Scottish Landscape Art – Scottish Landscape Paintings

We were back visiting Sutherland and Assynt at the end of March. It was a pretty wild two weeks, with gales much of the time and very cold too,…..with snow on the mountain tops and even showers of hail and sleet down to sea-level some days. That said, it was really spectacular with the constantly changing light and colour as the showers moved rapidly by, allowing brief bursts of sunshine to appear.

Near the shores of Loch Stack

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Strangely, in the middle of all the meteorological mayhem, we had two fine warm days where spring emerge briefly and on one of these we had a lovely walk up Glen Canisp.

Suilven from near Canisp Lodge

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The fine weather didn’t last long though and we were soon back to dramatic skies and dodging the torrential downpours again.

Quinag, late afternoon, March

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By the end of the holiday however, I had several ideas for new paintings and I have just completed the first of these. It is of course, based on one of the cold days and the view looks out towards Quinag from the hillside opposite Kylesku. It was only about 3 C when we set out on our walk and the grey misty light was beautiful between the showers. Hopefully I’ve captured something of the scene that morning.

Ref:512 ‘Quinag from the north, wintry showers’, Oil, 2026, 80 x 80 cm

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‘West Coast Canvas’, Cutty Sark Centre, Ayr, May 30^th – June 29 2026

A few months ago I was kindly invited to take part in ‘West Coast Canvas’, an exhibition that showcases the arts in Ayrshire. Full details of the exhibition are included on the poster below. It is definitely one to put in the diary. A big thank you to Margaret Johnson, (event organiser and curator) and to South Ayrshire Council and Creative Scotland for supporting and promoting the event.

‘Heavy snow-shower, on the slopes above Glencoe’, Oil on canvas, 2026, 80 x 80 cm

I finished this painting several months ago and it will be included in the ‘West Coast Canvas’ exhibition. It is based on my memories from a day walking in Glencoe many years ago. The snow came on very heavy and my friend Guy and I decided to just sit and wait it out. It was great watching the mountains around us come and go through the swirling snow.

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New Eglinton Country Park paintings

About 18 months ago, a gentleman living in New York, bought one of my early ‘scribbled drawings’ based on an early morning scene in Eglinton Country Park here in North Ayrshire. He subsequently asked whether I ever did any paintings based on trees and if I did, said that he would like to see them. I explained that for the most part, my work was based on the upland regions of Scotland where few trees grow, ……but it did get me thinking.

We regularly walk the short distance from our house, into Eglinton Country Park and I always love the shapes, lines and colours of the varied woodlands there. I decided to start doing some experimental little canvases in oil and they have made an interesting change from my normal subject matter. Here are images of three of these little 20 x 20 cm oil paintings.

502 ‘Winter woodland, Eglinton Park, dusk’, Oil on canvas, 2025, 20 x 20 cm

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503 ‘Winter woodland, Eglinton Park, frost’, Oil on canvas, 2025, 20 x 20 cm

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507 ‘Eglinton Country Park, autumn’, Oil on canvas, 2025, 20 x 20 cm

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A new 120 x 120 cm oil painting

This is the latest of the big canvases that I’ve been painting over the last few years. It is based on a soundscape that I made with sound engineer Graham Byron back in the spring of 2024. I made the original recording out on the mud-flats at Garleiston Bay on the Solway Firth on a cold, grey and windy day in March that year.

It was a difficult recording to make due to the strong winds and I had to hunker down behind some rocks with the microphone placed so that it captured the sounds of the empty bay without also recording the sound of the wind buffeting it. I remember it being a very cold and uncomfortable hour or so! That said, in the end with the help of Graham’s audio engineering skills we created what I think is a very interesting and quite haunting soundscape.

As well as the natural sounds of this huge empty space we have also added a beautiful tonal piece composed by Graham. I played the soundscape on a loop while I worked on this big oil painting, using the sound to help me recall the cold and dreich afternoon out on the mud-flats.

506 ‘On the mud-flats, Garleiston Bay, March’, Oil on canvas, 2025, 120 x 120 cm

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I worked on this painting over almost a year, very slowly building the thick layers of oil paint into the final composition. I have still to put the canvas into a frame and we still have to create a video soundscape of the work, …..but it’s getting there. I’ll post the finished video soundscape as and when it is done.

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Another recently completed painting:

‘Towards Ben Nevis and the Locharber Hills, a December afternoon’, Acrylic & Pastel, 2026, 76 x 23 cm

Finally, something for the diary

This is just early notice that we will be holding our annual ‘Open Studios Weekend’ at the Courtyard Studios, 128 Harbour St, Irvine, KA12 8PZ, on Saturday / Sunday 1^st / 2^nd August 2026, 12 noon – 5pm each day. As usual there should be a really good selection of work on show. I’ll post full details nearer the time, but do keep the event in mind and try and visit us if you can.

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