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Irvine | Scottish Landscape Art - Scottish Landscape Paintings - Part 3

Posts Tagged ‘Irvine’

Seasons Greetings

Posted by admin on December 24th, 2010

Irvine-Harbour-December-2010

Irvine Harbour, December 2010

It’s Christmas Eve and yet another bright sunny and very cold day here in Irvine. The snow we had last weekend is still lying and once again I doubt the temperature is going to get above freezing. Everything certainly looks fantastic, especially down on the harbour side where for quite a few days now the water has been completely frozen.

The pipes at the Courtyard thawed out briefly last weekend but have been solid again since Sunday afternoon and so it’s been a week of short shifts at Studio E mixed with drawing at home. I have to admit though that I was a little optimistic last week about the progress of my new pencil drawing …it’s still not finished although its coming on quite well. I’ll probably have another crack at it later today.

Ship-in-Frozen-Harbour-Irvine-2010

Ship in Frozen Harbour, Irvine 2010

The rest of the work for the show at Strathearn is coming on well and although I have almost daily panics …causing me to count and re count the work that I have ready, I should have everything completed and framed by the end of January and in time to get it delivered to the gallery for hanging. I’ll need something in the region of 40 – 45 pieces and I’m trying to get a quite varied selection of work together……all based on the Scottish landscape but a mix of the slightly more traditional views as well as the more abstract impressions. Having some drawings in the show too is important and I hope to include a couple of more finished drawings as well as some of my quicker line drawings in pastel or pen.

Irvine-Harbour-2010

Frozen Estuary at Irvine Harbour, 2010

I also plan to include one largish piece although this is still on the go at the studio. It’s 135 cm x 61 cm and is based on a couple of small drawings I did a few years ago. The piece is quite abstract and done in a mix of reds, oranges and yellows. I think it should work well and will help to give the exhibition a bit of diversity. We’ll have to wait and see I guess!

My partner Anita is working at the hospital on Christmas night and then doing a twelve and a half hour shift on Monday 27th, so we’re going to postpone festivities for a few days and then enjoy a quiet day on the 28th. I’ll probably carry on with the drawing until then so that I can enjoy a few days off and perhaps a day or two walking in the hills later in the week.

Right well, for all of you who have suffered my weekly ramblings during 2010, …..my very best wishes to you over this festive period.

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Snap!

Posted by admin on December 2nd, 2010
West from Cul Mor, Assynt

West from Cul Mor, Assynt

I’ve loved taking photographs ever since buying my first camera, (a little Ilford instamatic) through a special offer on the back of a cereal box, back in 1969.  It wasn’t the finest of cameras but at the age of ten it seemed pretty good to me.  I bought it just before we went on holiday to Eire and I came back with 12 (albeit rather fuzzy) photos of the Dingle peninsular.  What is more, they were the only photographs of the holiday  ….my father had failed to load his 35 mm film properly and came back to find an unexposed roll of film in his camera!

That little camera certainly got me into snapping photos whenever we went anywhere and before long I moved up market a little and got myself a very solid Zenith SLR. This camera was certainly not a sexy beast, (I think it was made out of plate steel) and I  lugged it around along with a great little Weston light meter, for many years.   By the time I was at Falmouth School of Art in the early 1980’s it was a bit of a joke to many of my friends who had spent much of their grants on new hi tech cameras.  In the Easter break in 1981 a small group of us spent three weeks up on North Uist enjoying the wild beaches, the loch strewn land and the isolated hills of Beinn Mhor and Hecla.  One of the group forgot to take a spare battery for his camera …and it ran out on the first week  …no place to buy a replacement of course.  Another friend, Paul, dropped his camera and being made out of plastic, the top cracked.  And so it was yours truly  (feeling rather smug) with my battered old iron clad manual Zenith who came away with the photos.

