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Drumochter Pass | Scottish Landscape Art - Scottish Landscape Paintings

Posts Tagged ‘Drumochter Pass’

‘Winter afternoon, above Loch Ericht’

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‘Winter afternoon above Loch Ericht’

‘Winter afternoon, above Loch Ericht’, Acrylic & Pastel, 2011, 76 x 23 cm

With the day light hours rapidly increasing now, I’ve been starting to think about longer walks again.  At about this time of year in 2007 I think it was, we drove up to the Drumochter Pass and walked a couple of hills to the west of the pass.  It proved a perfect day as it was a mix of winter and spring.  Low down in the glen, spring had definitely arrived but on the high tops there was still much snow and ice.  This painting is one of several I’ve done based on that wonderful day.  This painting is currently available direct from my studio.  For further details or to arrange a visit to my studio to see the painting, contact me: keith@keithsalmon.org  or Tel: 07742 437425.

‘A winter morning, east of Drumochter’

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'A winter morning east of Drumochter'

 

‘A winter morning, east of Drumochter’, Acrylic & Pastel, 2011, 60 x 30 cm

As you know, I’ve been working on the larger 80 x 80 cm paintings much of this year and so it’s been quite enjoyable since returning from Germany, to work on some smaller pieces again.   This is one of them, based on a very cold day I spent with my mate Guy the other year on the hills to the east of Drumochter Pass.   Once you’ve hauled yourself up the steep flanks of these hills from the road, it’s a high, bleak and very wild area of undulating moor.  Two of the higher bumps are classified as Munros and lie I guess, about four miles apart.  We walked the two ‘hills’ on a layer of snow that held your weight for an instant….and then gave way as you transferred your weight!  It was very hard work especially as we were walking for much of the day into a very strong and bitterly cold wind.  We were both exhausted by the time we got back to the car in the last light of the day and we both agreed that we might not return to these two hills ….but strangely enough we do both remember this very tiring day….it was a bit of an epic!

‘Heavy weather, Drumochter’

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'Heavy weather, Drumochter'


‘Heavy weather, Drumochter’, Acrylic & Pastel, 2010, 76 x 23cm

With all the rain and dark skies we’ve been having in Speyer for the last week, I thought it fitting to select a similarly damp image as this week’s work of the week. It seems to be a place that catches the weather, or at least when we drive through these hills heading north or south on the A9 over the Drumochter Pass. But it’s so wonderfully wild and raw and I always get excited when we heading up or down this bit of road.

We’ve explored some of the hills on either side of the pass, Gael Charn and A’Mharconaich the scene of one of my most memorable days – fine winter weather and my 100th Munro; A’Bhuidheanach Bheag and Carn na Caim – one of the hardest days I’ve had on a hill – bitterly cold easterly wind and soft sinking snow.

Anyway, this painting always reminds me of these walks and gets me reaching for the guides and maps to plan further trips. The painting is currently being exhibited at The Gallery on the Corner in Edinburgh …watch out for their new website …due to go live in the next few weeks.