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Latest Blogs | Scottish Landscape Art - Scottish Landscape Paintings - Part 56

Making plans

Posted by admin on March 19th, 2010
157 'On Ghlas Beinne, Rannoch Moor', Acrylic & Pastel, 2010, 76 x 23 cm

Work In Progress: 'On Ghlas Beinne, Rannoch Moor'

No walks in beautiful snow covered glens and mountains this week I’m afraid. It’s been one of paint and paperwork. We’re now half way through March and there’s much to do before leaving for Speyer in early May …not least of which is to arrange flights out and back. The place where I’ll be living and working is being used for an exhibition until May 9, so I needed to get a flight as soon as possible after that. My partner Anita took on the job of booking the flights on-line and after much time she had everything sorted …except for some reason when it actually came to booking ….the system wouldn’t work! After a few choice words we decided to go into the travel agent the next morning and have them do the work. So then, I’ll be going out on 11th May.

One of the really difficult parts of this trip for me will be finding my way around, learning where the shops I need are, where the items in them are, …in other words finding out about all the day to day things that normally you can just use your eyes for! To help with this, Nita is travelling out with me and will stay for the first two weeks. After living with me and my fuzzy eye for over twenty years, she is a great guide …not just on the hill but perhaps more importantly in everyday situations. With a bit of luck in those first couple of weeks I can get myself orientated, get my studio set up and start to explore my surroundings.

158 'Blackmount, winter', Acrylic & Pastel, 2010, 76 x 23 cm

Work In progress: 'Blackmount, winter'

Mike Lauter of the Speyer arts association said that navigation around the city would be easy for me as the cathedral is at one end and there’s a tower at the other end …..and the house / studio is somewhere in between them! Sounds great. As for getting my gear over there, I’ll be arranging to have it sent out by courier a short time before we leave. We had thought about driving over with all the gear but the expense would be pretty high especially as my local courier will send 20kg packages to Germany for just ten pounds. A few well packed boxes of gear should be enough for a few months and anything forgotten will just have to be done without!

The work for the exhibitions is coming on well. I’ve now got the seven paintings completed for the spring exhibition at the Athol Gallery in Dunkeld and just need to get a couple of pieces framed. I’m currently working on two long thin 76 x 23 cm paintings that will be for the Blairmore Gallery show in the summer. One of these is based on our day over on Arran the other month and is worked in diagonal bands of colour that mimic the bands of rock, snow and grass that we saw in Glen Rosa. This painting is almost complete and indeed I have it hanging in an old temporary frame in the studio at the moment. I like to do this with all my pictures. It allows me to see them better and gives me some time while I’m working on other paintings, to decide as to whether they’re finished or not …and if not, what needs doing to them.

159 'Winter bands, Glen Rosa', Acrylic & Pastel, 2010, 76 x 23 cm

Work In Progress: 'Winter bands, Glen Rosa'

The week ends with another trip up to the Strathearn Gallery to collect the three unsold works at the end of the show, and then to drive across country to Pittenweem to drop off the three new pieces for the Fisher Gallery. We’ve never been over to the Fife coast before so it’ll make a nice change and it’ll be great to see the gallery and to meet John Fisher. Hopefully the rain and gales forecast for the next few days will have passed through by Sunday and we’ll get a chance to see some more of this splendid Scottish landscape.

Winter Patterns

Posted by admin on March 12th, 2010

It’s back to normal today with paperwork all this morning. I’ve finally sent my claim in for the North Ayrshire Council Business Development Grant. I was awarded this a few months ago. The council heard what I was doing and came to the studio to see if there was any way they could help. I explained that we were planning to re design the website in order to help promote my work and therefore sales and they said they offered 50% grants for small businesses to help them develop their web based business. Anyone who has explored this site will have seen the changes we’ve been making and hopefully like them. It’s great to get such excellent local support and indeed I’ve just made my first sale as a direct result of the new ‘work for sale’ page on the website …so then, a good start and a big ‘thank you’ to North Ayrshire Council for their support.

Ben Chonzie, near Crieff, Scotland

Towards Ben Chonzie

Anyway, yesterday we got out into the hills again …a proper hill walk – the wind was too cold to sit down and sketch. But it was a great day and I came away with many ideas for new work. We’ve wanted to get up to the hills around Loch Turret, a reservoir situated above Crieff in Perthshire. It’s a wonderful location with high rolling heather clad hills rising on either side of the loch and the big lump of Ben Chonzie (931 m) rising beyond the far end.