From Am Bodach, the Mamores

From Am Bodach, the Mamores

The Zenith, (now almost 35 years old,) still works although I put it into retirement at least ten years ago) and I’ve now moved into the digital age!!  As my sight deteriorated I found I was taking more and more bad photographs.  Using film and finding that 22 out of the roll of 24 were either tilting the sea out, had a thumb in the corner, or were simply just dreadful …well, it was getting expensive….hence my getting a digital camera. Now I can tilt the skyline as much as I want, take hundreds of dreadful pictures and get all five digits in front of the lens …and it doesn’t cost me anything …and if you snap enough you tend to get a couple of reasonable pictures most days.

On the edge of Rannoch Moor

On the edge of Rannoch Moor

Anyway, the reason for rambling on about photographs and cameras is that we’re holding a small Christmas Affordable Art Fair at the Harbour Arts  Centre in Irvine on Sunday 5th December and Sunday 19th December.  Around about a dozen of the artists and makers at the Courtyard Studios will be taking part with a wide range of paintings, drawings, prints, jewellery and cards on sale.  I’ve decided to show a dozen photographs taken on the Scottish hills during the last 10 or so years.  Most of them are my own but I’ve also included a couple that my partner Anita took….with her permission of course!  It’ll be interesting to see what reaction I get with them.

The Cobbler

The Cobbler

So, the event runs from 12 noon until 4 pm on 5th & 19th December.  The Courtyard Studios are only two doors away from the Harbour Arts Centre on Harbour Street in Irvine.  I’ll have my studio open as well so if you want to see some paintings too, then just drop by.  There should be other studios open at the Courtyard too.  I look forward to meeting anyone who can get along.

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Back on the Harbourside

Posted by admin on September 16th, 2010
On Irvine Harbourside

"On Irvine Harbourside"

You know, it really is good to be back on the Harbourside. Over the last week I have seen it under a great variety of conditions. Summer is definitely on the way out here and we have had the first of the autumn gales. What makes it extra special at this time of year are the big tides.

With my studio set just the width of the road and the old wooden quay away from the river, I am in a prime location to watch the changing seasons and conditions. On Friday it was a beautiful day here – bright skies, white clouds and the afternoon sun bringing out all the late summer colours of the saltings that lie between the River Irvine and the River Garnock. It was so good that I had to down brushes for a bit and just stand in my studio doorway, taking it all in. There were the ever present calls of curlews, oyster catchers and gulls…it was just great.

By Monday though, it was all change. I walked up the Harbourside to my studio, head down against the wind and rain and with all the usual views across the saltings completely gone – shrouded in a thick murk that was blowing in from the sea. It was great! – well, it was once I’d reached my studio and could watch it from my doorway. We have these old fashioned little street lights along the front of the harbour and for some reason, when there is a gale blowing, many of them create an eerie, but very atmospheric, whistling sound. Even in these conditions though, the light is still very special. Added to this, was a very high tide and as the day went by, the water rose, covering nearly all of the saltings and leaving just a narrow spit of mud and grass between the two rivers. I didn’t have my monocular this day, but normally, in these conditions, the birds congregate in an ever tighter group as the water rises. On this occasion, it didn’t completely cover the narrow strip of land, so I guess their feet stayed dry!

Harbourside, Irvine

"Harbourside, Irvine"

"Harbourside"

Anyway, after spending the summer painting the buildings in Speyer, it has got me thinking that it might be quite nice to do some work once again, based on the harbourside. When I first moved to the studios back in 2003, I did a number of paintings and drawings based on the buildings and river here. I am not quite sure how I would tackle it now, but here are a few of those earlier attempts.

