was nothing for it, after lunch we’d just have to wander over and see …and it was a metre or so higher …and marked with a slightly bigger cairn.

Assynt 2011, from Braebag

Assynt 2011, from Braebag

During this our second week, we decided to head north and try and climb a couple of these wild hills.  We headed for Arkle on Monday and had another wonderful day.  It is quite a striking hill, once again covered in quartzite but with much steeper sides and a wonderful curving ridge leading up to its summit.  This, according to the guide book is rather narrow in one section and so a definite ‘no’ for me unfortunately.  That said we could still climb up to the 750m top at the SE end of the ridge and from there had quite stunning views both of Arkle and it’s higher neighbour Foinaven….oh to have a bit more sight and to be able to wander these wild and dramatic ridges.  I can’t complain though, to sit there on this lonely wind swept top was very special indeed.

Our final hill of the holiday was Ben Hee and we were once again treated to fine weather.  This hill, rising to 873m lies a few miles to the east of Arkle the terrain is much softer.  Most of the lower slopes are a mixture of grass, moss  and heather and it was hard work getting up to the top of Meallan Liath Mor, a 680m top on route to the main summit.  Higher up there were areas of broken rocks and boulders that made for difficult walking but most of these could be avoided.  Again we had the hill to ourselves for the whole day and were able to sit at the top taking in the huge views out over Sutherland and Caithness.  Ben Hope, the most northerly Munro, stood out well not too far to the north east of us and with my monocular I could make out most of these northern hills.

Assynt 2011, from Sail Garbh, Quinag

Assynt 2011, from Sail Garbh, Quinag

You’ll be glad to hear that I have done some drawing while I’ve been away and have ideas for new paintings and drawings.  It’s been good to get away and to visit new bits of Scotland and to get away from the studio for a short while but I’m starting to look forward to getting back to the painting now.  So then, I’d better go and start putting things back into bags ready for the drive back to Irvine tomorrow.  Hopefully this will be posted by Sunday or Monday and everything will get back to normal!

Ben Stack from Arkle

Ben Stack from Arkle

East from the summit of Ben Hee

East from the summit of Ben Hee

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‘Assynt 2011, Quinag sketch’

Posted by admin on May 16th, 2011
assynt-2011-quinag-sketch

'Assynt 2011, Quinag sketch'

 

‘Assynt 2011, Quinag sketch’, Graphite pencil on paper

This is one of the quick sketches I did while up in Assynt and Sutherland during the last couple of weeks.  In the past I’ve always used a black drawing pen, but decided this year to use a soft graphite pencil instead.  The marks are I guess slightly more fluid and less scratchy and I like the quick feel about this little drawing.

Quinag is a big and quite complex hill with a number of tops and three main ridges.  From all sides it looks impressive and I’ve started to think about doing a large drawing or painting based on this hill ….perhaps doing it along similar lines to the large drawing I did of the Dom in Speyer last summer.  In this piece you may remember, I tried to draw the cathedral from different positions as I walked around it.   I’ll try to post up a few more of these simple sketches soon.

Big is not always best-but it may be the right way to go

Posted by admin on April 29th, 2011

'Approaching snow shower, above Braemar'

'Approaching snow shower, above Braemar'

Many years ago, many many years ago as it now seems…when I was in my teens and still working towards my ‘O’ level art at Welshpool High School,  I was told by my art teacher (a Mr Roberts) that when painting it was vitally important to consider every inch of the paper or canvas with equal importance.  This bit of advice has always stuck with me and now that I’m working more regularly on larger pieces, it is something that I am constantly reminding myself of.  It may seem obvious but with constraints of time and cost of materials it can be easy to forget.

The reason for thinking along these lines is that I’ve been considering my own work recently, especially the size of the work I do.  Many of my paintings have been quite small and this has I have to admit, been part due to the need to sell.  That’s certainly not the only reason but it is often one of the deciding factors.  Quite simply, it’s easier to sell smaller works if for no other reason than that most people don’t have the room or the finances for large work.