As we drove towards Crieff though we had our doubts as to whether we would be able to get up to the parking area by the dam …there was still loads of snow piled at the sides of the main road …it didn’t look to hopeful for the narrow road that climbs up to the dam. But we needn’t have worried, Crieff itself was clear of snow and the wee road was fine, though there was still much snow higher up. It had been an early start; I was up at 4.30am and we left Irvine at just after 6am …but it was worth while. Climbing out of the car at the dam we were surrounded by a magnificent patchwork of snow and grass and crag. It looked like being a great day. As we got to the dam and looked over we were met my the amazing sight of Loch Turret completely frozen over …it was a strange colour – a mixture of greys, pale duck egg blues and purples…wow….and we’d barely started the day.

Walking Near Ben Chonzie, Scotland

The Frozen Waters of Loch Turret

We decided that we’d not try and get to Ben Chonzie (the munro). It’s a lengthy walk to the summit and back and although we’ve done it in the past, we aren’t quite as fit at present. We decided instead to head straight up the hill side above the dam and to follow the rising broad ridge around and over Beinn Liath and on to the craggy little top of Carn Chois at 786 m. This is a grand view point from where the main bulk of Ben Chonzie can be seen. The hillsides above the dam were a complete mixture of grass, heather and snow patches. Most of the snow was quite soft lower down and so we kept mainly to the grass and heather as we clambered quite steeply up to the first little top – and what a view point it was. Overlooking the dam you could see all the way along the loch to the bigger hills …and as always happens at times like this, I got jaw ache from smiling so much …it was simply stunning. Beyond this wee top there was a slight descent and a long level curving sweep of good firm snow leading to the next bit of ‘up’. This snow was perfect for walking and being level I could stride off without my guide for a few hundred metres. Something of a rarity for me these days!

Looking Down on Loch Turret

Looking Down on Loch Turret

As we gained height the wind really started to blow. Bad weather was forecast for the west and we could see it building up, but over Loch Turret we still had much sun shine and beautiful colours. By this stage my partner Nita had already spotted quite a few mountain hares – all still with their white winter coats. This is a great place for spotting hares and in the past I’ve even spotted a few as they’ve run from the snow onto areas of dark heather …they’re just small white moving blurs to me! That said, I missed them yesterday. At one point as we topped a rise not far from Carn Chois, we apparently scared off around 20 hares. We retraced our steps a short way back along the ridge and then descended to the loch side and a difficult walk through soggy deep snow back to the dam and the car …what a day.

Video: Above Loch Turret, March 2010

Work of the Week: ‘Winter morning, above Glen Shee’

Posted by admin on March 12th, 2010
'Winter morning, above Glen Shee', Acrylic & Pastel, 2010, 60 x 30 cm

'Winter morning, above Glen Shee'

‘Winter morning, above Glen Shee’

A very early start from Irvine a few years ago, found us in Glen Shee on a cold December morning. The plan was to walk three Munros; The Cairnwell, Carn Aosda & Carn a’ Gheoidh. As anyone who goes skiing in Glen Shee will know, the first two are really just part of the ski area and only a relatively short walk from the top of the pass. The latter though is a little more off the beaten track being as it is out to the west somewhat.

The plan was to walk up to The Cairnwell, then out and over to Carn a’ Gheoidh. We’d then retrace out steps to the edge of the ski area and finally head up to Carn Aosda. As we climbed up the slopes towards the summit of the Cairnwell, everything looked stunning. Early morning mists clearing from the glen and sun picking up the colours of the snow and grass.

This painting (finished recently) is one of several I’ve done based on this early morning scene. But things never quite stay the same and within half hour of leaving The Cairnwell, thick low cloud had enveloped us. The route out to our second hill was fairly straight forward but the snow cover was complete here and the mist thick enough to make everything rather white! As we reached the second summit though, the sun broke through above our heads and we found ourselves atop a sea of bright white mist …then everything was gone again. The walk back should have been fairly simple but in ever thickening mist and fading afternoon light we suddenly found ourselves …well, if not lost, then definitely ‘geographically embarrassed’!

It suddenly turned into a rather challenging walk back, stopping constantly to check the map, compass and GPS. When we finally got back to the point above the ski centre it was too late to head for the final hill …we were just relieved to hear the sound of the ski tow generator grumbling in the glen below. A memorable day although after the first hour we saw next to nothing.

This painting is to be exhibited with Scotlandart.com shortly.

