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Firth of Clyde | Scottish Landscape Art - Scottish Landscape Paintings

Posts Tagged ‘Firth of Clyde’

Just another couple of days in the office!

Posted by admin on March 28th, 2015

You may have noticed that I didn’t get around to writing a blog last week.   No real excuses I’m afraid, just lots of work….. Including two days in the Luss Hills office!

A hungry Raven!

A hungry Raven!

A week ago, Nita and I were sat on the side of Beinn Dubh eating our lunch and peering through very dense haze out over Glen Douglas towards Loch Lomond and Ben Lomond.  It was a very strange kind of light that day, with heavy brooding cloud cover that gave way every now and again to patches of brightness and weak sun.  The hazy conditions though meant that the views were limited somewhat although very atmospheric.  That day was our first proper hill walk since way back in September and the steep slopes of these relatively small Luss Hills gave our legs a good test!  I have to admit to feeling a little shattered as I made my way up the final steep section towards the summit of Beinn Dubh.  It was though, so good to be back!  We wandered along the broad ridge towards Mid Hill and finally found the perfect lunch spot that also gave quite dramatic views of the steep north facing slopes of Mid Hill, still holding large deep patches of snow.    We weren’t alone for our lunch though as soon after parking ourselves down, we were joined by a very fine looking Raven.  He or she wandered around about five metres from us and although we told it that it didn’t eat Primula Cheese filled bread rolls ….it wasn’t convinced.  Indeed, after a short while we were persuaded to offer a beak-full to this magnificent looking bird and after a few tentative forays, it came close enough to get the food.  And it seemed to like it too!  It stayed with us, waiting for further offerings.    These wonderful birds are great to watch when they are in the air as they tumble about doing crazy acrobatics, but I don’t think I’ve ever seen one up so close on the ground.

A hazy day in the Luss Hills

A hazy day in the Luss Hills

 

Yesterday, after a very late start, (we didn’t start walking until 11.20 am) Nita and I were back to the Luss Hills again.  This time though, visiting some tops that we’d never been to before.  Beinn Chaorach at 713 m is the second highest point in the Luss Hills and sits to the south of Glen Luss, right on the edge of the divide between the Highlands and the Central Belt of Scotland.  We’d often thought about visiting these tops but for some reason, had never before got around to it.

Remains of heavy snow ... Beinn Dubh

Remains of heavy snow … Beinn Dubh

Like all of the Luss Hills, it was a very steep haul up to reach the broad connecting ridge that led over a couple of smaller tops to the rounded bulk of Beinn Chaorach.  Yesterday, unlike last Thursday, the air was incredibly clear and the views from this quite lofty little top were very big indeed.   Nita said that she could clearly see Ailsa Craig way down in the Firth of Clyde and even I could see the rugged tops of the Arran Mountains with my monocular.  We had a day of bright sun and dark clouds and it made for some beautiful scenes.  Patches of bright colours and deep shade moved across the landscape, and if it hadn’t been for the very cold wind, it would have been the perfect day for a lengthy stop. March being March however and despite it being officially spring and all that….. winter was still very much around.  Yesterday’s lunch break was therefore a far shorter affair than last weeks. The Beinn Dubh Raven didn’t spot us from the other side of the glen and so we didn’t have to share our sandwiches this time!

Heading for Beinn Chaorach, a steep climb ahead!

Heading for Beinn Chaorach, a steep climb ahead!

One of my pet hates I have to admit is being on a hill and hearing another walker talking into their mobile phone.  I guess I must be turning into one of those grumpy old men ….although Nita will tell you that I got there years ago.  Anyway, in the past, although I always took my phone with me on walks (in case of emergencies) I always kept it turned off.  Yesterday however, I managed to leave it turned on and half way back along the ridge, the phone starts ringing loudly.  Thankfully there were no other walkers around and so, there I stood, with half of southern Scotland stretched out before me, carrying on a conversation with a bloke working at Heathrow Airport!  It felt quite bizarre….I was in my Luss Hills office!

Beinn Chaorach, the Luss Hills

Beinn Chaorach, the Luss Hills

At the summit of Beinn Chaorach

-o-o-o-o-

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Pucks Glen – a short walk…..or an adventure?!