'The saltings, Irvine harbour side'

'The saltings, Irvine harbour side'

Painting on a small scale is though I think, just as challenging for the painter as working on a large or even grand scale.  It certainly concentrates the mind and focuses ones attention on the composition but I am starting to feel a little trapped when working on this scale now.  I’ve always done the odd larger piece but never really spent a period of time creating larger paintings…..until last year that is.  When I went to Speyer I realised that this would be a chance to do exactly this.  During my stay at the Kunstlerhaus in Speyer I completed 17 pieces of work, all but 2 of them being 80 x 80 cm or larger.  This was very enjoyable at the time and I really didn’t have too many thoughts about selling these larger works…..this was a scholarship and all my accommodation and living expenses were being paid.  At the end of the scholarship though, much of the work sold …even the large 400 x 150 cm drawing.

'The artist with 'Late December afternoon, above Wanlockhead'

'The artist with 'Late December afternoon, above Wanlockhead'

I’ve now been self employed as an artist for just on two years and over that time I’ve developed my work and my art practice quite well.  I’ve increased my sales over this period but have started to come to the realisation that it may be difficult to earn a living through the smaller work.  With my sight as it is, there is a limit to the number of pieces I can do in any one year …I really work quite slowly, and as such, there is a limit to the amount I can reasonably expect to earn.  I have then been starting to think that it would make a lot more sense both financially as well as artistically, to concentrate on larger pieces.  My main aim as an artist has always been to try to do good work …not just to sell and I certainly think that working on a larger scale is where my best work lies.

I am certainly not going to abandon the small pieces entirely …I enjoy doing them and they quite often themselves lead to larger paintings.  I am though, going to put a much greater emphasis on the bigger paintings and as I have the opportunity in October of returning to the Kunstlerhaus in Speyer with an exhibition of my Scottish landscapes I’m doing large pieces for this.

So then, it’ll be interesting to see quite how this gradual change in emphasis works out.  I’ll have to target slightly different outlets and probably look to generate commissions but I’m sure it’ll do me good artistically and in the longer run, financially too. Winning the Jolomo Award in 2009 will allow me to take this ‘gamble’ secure in the knowledge that I can afford to lose some sales of smaller works in order to generate better and potentially more cost effective larger paintings.  I must of course remember the words of Mr Roberts and think about every square inch of the painting surface with equal consideration.  So often when I look around galleries I notice that as the paintings get bigger, the paint quality diminishes and the colours become thin and flat.  I must not fall into this trap.

 

Work in progress

"Work in progress"

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‘October morning, below Goat fell, Isle of Arran’

Posted by admin on April 28th, 2011
october-morning-below-goatfell-isle-of-arran-acrylic-pastel-2011-80-x-80-cm

'October morning below Goatfell, Isle of Arran'

 

‘October morning, below Goat fell, Isle of Arran’, Acrylic & Pastel, 2011, 80 x 80 cm

When you arrive at Brodick, Isle of Arran on the ferry you have two options if youwant to get to Goat fell. You can either catch a bus the couple of miles or so to the start of the main path, or you can walk….either along the road or by one of two paths. We nearly always take the path that starts in Brodick and heads out between the golf course and the sea. It’s a great little walk even if you don’t go on to Goat fell and is a very nice way to get to and from the castle too. All the way along you get wonderful views of Arran’s highest hill, Goat fell and I seem to spend a good deal of time whenever we’re walking this path, just stopping and looking at this wonderful hill through my monocular. It always looks good but it seems to me particularly so in the autumn when the trees are turning and the days are drawing in. This recent painting is based on just such a day.

Wrong!!!

Posted by admin on April 25th, 2011

'In Glen Lochay'

'In Glen Lochay'

As we walked back along the track in Glen Lochay last Sunday afternoon, we met a chap who was looking for his wife.  They’d been descending from Beinn Heasgarnich and had somehow drifted apart.  At this very minute Nita spotted a loan figure on the hillside close to the path about half a kilometre ahead …and after a check with the monocular it turned out to be the lady in question.  The gentleman set off to catch her up and later we met them sat on a rock discussing which of them had taken the correct route and which had not!  The wonders of navigation?!

HOWEVER, ……we could not feel smug about these folks minor predicament.  Far from it in fact.  We were at the time returning from our own much larger piece of navigational bungling.

Now then, you may be reading this and imagining this was one of those typical grey, misty, wet and windy west highlands days and under such circumstances a few errors in route finding can perhaps be accepted.  But to my shame, I have to report that this was the finest day of the year so far.  There wasn’t a cloud in the sky,  there wasn’t even any haze …the air clarity was superb and the mountain stood out clear and beautiful.