Work of the Week: ‘After the storm, the northern shores of Loch Lomond’

Posted by admin on March 5th, 2010

'After the storm_ the northern shores of Loch Lomond ', Acrylic & Pastel, 2006, 74.5 x 20.5cm Ref: 0.2

'After the storm - the northern shores of Loch Lomond '

‘After the storm, the northern shores of Loch Lomond’, Acrylic & Pastel, 2006, 76 x 23 cm

This painting was one of the first pieces I did using both paint and pastel. As the title suggests, it is based on a very memorable occasion when we were caught in a thunderstorm on the Little Hills ridge of Ben Vorlich at the side of Loch Lomond. We were only about 1000 ft above the loch at the time and the ridge at this point is a kind of broad double ridge with a deep grass filled hollow between. There really wasn’t much we could do as the storm arrived and so we just deposited the walking poles a good distance away and stood waiting for it to pass. The rain was tremendous and everything became very dark, but thankfully there wasn’t any lightening near us and after a while the rain started to ease. As it did, we had this wonderful view of the loch as the returning light started to catch it. Despite being quite an old piece now, this is still one of my personal favourites. It’s currently being exhibited at The Resipole Studios on Ardnamurchan.

Deadlines!

Posted by admin on March 5th, 2010
'Heavy weather, Drumochter', Acrylic & Pastel, 2010, 76 x 23 cm

'Heavy weather, Drumochter'

It’s a busy time at Studio E and this last week has been no different.

I have to get work ready for three exhibitions before I go away to Speyer in early May.  I’m taking three paintings over to the Fisher Gallery in Pittenweem in Fife for their first show of the year.  This opens on March 27.  I’ll be exhibiting three new paintings all of which are finished, framed and ready to take to the gallery in a couple of weeks.

The next deadline after that is to get seven paintings ready for the Spring Exhibition at the Atholl Gallery in Dunkeld. This opens on April 17th and runs until June 7th.   Of these pieces, three are still to be completed but one of these is almost finished.

'Blackmount', Acrylic & Pastel, 2009, 30 x 30 cm

'Blackmount'

My final deadline is to get 10 pieces ready for my joint show with Alison Thomas at Blairmore Gallery. This will open on 18th June and run for six weeks through until 28th July.  This though is while I’m away in Germany, so everything has to be ready before I go away.  My partner Anita has said she’ll take the work up to the gallery as I’ll not be able to get back for the show unfortunately.

So then, a lot of painting still to be done, but I do already have some work finished and ready for this show.

'On Rannoch moor', Acrylic & Pastel, 2010, 30 x 30 cm

'On Rannoch Moor'

The week started off though, with my meeting a deadline …which is always good.  As I’ve already mentioned in an earlier blog, I’ve been asked to act as a patron to ‘the gallery on the corner’, a new project being established by Autism Ventures, Scotland.  The gallery is in a prime location in Edinburgh and will be opening towards the end of March.  Its official launch will be on 22nd, 23rd & 24th April.  For more details about the gallery and Autism Ventures, Scotland, see below.  Suffice to say, they kindly asked me to exhibit a few pieces of my work in their new gallery and so I’ve been trying to get a few new paintings finished for them.

On Monday two of the people involved in setting up the gallery, visited my studio to pick up the five pieces of work.  Three of these are new paintings, two of which are 30 x 30 cm and one being 76 x 23cm.  I’ve also included a brand new small drawing and a pencil drawing I did last year.  I think the five pieces should work quite well together and I’m looking forward to seeing them on the walls of the new gallery.

The Gallery on the Corner

The gallery on the corner is the first social firm from Autism Ventures Scotland (AVS), part of the Autism Initiatives Group. AVS has been established to create employment opportunities and experiences for young people with Autism Spectrum Condition (ASC) in Scotland.

The gallery on the corner is an inclusive, fine art gallery situated in Edinburgh’s New Town. It provides artists who have a disability, mental health problems or those from a disadvantaged background with a platform to exhibit and sell their artwork in a high profile location in the heart of Edinburgh’s gallery district. Beneath the commercial gallery space we have four studio spaces that will be rented to practicing artists who will work with apprentices with ASC.

A third branch of the business will open later in 2010. We are in the process of securing premises for a creative studio where young people with ASC will produce original artwork for sale, using an ‘art as therapy’ approach.

AVS will be offering apprenticeships and other opportunities to 16- 25 year olds with Autism Spectrum Condition (ASC) in both retail and art. The apprenticeships will include on the job, and vocational training, resulting in a recognised qualification.