Posted by admin on August 9th, 2014

We’ve had a good year of walking so far and have reached the top of a number of hills that, with my still deteriorating bit of sight, I’d started to think I may not get to.  Standing at the tops of Lochnagar, Stuc a’ Chroin and Ben Macdui, has given my confidence a bit of a boost this summer and I’ve been feeling positive despite struggling more with my mobility both around town and on the hill.

On Wednesday however, I was brought down to earth with a bit of a bump, although mental, not physical!  We’d been invited to join some friends who were staying in a lodge at the southern end of Loch Eck, not far from Dunoon.   We had no real plans ourselves as we’d never really explored the area before and so just turned up with fairly basic gear…. waterproofs and walking boots…..just in case.

When we’d left Irvine it had been pouring down with rain and although it had eased as we crossed the Firth of Clyde on the ferry, it was still pretty damp when we arrived and not looking particularly promising weather-wise.   It certainly wasn’t a day for a big or high level walk and our friends suggested a short wander over to Pucks Glen a few kilometres from the lodges.  Sounded perfect and with the cloud starting to break from around the steep sided hills above Loch Eck, the five of us set off.  After following a gradually rising track for forty minutes or so, we reached a sign pointing to a smaller path leading up through the trees ….Upper Pucks Glen ….and headed up that.  Despite it being a very good path this was immediately more difficult for me as the light under these fairly dense woods, was limited.  On this kind of path it wasn’t a problem especially as Nita was in front of me to point out any slippery tree roots etc.   As the path gained height the ground started to drop more steeply away on our right and before long we reach the stream that has formed Pucks Glen.   It wasn’t big and despite the morning rain, it wasn’t very full either, but it dropped away down the hillside steeply and the wee path that followed down beside it immediately screamed ‘problem’ to me.  I really struggle walking down narrow paths by streams especially so when the light is poor…..in these conditions it was really dark for me and so I said I’d have to return by our outward path …I wasn’t going to risk trying to get down that way.  Nita and Evelyn said they’d go back with me and we left Stewart and Holger to take the more direct route.  We kind of figured we’d meet them back on the main track.

Well ….even getting back down the good path was quite slow progress for me.  When we reached the top of the ‘Lower Puck’s Glen’ path however, (with the bit we could see, looking reasonably good) we decided we might as well go back that way.  After just five minutes I was starting to have my doubts though.  It was in general a very good path, but it was just so dark for me in the depths of this narrow tree filled little gorge.  Thankfully all the steep sections had steps and handrails but even so much of the path was right by the stream.  For a large part of this walk I couldn’t see much at all and relied on Nita’s great guiding skills, (honed over years on the hills) to get me down through this amazing little glen.  It was for me really difficult ….probably the most difficult and challenging thing I’ve done for a good few years!   I have to say, that I was very glad to hear Evelyn say we’d reached the main track at the bottom of the glen ….phew!  I was hot and more than a little stressed!!!

It was quite an adventure although it’s a shame Nita didn’t really get to see this amazing little glen either as she spent all her time keeping me on the path.  She did take some photos as we descended but it was so dark that my little camera couldn’t cope with the conditions either, (I have some sympathy for it)…..but here is one photo that came out reasonably well.   It’s spectacular and well worth a visit.  When we met up with Stewart and Holger, they said that the upper glen path was even steeper but without the helpful handrails in places…….definitely not for me!

Pucks Glen near Loch Eck

Pucks Glen near Loch Eck

Of course, after that we just had to go for a beer or two.  By this time the rain had all gone and the hills were clear and looking fabulous in the afternoon and early evening sunshine.  We had planned to catch the late ferry back but forgot to check the time of the last ferry.  We arrived at the slipway at about 22.20 to find it deserted and in darkness ….oooops!  The last ferry had been at 22.00.  Nothing for it but to have a good laugh, eat the emergency packs of crisps Nita  had packed for just such circumstances  ….and then start on the lengthy drive home back past Loch Eck, up and over the Rest and Be Thankful, down along the side of Loch Lomond and over the Erskine Bridge.  We arrived home in Irvine to find a very hungry cat at about 00.30!   It had been a great day ….an adventure out of no-where!