 

'In Glen Lochay'

'In Glen Lochay'

Our plan,(not even patched together, more like plucked out of the air at about 11 pm on Saturday evening) was to drive to the end of the road in Glen Lochay and then walk Creag Mhor.  This hill along with its neighbour Beinn Heasgarnich are two of the Munroe’s in the southern Highlands that we’ve yet to walk, but I’d previously checked them out in the guides and seemed to remember them being relatively straight forward….no problem on what was to be a clear and beautiful day.  To make matters worse we changed our start time back an hour ….we’d both been working all day on Saturday and were working again on Monday.

'In Glen Lochay'

'In Glen Lochay'

So then, there we were after our late rise and a fairly long drive, setting off on our walk at about half past ten.  The glen looked stunning in the bright sunshine and the hills looked amazing. We’d realised that morning that we’d not got a large scale map of the area …only the usual 1: 50000 Land ranger maps …and Creag Mhor sits right on the edge of two of them!  Even with my magnifier I struggle to see these and am normally organised enough to print up enlarged sections of the route ….but of course didn’t bother this time …Nita could see the map.

To be honest I’m really not quite sure how we went wrong.  We had to walk 5 km along the glen and then ascend steep slopes to gain Sron nan Eun, and from there follow a path along the ridge to the summit.  We’d decided simply to return the same way.  Instead, we walked beyond Sron nan Eun and tackled the much steeper and very craggy Sail Dhubh.  I can only put it down to the fact that on top of our lack of planning and preparation we were just taken up with the beauty of the situation.  We’d only been in the glen once before and that was on a rather grey day …and on that occasion we’d only walked a couple of  kilometres before crossing the River Lochay and heading up Sgiath Chuil.  On Sunday as we walked up the glen we had amazing views of Ben Challum looking steep and dramatic and with patches of snow higher up.  It was just wonderful and navigation was the last thing on our minds!

Not that alarm bells weren’t starting to ring in my head …we’d taken much longer to do the 5 km than I’d estimated and I certainly had no recollection of there being any mention in the guide book about unduly steep ground and the need to find a way through large crags!  Indeed, as we approached these very dramatic crags it appeared that the only way up was to tackle a fairly long and wet looking gully that disappeared up into deep shade.  This was certainly not what I’d had in mind and was rather too severe for me …and at the base of the gully I sat down and refused to go any further!  Nita said she’d go and take a look and after a short time she returned to say that it ended in a wet and slippery bit of rock.  Apparently there was a way around it by traversing out on a grassy ledge but she said she’d not guide me up that …to which I replied that I’d not go even if she did want to take me!  And so that was it, we moved into the sun and just sat down to enjoy the wonderful location.  We certainly weren’t going to get to the top now.  In times like this when you just know you’ve dropped a clanger, it’s time to get the GPS out and find out exactly where you are and exactly how big a clanger it is you’ve dropped.  As clangers go, well, this was of epic proportions …we were on the wrong bit of the hill completely!

'In Glen Lochay'

'In Glen Lochay'

I guess that if you’re going to get lost then it’s best to do so on a beautiful spring day with lots of hours of day light and this rather amusing episode only goes to show that you must never become complacent when it comes to the hills.  With us heading up to Assynt shortly, this was a timely reminder that we need to tighten up our procedures again and not get lulled into a false sense of security by a warm clear day and a fine forecast.

Despite all this, we had a wonderful day.  We saw a little bit of Scotland we’d not seen before and off course we saw no other walkers for much of the day …no one else would have been stupid enough to go that way!

Photos by Anita Groves

‘Assynt skyline, May’

Posted by admin on April 15th, 2011
185 'Assynt skyline, May', Acrylic & Pastel, 2011, 30 x 30 cm

'Assynt skyline, May'

‘Assynt skyline, May’, Acrylic & Pastel, 2011, 30 x 30 cm

It’s getting close now to my trip to Assynt.  I’ve been checking maps and working out routes and although it’s still a few weeks away I’m starting to get excited.  This little painting is based on a view we had the last time we were there.  On the occasion we were on the coast looking towards the wonderful hills.  It really is quite a skyline, the shapely hills rising abruptly from the wild loch strewn landscape.  Hopefully we’ll have some more of the blue sky we had that day …but less wind.   I know, I’m not asking for much am I, but heck, I can dream can’t I?

What’s the weather like in April?

