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Dick Institute in Kilmarnock | Scottish Landscape Art - Scottish Landscape Paintings

Posts Tagged ‘Dick Institute in Kilmarnock’

In need of a good wall!

As with last weeks, I’m once again using this blog to highlight a few of the paintings I currently have for sale at my studio.  My contact details are at the end of this blog ….please get in touch if you need any further information.

 

'From the studio, Irvine harbour side'

‘From the studio, Irvine harbour side’

‘From the studio,Irvine harbour side’, Acrylic & Pastel, 2011, 122 x 61 cm
Catalogue number 196
Price: £1250 framed, £1125 unframed

About this painting
As the title says, this painting was based on the view from my studio window …or it was until I moved to my current space just over a year ago.  My old studio was in the old part of the Courtyard studios that face Harbour Stand across that, the River Irvine and the tidal saltings.  It was a great view and it changed constantly with the tide, light and weather.  This piece is a fairly large and abstract view of this scene.  I exhibited this painting in the large gallery at the  early this year and even though I say it myself, it looked great on the big wall.

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'On Beinn a' Ghlo, autumn'

‘On Beinn a’ Ghlo, autumn’

‘On Beinn a’ Ghlo, autumn’, Acrylic & Pastel, 2011, 80 x 80 cm
Catalogue number: 194
Price: £1095 framed, £985 unframed

 About this painting
This is another of the large and more abstract paintings ….this time based on a view we had while wandering the high broad ridges of Beinn a’ Ghlo near Blair Athol.  The hills are heather covered lower down but a mixture of course grass and rock on the upper slopes and ridges. It makes for spectacular walking especially on the kind of day we had ….one of dark heavy clouds just clearing the summits and breaks that created a patchwork of light, colour and shade across the hillside.  This painting has been painted with thick paint using a large old traditional horse hair house painting brush.  Once again it needs a reasonable space …it’s quite big, bright and bold, and certainly one of my favourites.

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 'A walk in the wild. above  Drumochter, winter'

‘A walk in the wild. above Drumochter, winter’

‘A walk in the wild.  above Drumochter, winter’, Oil on canvas, 2012, 80 x 80 cm
Catalogue number: 221
Price: £1035 framed, £985 unframed

About this painting
This was the first of my new oil paintings and was created earlier this year.  Once again it is erring towards the abstract but is based on a walk I did with my friend Guy in the hills to the east of Drumochter Pass a number of years ago.  The two Munro’s we walked over that day are really no more than slightly higher points set several miles apart on a huge area of wild moor-land.  Covered with a layer of soft snow it made for a very tiring walk.  Added to this, we were walking into a stiff and very cold east wind, and by the end of the day we were exhausted. It was certainly very memorable!  As with the other two paintings highlighted in this blog ..this painting appreciates a little space around it.

For more details about these three larger paintings or to arrange to view them at the studio, please contact me:

Tel: 07742 437425

Email: keith@keithsalmon.org or salmon21@freeuk.com

Back and busy

Anita near the summit of Ben Loyal

Anita near the summit of Ben Loyal

Well, as the title says, I’m back from Sutherland ….and it’s been a busy week.

Our holiday up north ended in grand style with our finally walking Ben Loyal on our last day.  It turned out to be a long day …eleven and three quarter hours to be exact and we got back to the car about a quarter past eight in the evening.  It was worth every minute though, despite it being another cold and for a large part of the day, grey affair.  We had the routine heavy snow shower at the top which we sat out, sheltering for about 45 minutes behind one of the huge rocks that mark the top of this wonderful hill.  After that we wandered along its broad summit ridge before finally descending from Carn Tionail and walking back to the car.  As I say, it was a long day and a lot of it over very rough ground.  It was amazing and when the sun finally came out in the early evening, it made for a perfect way to end the holiday.

Rough ground below Ben Loyal

Rough ground below Ben Loyal

Evening sun, Ben Loyal

Evening sun, Ben Loyal

Of course, it’s been hot and sunny most of  the time since we returned to Irvine and so despite being pretty busy this week, we still decided to get out walking again …this time to walk a couple of hills in the Southern Highlands.  One of them, Cam Chreag (884 m), sits quite a long way off the road and so we’ve never visited it before.  The walk in to it though was along a good track and through some stunning scenery with the Munro Ben Challum rising steeply above us on the other side of the glen.

Like many of the hills in this area, Cam Chreag is a mainly grass covered hill in the form of a long broad ridge.  The ridge is littered with small crags and rocky outcrops.  By the time we gained this height it was a very warm and sunny day …the early morning cloud having disappeared to leave a hazy and hot landscape.  It was so peaceful up there, no other walkers and far enough from any road to be perfectly quiet …and we had time enough to lie down in the sun and have a kip for almost an hour …perfect.  The route back took us over a neighbouring hill Beinn Chaorach ….another high grass covered ridge offering easy and relaxing walking.  It turned out to be another long day though …almost eleven and a half hours this time and in the heat we were both pretty tired.

Ben Challum from Beinn Chaorach

Ben Challum from Beinn Chaorach

On Cam Chreag

On Cam Chreag

Ben Challum from Cam Chreag

Ben Challum from Cam Chreag

Apart from the walk, this week has been one of painting and delivering and collecting paintings.  On Wednesday we popped down to the Waverley Gallery in Prestwick to collect four of the new small postcard sized paintings that they were framing for me.  Then up to the Dick Institute in Kilmarnock to collect the paintings that had been in the ‘Six into 12 plus Hornell’ exhibition.  Today we’ve been up to the Blairmore Gallery near Dunoon to deliver some new paintings and collect some old ones.  It was another hot day and the drive along the Firth of Clyde and the short hop on the ferry over to Dunoon, was very enjoyable.   Tomorrow we’re heading up to The Strathearn Gallery in Crieff to deliver five paintings for their forthcoming ‘summer exhibition’. ….Full details to come.

Finally, just to let you know that a number of the artists at the Courtyard Studios in Irvine will be holding an informal ‘Open Studios Weekend’ on Saturday / Sunday 2nd / 3rd June, as part of the Irvine Harbourside Cultural Festival.  There are a lot of events being organised at venues along the harbour so it should make for an interesting few days.  Our studios will be open:

Saturday 2nd June,11am – 5pm

Sunday   3rd June, 12 noon – 5pm

Entry as usual is free.

Artists taking part include, Alison Thomas (painting), Anita Groves (ceramics), Margaret Carslaw (painting), David Reid (painting), Sheila Kerr (jewellery), Chick McGeehan (painting), Brian Craig (painting & photography) and myself, Keith Salmon (painting).

So then, if you live in the region why not head down to the harbour side in Irvine that weekend and call into the Courtyard Studios …it is a great opportunity to see and buy the latest work.

What a week!

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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