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‘Snow covered hills, above Largs’

Posted by admin on February 28th, 2013
'Snow covered hills, above Largs'

‘Snow covered hills, above Largs’

‘Snow covered hills, above Largs’, Oil, 2012, 80 x 80 cm

I was working on this painting for many months and only finally finished it a short while ago.  It is based on a day several winters ago when I went walking with my friend Guy, on the hills above Largs.  It was a bitterly cold January day and I seem to remember the car thermometer read minus ten C when I left the house early that morning.  We’d caught the train to Largs and it was still dark as we walked up through the town to the start of the path.  It was a great day although the snow conditions were very difficult to walk in and we didn’t manage to walk anywhere near as far as we’d originally planned.  But it was incredibly beautiful that day with big views out west over the Firth of Clyde to Bute and beyond.  The most memorable part of the day for me though was a short period as we were descending the hill in the late afternoon.  As the sun took its final dip towards the western horizon, it turned the snow covered hillside a strange and beautiful kind of pale copper / pink colour. As I say, it didn’t last long, but it made a great impression.  This painting tries to capture a little of that amazing colour.

This oil painting can be seen as part of my forthcoming exhibition, ‘In sun, rain, mist and snow’, at ‘the gallery on the corner’, 34 Northumberland St, Edinburgh, EH3 6LS.  The exhibition preview is tomorrow, Friday 1st March, 2013, 6pm – 8pm….all welcome.  The exhibition runs until 30th March.  The gallery is open, Tuesday – Saturday, 11.00 – 17.00.  I hope you can get along to see it.

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Back and busy

Posted by admin on May 25th, 2012
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.

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Sign of the times

Posted by admin on July 29th, 2011
Towards Blairmore from the ferry

Towards Blairmore from the ferry

Well then, that’s the exhibition at Blairmore Gallery finished. We had extended it for a week and yesterday we travelled up to collect the work. As the title of this blog implies, it wasn’t the most successful of shows sales wise, but it was I think a good show and selection of work and was seen by a lot of people …both local and visitors. I think that today’s economic situation is starting to take a toll and a lot of businesses catering for anything other than essentials, are probably starting to feel the pinch. Paintings are not I guess at the top end of most folks list when it comes to expenditure these days! That said, things are still ticking over and the important thing about exhibiting your work is that people see it. They may not be able to buy any of it at present but if they like it enough they may remember it when the economy starts to pick up. The exhibition at Blairmore has been an excellent way to promote and showcase my work to a large number of visitors to Scotland and as Blairmore usually displays several pieces of my work throughout the year, this may well pay dividends further down the line.

West, across the Firth of Clyde

West, across the Firth of Clyde

We’ve had superb weather in this part of Scotland over the last week, but yesterday when we got up it was dark and grey and as we drove north up the coast road towards Largs, the views out across the Firth of Clyde to the Isle of Arran were rather sombre to say the least. The fine sky-line of the Arran mountains was gone …their summits cut off by a thick layer of cloud.

A passing sea plane ...above the Firth of Clyde

A passing sea plane ...above the Firth of Clyde

From Ayrshire, you can get to Blairmore Gallery one of two ways. Either you can drive all the way … a lengthy drive that involves heading north up to Tarbet on the side of Loch Lomond and then heading up and over the Rest and Be Thankful (where we were walking on Beinn an Lochain the other week). On reaching Loch Fyne you then have to turn south and drive back along Loch Eck to the turn off for Blairmore village. It’s a beautiful drive in good weather but as I say, it’s a good way and takes around two hours. The alternative route and the way we generally go, is to drive north up the coast to Gourock and catch the Western Ferry over to Dunoon …a few miles to the south of Blairmore. This saves much driving and a little time …although you do have the cost of the ferry. This however is currently just £20 return for a car, driver and one passenger (if the ticket is purchased prior to getting on the ferry) and so with the cost of fuel these days, there’s very little in it …and this way you get a twenty minute break and a pleasant boat trip across the firth.