Posted by admin on April 15th, 2011

 

Across to Stob Binean, April 08

Across to Stob Binean, April 08

A few months ago I had a phone call from a friend in Speyer.   She said that the choir she sang with was visiting the UK to do a concert in Spaulding in April.  She asked if she could visit us for a few days after the concert.  I said that that would be fine, but then she asked the dreaded question ….  ‘What’s the weather like in April in Scotland? Will it be nice?’

Wow ….how do you answer that with any degree of honesty?  At the time I blustered something about, it often being beautiful in April in Scotland and that it could be quite good.  After replacing the receiver I realised that I hadn’t mentioned that it could be  ****** cold at this time of year too and that we’d had several very exciting days walking the hills in the snow in April.  Indeed, on an April day a few years ago, we had very snowy conditions on the east ridge of Ben More.  April can be a wonderful month but it really is a delicate balance between winter and summer,  especially in the Scottish mountains.  Perhaps I should have added the proviso that she brings a couple of warm jumpers just in case!

 

On Ben More, April 08

On Ben More, April 08

As far as I know, Andrea is not a hill walker, so I doubt we’ll have such problems next week when she arrives.  In fact, I’ve just checked out the Mountain Weather Information Service website to see what the forecast is looking like for the week ahead …and well, it’s looking pretty good.  For anyone who hasn’t found this amazing weather service then I would thoroughly recommend it.  They provide a free and very accurate forecast for the mountains.  The forecasts are divided into different regions of Scotland and are updated every day.  There is a main forecast for the day and then forecasts for the two following days.  At the end they have a ‘planning ahead’ report that outlines a very general prediction for the coming week.  We’ve been using the MWIS forecasts for the last almost ten years and although as with any forecast they aren’t always exact …they are, on the whole, very accurate and you can plan your day out with  confidence.

We had as I think I mentioned the other week, been hoping to head up to Ben Nevis on day soon …not to climb it all the way but instead to walk up a path the gives excellent views of its dramatic northern face.  Our friend Guy has done this several times and said he’d like to take us there on a good day.  He reckons it will be an excellent place for me to do some sketching and take some photos and from what I heard, he’s right.

 

Guy and I on Ben More, April 08

Guy and I on Ben More, April 08

As usual it’s been difficult fixing dates that all three of us can make and in the end it came down to just two available days this month …today and tomorrow.  Of course though, it’s a very long way to drive for just a day trip …three and a half hours each way and so it’s only worth doing if the weather is fine and we get the views.  Then on Monday came the news from Guy that he’d hurt his leg while out walking on the hills above Largs.  A very experienced hill walker, having tackled many of the classic routes in Scotland, he had simply slipped on some wet grass just short of the main path back into town.  He hobbled back to the station  and got home but later found he had in fact fractured a bone in his leg.   He is currently sat with his lower leg in plaster …so if you’re reading this Guy,……get well soon.   As I’m typing this now I’m obviously not on Ben Nevis ….it’s grey and quite wet outside and the forecast for further north was not good enough to warrant the long drive north.  We’re keeping an eye on the MWIS forecast and may head out on Sunday instead as it looks like it might be beautiful.  Andrea arrives in Scotland on Monday so I’m hoping for glorious weather …we’re planning to take her over to the Isle of Arran one day and if the sun is out it’ll look stunning.  Let’s hope she sees Scotland at its very best.

 

On Ben More, April 2008

On Ben More, April 2008

‘Harbour side, Irvine’

Posted by admin on April 10th, 2011
'Harbourside, Irvine', Oil, 30 x 30 cm

'Harbourside, Irvine'

 

‘Harbour side, Irvine’, Oil, 30 x 30 cm

This is one of the first paintings I did on setting up my studio at the Courtyard on Irvine harbour side about eight years ago.  I decided that it seemed appropriate to include it as Work of the week because as from the middle of last week, this scene no longer exists!  The wonderful old crane has been dismantled and moved to the yard at the Maritime Museum …it’s final fate no doubt depending on available funds.  But I’ve said enough about that on my blog.  This is the view showing the old crane and just beyond on the right, the Courtyard Studios building.  Indeed, my studio is now right at this end of the building.  About eighteen months ago an elderly gentleman came into my studio and after looking around for a few minutes, told me that this used to be his office ….I think he said that he had been a customs officer and the building used to be a customs office in the days that the harbour side was still used commercially.  One of the great things about having my studio ‘open’ to visitors is that you never know who will walk in.  Over the years I’ve met many local people who’ve told me a little of the history of this fascinating area.

 

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