Contact details:

The Gallery on the Corner

34 Northumberland St

Edinburgh EH3 6LS

Phone numbers:

Gallery:    0131 557 8969

Studios:    0131 557 8921

Opening times: Tuesday – Saturday 10am – 5pm

Work of the Week: ‘ Ben Ledi from Benvane, April afternoon’

Posted by admin on February 26th, 2010

'Ben Ledi from Benvane, April afternoon', Acrylic & Pastel, 2009, 76 x 23 cm Ref:106

'Ben Ledi from Benvane, April afternoon'

‘ Ben Ledi from Benvane, April afternoon’ , Acrylic & Pastel, 2009, 76 x 23 cm

It’s amazing how fast this last year has gone and despite the current snow and cold, spring really isn’t far around the corner. Last April we spent a long and tiring day walking the two hills of Ben Ledi and Benvane. There was still a few patches of snow high up but the day itself was clear and warm with bright sunshine and little if no cloud. The walk up Ben Ledi is by a big path and attracts a lot of walkers. Once down the other side and past the descent path, the long undulating ridge over to Benvane is far less frequented. We only met a couple of other walkers on the long haul over and by the time we reached the summit of Benvane in the mid afternoon, we had the place to ourselves. Big views indeed and brilliant colours. At this time of year though the days still aren’t that long and we had a very long trop back. We made it off the hill before dark but didn’t miss the thundery shower waiting to soak us a mile from the car!

A working walk

Posted by admin on February 25th, 2010
Arran: Scottish Mountain: Cir Mhor

Cir Mhor from Glen Rosa

Well, as I said in a brief comment on Face book earlier this week, I finally got a day, if not on the hill, then certainly in amongst them. We’ve been having a lot of fine cold clear days recently and last Friday we decided to take a trip over to the Isle of Arran.

From Irvine, Arran is just a few miles away across the Firth of Clyde. Indeed, even with my poor bit of sight, with the aid of a monocular I can see the mountains at the north end of the island from my studio door. To actually get there, takes a short trip up the coast to Ardrossan where the ferry to Brodick goes from. Until a couple of years ago, it wasn’t really possible to do a serious walk on Arran in a day trip during the winter months. The winter ferry service was somewhat restricted and for me at least, there wasn’t enough time between first and last ferry. Now though, there is an early ferry leaving at 7.00am and, and a later ferry back from Brodick.

Arran: Scottish Mountains: Glen Rosa

Glen Rosa, Isle of Arran

So then, with the temperature at -4C and the first light just appearing, we went on board and went straight to the café ..you can get an excellent breakfast on board and it sets you up nicely for the day ahead. It takes about 55 minutes to get across to Brodick and by the time we walked down the gangway the sun was lighting up the tops of Goatfell and it’s neighbours …all of which were covered with snow. It looked stunning. We hadn’t at this stage decided quite what we were going to do and had carried all our winter gear incase we decided to head uphill. The scenary and colours were so good that we decided to make this a working walk and to simply take a wander the few miles up Glen Rosa in the heart of the Arran hills. With the wonderful mixture of snow, crags, grass and bracken, there would be plenty of scope for photographs and sketching.

The walk along the front and around the edge of the golf course at Brodick is scenic enough in these conditions but as we approached Glen Rosa it was just spectacular. On the north facing slopes the snow was all the way down to the base of the glen, on the southern slopes the lower levels were free of snow and the grass and bracken was a mixture of bright ochres, yellows and terracotta in the low early morning sun light.

Arran: Scottish Mountains: Glen Rosa, Isle of Arran

Glen Rosa, Isle of Arran

After about a mile the glen takes a sharp dogleg to the right and you can see all the way up the glen to Cir Mhor – a wonderful pointy peak at the head of the glen that incidentally, is as pointy at the tip as it looks …but that’s another tale. At this point we were out of the shade and into bright sun and so it seemed a good point to do some sketching and just enjoy our surroundings. Then disaster ….I thought I’d packed my sketchbook and drawing pen …well, I’d got the sketchbook, but the pen I’d picked up was not a drawing pen ..it was a thicker indelible marker pen! Oooops. That’s the joy of fuzzy sight for you! Oh well, nothing for it, I’d just have to draw with this …but it wasn’t very successful and although that day I did three drawings – all of them were dreadful. What do they say about bad workmen always blaming their tools?

Despite this, it was a great day and a very useful one for me. I came away with several new ideas for paintings and although the drawings weren’t great, just sitting and looking at the hills and glen with my monocular really helps when it comes to painting later.