When you see the ferries arrive they really don’t look very big but it’s amazing just how many vehicles they fit on. When we arrived yesterday one ferry had not long left and another was arriving …just a few hundred metres off the shore. In the summer they seem to run three ferries at one time which means you don’t really have too long to wait if you just miss one. We were just second in the line and as such were right at the front of the ferry with views out across the firth towards Dunoon. In fine weather you can get out of the car and stand and enjoy the views of the firth and the hills on all sides. It’s a busy piece of water too and there’s always something to watch. On one occasion when I was travelling back on this ferry with a colleague, we briefly spotted a couple of porpoises and another time Nita spotted a submarine. Nothing quite so exciting yesterday though, just a single yacht making the most of the breeze and a small cruise ship heading south. The weather was though improving slightly and the cloud had risen off of some of the hills but there was virtually no colour anywhere.

A grey morning on the Firth of Clyde

A grey morning on the Firth of Clyde

The work is now back in my studio and I’m already sorting through it and reallocating it. We’re heading up to the Gallery on the Corner in Edinburgh next week to deliver several pieces and to collect several others that they’ve had since the spring. I’m also now working out the exact selection of paintings for the show in the Queens Gallery in Dundee in September and the Speyer exhibition in October ….so it’s all go still.

Blairmore Gallery have retained five paintings for their permanent selection and as I’ve said in the past …it does make a great little day out …especially if you drive up via Loch Lomond and return via the ferry…..and who knows, you may even see a porpoise en route!

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Dismantled crane ….a taste of things to come?

Posted by admin on April 10th, 2011
Irvine harbour side

Irvine harbour side

As anyone who reads this blog regularly will know, I work at the Courtyard Studios on the harbour side at Irvine. My space is in the old part of the building that faces the road, and across that, the river and saltings. Until three days ago, just 200 m up the road was an old crane, one of several that used to be used to load and unload vessels visiting Irvine. Even to an outsider like me, it seemed to be an important part of the harbour side, indeed of Irvine’s history …..It was definitely a local landmark and one that gave interest to this wonderful harbour side.

That was of course until three days ago….when it was dismantled and carted half a mile away to be placed in the yard of the Maritime Museum. For the last five or so years I guess, the old crane had not been maintained and the buffeting winter gales had taken their toll. Bits had blown off, the paintwork peeled and the jib was a mass of rust. It seems a shame that such an important part of the towns history and identity as a once important port, should be allowed to fall into disrepair. On hearing of the cranes demise, one of my colleagues visited the towns planning department and apparently the crane has been taken to the Maritime Museum and if funds become available it’ll be restored and a place found for it once again…..lets hope so. Of course, its removal has nothing to do with the planned redevelopment of the Harbour side area ……hmmmmm!

The crane, Irvine harbour side

The crane, Irvine harbour side

Today has been a beautiful day, bright sun and the first real heat of the year. We had thought about heading for a hill today but as we both have a lot of work on we decided to have a less tiring day. Instead, we walked from my studio, out to the sea and then along the beach all the way to Troon, several miles down the Ayrshire coast.

We started, of course, by looking at the space where the crane used to be ..nothing now but the old wooden jetty that similarly, seems to be falling into disrepair and has been fenced off for a good number of years. Will this too be removed at some stage? Just beyond this point the River Irvine meets the River Garnock and together they flow the last few hundred metres before entering the Firth of Clyde. They flow under the footbridge that was built at huge expense to get visitors over to the Big Idea …a science centre that was built to mark the millennium. Sadly, although it was apparently very good, it only lasted for a few years before closing and sitting empty ever since. The wonderful bridge (built to open and close to allow boats access to the harbour) was opened after the final visitor left and has remained so ever since. Let’s hope the new planned developments for the harbour side are going to be better thought out than this our local millennium white elephant.

Close up of the crane, Irvine harbour side

Close up of the crane, Irvine harbour side

Most of the area between the Courtyard studios and the sea is grass. It’s a large area containing a large pond, good quality footpaths and is a fine safe area for folk to come for a stroll, joggers to jog and kids to play …it’s an important recreational area for the town. Today with this warm weather, a lot of people had made their way to the harbour side, all enjoying the grassed areas, the fine views and the beach. The wild life too was out in force this morning with the Skylarks singing above the dunes and the saltings, Eider ducks floating just off of the beach, Oyster catchers and Curlews calling from the mud on the far side of the river.

Much of this area is due for development …housing, retail and commercial units apparently. And there was a big sign on the bridge that suggested development on the far side of the river too. If this takes place I wonder what will happen to the wildlife and whether this now quite peaceful area that pulls in visitors both local and from far afield, will lose the very thing that people come for.

 

The crane close up

The crane close up

People say that with the studios being right in the middle of the new development, that it’ll be good for business. Maybe, but as an artist I worry about what the developers have in mind. I very much doubt that it is going to be as peaceful, as beautiful or indeed as interesting as it is now. Is the missing crane just a taste of things to come? We’ll wait and see I guess. I hope in a few years I can write and say I was wrong.

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Light relief

Posted by admin on February 11th, 2011
Fairly moor

Fairlie moor

If you’ve been reading these blogs over the last month or so you’ve probably gathered that there’s been one thing very much on my mind …the exhibition at The Strathearn Gallery.  Getting all the work finished, framed, photographed, catalogued and wrapped …has been quite a lot of work.

On Monday we went into town and hired a Transit van, and went back to the house to load all the pictures.  Of course, after several weeks of generally mild weather, Monday morning dawned very wet but cold …just 3 C here in Irvine and the forecast of snow for the Central Belt of Scotland …great!  The rain was really heavy here and we decided we could afford to wait a while to see if it would ease before loading the paintings into the van.  Thankfully it did improve and we were able to get everything on board in a relatively dry state.  The journey up to Crieff though was interesting. The rain turned to snow on the M77 and we had a mixture of rain, sleet and snow all the way.

Towards Arran from Whatside Hill

Towards Arran from Whatside Hill

By the time we reached Stirling the ground all around was white and on leaving the A9 to take the smaller road to Crieff ….well, everything was really quite white, including the road!  This particular road goes up quite high at one point and Nita found herself driving a hired Transit van containing almost a years worth of work, along a snow, slush, ice and water covered road.  At one point we went through a huge pool of water that sprayed up onto the screen and made it impossible to see.  No sooner had the wipers cleared this than a large lump of snow fell from an overhanging tree and once again covered the screen!  At this point, Nita just started laughing …well, it was rather funny.

Overlooking the Firth of Clyde

Overlooking the Firth of Clyde

We got to Crieff unscathed though and quickly had the work unloaded and into the gallery. What a relief, now it was in somebody else’s hands.  Mind you, I still fretted for a couple of days about whether the work would look any good but was most relieved to receive an email from the gallery yesterday to say it was all up and looking great …phew!  Oh, and they’d sold a piece as well …so a fine start.  I’m really looking forward to the preview tomorrow.

After all this, I really needed to take a wee break and yesterday in clear sunny calm weather I went for a smashing little walk with my friend Guy.    He’d plotted a nice route that led up onto Fairlie Moor and along its western edge over Whatside Hill before descending into and then walking through Kelburn Glen and on along the shore to Largs.  It made a great little day, catching the train to Fairlie and then returning by train in the evening from Largs.

Overlooking Great Cumbrae

Overlooking Great Cumbrae

As we were right on the edge of the North Ayrshire coast we had superb views out over the Firth of Clyde, across Great Cumbrae and Little Cumbrae islands to their bigger neighbours of Bute and Arran.  From this location you get an interesting view of the Arran Hills.  In the bright sunshine, the colours looked lovely and it was definitely very spring like.

Both Guy and I tend to like the bigger hills and the wilder places but this really was an excellent walk and one to be recommended to anyone living in North Ayrshire.  For me, the surprise came towards the end.  On descending into Kelburn Glen, we followed the path that led down the glen through beautiful woods and above the roar of the river as it poured over a whole series of waterfalls.  It was really quite spectacular especially with the late afternoon sunlight illuminating all the trees and rocks.