Work of the Week: ‘Winter afternoon, Beinn Dorain’

Posted by admin on February 19th, 2010

137 'Winter afternoon, Beinn Dorain', Acrylic & Pastel, 2009, 90 x 60 cm

'Winter afternoon, Beinn Dorain'

‘Winter afternoon, Beinn Dorain’, Acrylic & Pastel, 2009, 90 x 60cm

I did this painting after a fantastic day walking this time last year.  A friend and I went up to Bridge of Orchy to climb Beinn Dorain – and caught ourselves a wonderful few hours of weather.  It was freezing hard all the way up from the road, but there really wasn’t much snow except on the steep north facing slope not far below the cairns.  As we climbed the clouds broke and although clear around us, the hills of Crianlarich and Glen Falloch were all sticking there heads out of the mist.  Being mid week we only saw a couple of other walkers and when we reached the main summit we had the place to ourselves.  We just sat and took in the incredible views and complete silence.

The Jolomo Scottish Landscape Awards – ‘2009 Finalists’ – Strathearn Gallery, Crieff

Posted by admin on February 18th, 2010

144 'Breaking cloud, Am Bodach', Acyrlic & Pastel, 2010, 80 x 80 cm

'Breaking cloud, Am Bodach'

Well, the exhibition opened last Saturday and the eight paintings I included in the show were finally completed, framed, delivered and hanging on the walls in time for the opening at 11.00am that morning!  Now, that doesn’t sound difficult does it?  Just eight pieces.

Of course, I couldn’t do it the easy way and select eight already completed pieces.  No, I was determined to do a few completely new paintings for this show.  And, bar for a few days of panic while I was trying to finish the ‘Winter, Blackmount’ painting … (I just couldn’t get it right for a while), everything went ok.

The framing though was another matter.  The five smaller paintings were fine.  These are always framed the same way; behind glass with a wide single mount and a stylish but simple 7 cm wide distressed ‘York’ silver frame.  This seems to work well with the scratchy, scribbled nature of my paintings.  The three larger pieces were another thing entirely.  At this scale (80 x 80 cm and 60 x 60 cm) I needed a different kind of frame; something without a mount and glass.  I tried a lot of different mouldings and colour combinations before hitting on the right thing.

It’s a fairly broad simple wooden frame with a raised outer edge, painted a pale cream colour and with a thin gold inner edge.  This seems to work well with these paintings.  This sounds quite simple but getting to this point took much bashing of my head against the wall as to start with I’d decided the frames should be dark and with a second outer edge of gold.  This made them look like window frames and so they all had to be completely re-painted ….ooops!  Oh well, we got there in the end and as my framer said …the customer is always right …but not always correct.  He may have a point

The show, containing work by the seven of us short listed for last years Jolomo Awards for Scottish Landscape Painting, looks good.  It’s a smashing gallery with large well lit spaces on two levels.  It was great meeting up with the others again and seeing what they’d all been doing.  There’s a lot of very fine work there, so if you can get to Crieff before the show ends on March 20th, then I’d recommend it …not that I’m at all biased of course!  Of all the work though, my fuzzy eye was caught by Toby Cooke’s fantastic painting, ‘View from Leith’.  It’s quite big and the composition is just great.  Anyway, you can see for yourself, even if you don’t live in driving distance of Crieff …the show can be seen on-line:  www.strathearn-gallery.com .

At the end of the preview on Saturday I was feeling pretty happy as I’d sold a few of my paintings and the gallery has asked if I’d like to put on a solo show in 2011 …Wow!  Mind you it’ll be a lot of work – something in the region of forty pieces, so it’s a good job I’ve a year to work on it!

Jolomo 2009 Finalists Catalogue

Work of the Week: ‘Suilven, from the coast’

Posted by admin on February 12th, 2010

‘Suilven, from the coast’, Pen, 2009, 18 x 12.5 cm

'Suilven from the coast', Pen, 2009

‘Suilven, from the coast’, Pen, 2009, 18 x 12.5 cm

I’ve always loved sketching outside although it’s sometime difficult to make yourself stop and draw when you’re out on the hill walking. But it really is worth while as it gives you a chance to really take in your surroundings. I did this little drawing last year when Anita and I were on holiday last May in Assynt. We were staying at the beautiful sandy bay of Achmelvich, just a few miles up the coast from Lochinver, and, as the weather was too poor for a day on the hill, we decided to follow the craggy coast south for a couple of miles. From any where along this coast the famous Assynt sky line grabs your attention – if of course the cloud is high. On this day, despite the gales, the famous Assynt peaks of Canisp and Suilven were clear and, at a sheltered spot I decided to sit for a short while and do some drawing. This quick little sketch was the result.



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