In Kelburn Glen

In Kelburn Glen

Kelburn Glen Waterfall

Kelburn Glen Waterfall


A fish supper while waiting for our train home finished off the day nicely and I’m now already thinking about the next walk.  With the exhibition opening tomorrow morning, I can now just get back to the painting and getting some more walks done.  I’ve started a new piece of work based, not on the hills, but on the view across the river and saltings outside my studio.  It’s a bit different but still Scottish landscape.  I’m quite enjoying this slight tangent and it’ll be interesting to see where it leads.

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The art of organising scribble

Posted by admin on February 5th, 2010

1.7 'Early Morning', Pastel, 2003, 45 x 45cm

'Early Morning' - 2003

The realisation that I could still scribble was a huge turning point for me in the lengthy period of readjustment and re-learning I was doing after my sight started to deteriorate around 20 years ago.  I had always loved drawing and see it as one of the fundamental basics behind all my artwork.   Before the fuzzy eyes arrived my drawings varied enormously, from quite tight observational drawings usually of or planning for the sculpture I was then making, to loose and simple sketches done outside and more considered studio based pieces using a lot of colour.  All of them though were dealing with one main issue, that of composition.

I can’t honestly say that I made the jump to scribble and more importantly organising scribble in a sudden moment of inspiration.  I don’t think things really work like that.  I can’t remember quite how the transition took place but I do know and remember distinctly doing the drawing ‘Early morning’ and realising immediately that I’d just gone a long way to confounding the visual impairment with regards to my efforts to continue creating half decent bits of art work again…

‘This was the first of my ‘organised scribbles’. I drew this after a particularly beautiful early morning walk through the countryside near Irvine. The low early sun was so bright that I could see very little, just the vague shapes of odd trees and shrubs amidst the summer grasses’.

This drawing was created using hard, water soluble pastels.  The drawing is built up in layers of scribbled pastel line, starting with very light and pale colours and gradually developing the drawing using brighter and darker ones.  Putting down the first few layers is a pretty soul destroying and time consuming task and one which I’m always grateful for having one of the RNIB talking book machines and a good book to listen too!  Once through this stage, the interesting part starts, I can work out what’s happening and where I’m going with the drawing.  For me, the great thing about working in this fashion was that I’d found a way of working that didn’t need much sight but that still had the appearance of being quite detailed.

1.8 'Riverside, evening', pastel,

'Riverside, evening'

These early drawings were nearly all based on the local Irvine landscape and townscape.  The harbourside where my studio is situated is a wonderful place, changing in mood from hour to hour as the tides ebb and flow and the weather moves in off the Firth of Clyde.  The light, just like in the hills, is constantly changing but it’ never dull …even on the dullest of days.  It can be equally stunning on a day of gales and rain as on a beautiful summer’s day.  It was then for a while the focus of many of my new drawings.

On The Hills

Of course by this stage I was walking the hills regularly and I started to turn my attention towards using these trips as the source for my work.  At the time I couldn’t really figure out a way of doing paintings about these wild places.  My early efforts were pretty dire to say the least.  I was trying to paint them in a more traditional manner and had to use magnifiers to have some idea of what I was doing.  This was a frustrating time for me as I realised that the hills were what I wanted to paint, but I just didn’t know how to go about it.  The early attempts were trying to paint something that I didn’t actually see.  Then I figured out that I needed to try and paint the fuzzy patterns and atmosphere as I now experienced the landscape..and what better way then to use my scribbled line to create this.  So then, I started to scribble onto these paintings, creating a fine of veil on the surface of the paintings.

'From the slopes of Sgorr nam Fiannaidh, Glen Coe', Oil & Pastel, 2004 - 2006, 85 x 49cm, Ref: 22

'From the slopes of Sgorr nam Fiannaidh, Glen Coe' 2004-2006

One of the first of these pieces was a largish painting that tried to capture the brief moment as the cloud broke while we were descending the upper slopes of Sgorr nam Fiannnaidh above Glencoe and Loch Leven.  It wasn’t the complete answer but it did produce a painting that was much more about my experience of being in the hills.  There was and still is, much to do in developing my ways of working, but the organised scribble and its move onto the paint surface was the starting point for much of the work I now do.

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    E-mail: keith@keithsalmon.org