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A change of scene

Posted by admin on September 9th, 2010
New Look Courtyard

New Look Courtyard

When I left Irvine for Speyer on May 11th, big changes were afoot at the courtyard studios. WASPS had decided to refurbish the studios and while doing so, were taking the opportunity to create several new spaces in the roof space. The work was planned to last until around the start of July and in a way, it was perfect timing for me as I would miss much of the disruption. As it turned out, I heard tell of the disruption every few days as Anita was ‘studio sitting’. My space is in the old part of the building. I’m not quite sure how old, but a chap came in the other year and told me that my studio used to be his office back in the 1950s…when he was a customs officer. Since then it had fallen into disrepair….understatement. When the builders moved in, they found that a section of the floor joists had rotted through and it was only the patchwork of pink and yellow carpet that was holding the floor up! The rear wall, covered by a chipboard outer, was completely crumbling away and Gordon, one of the other artists, described it as being like a waterfall when it rained…explains the dampness I think.

Anyway, I flew back to Scotland last Thursday evening and went down to my studio on Friday…and what a difference. For starters, the dreadful pink outer walls are now a slightly better, if somewhat strange, green colour….but it does look a lot better and people have started to notice us. As for my own studio, they have done a great job…a new floor, the waterworks completely repaired and a new door that actually fits the frame…and a heater! With a bit of luck, it will be a much more pleasant experience during the winter months and I’ll not need to dress up like the Michelin man.

New Look for the WASP Courtyard Studios, Irvine, Ayrshire

The WASP Courtyard Studios, Irvine, Ayrshire

So then, it has been straight back to work, as I have to get 6 pieces ready for a group show at Scotlandart.com which opens in late October. It’s great to be back in Scotland but although there’s lots of work to do, I am going to make sure there’s time to relax too. Today Anita and I have been to see the magnificent exhibition of the Lewis chessmen at the National Museum of Scotland and the Impressionist Gardens exhibition at the RSA, both in Edinburgh. We’re heading up for a walk near the Cairngorms on Sunday and have already organised a day on the hill with our very good friend Guy…I can’t wait. Well and truly back in business I think.

*** Please note that WASP Courtyard Studios will be having its traditional Open Weekend from the 2nd and 3rd of October. So why not come along and see the changes. Everyone is very welcome!  ***

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‘Harbour light, winter’

Posted by admin on July 16th, 2010

1.1. 'Harbour light, winter', pastel, 2003, 61 x 30cm

‘Harbour light, winter’, Pastel, 2003, 61 x 30 cm

I’ve been planning to do a very big drawing and although I’ve got ideas about what the picture will look like, I’ve been looking through some of my old Irvine drawings for a bit of inspiration! Most of these were relatively small but were about buildings, man made environments and so have been of considerable help whilst planning this Speyer drawing.

This ‘harbour’ drawing has been of particular interest …not just because it was long and thin …but more because of the light. Here in Speyer on this very hot summer days the light is incredibly bright and even the great structure of the cathedral almost disappears into this bright soup of light. I don’t know yet, but this new drawing may well have a similar feel to the harbour piece in the end. It’s quite difficult starting such a large piece …and I’ve been putting it off ….and will probably put if off just a little longer …and keep looking and thinking. Hopefully there’ ll be some news of it before long.

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Work of the Week: ‘Lost Building’

Posted by admin on May 6th, 2010

1.4 'Lost Building', Oil on board, 2003, 86 x 86cm,

'Lost Building'

‘Lost Building’, Oil, 2003, 86 x 86 cm

I haven’t always painted the hills and mountains. When I first moved to Scotland I spent my time working on pictures that were based on the man made landscape of Irvine. One of the buildings that really grabs your attention from most parts of the town is the big church that sits on the side of the River Irvine near what used to be one of the main bridges over the river. Sadly the bridge was demolished for a new shopping mall but the church remains. It’s quite a stunning building that seems almost too steep for its own good. Sadly unused for either its original purpose, or any other, it is still a beautiful landmark at the centre of the town and one which I did a number of paintings and drawings about.

This painting was done when I was still using oil and tries to capture a little of the buildings splendour when illuminated by the late evening summer sun. I’ve started to look at these earlier paintings again as I’ll be in Speyer next week and will be thinking about doing paintings based on its magnificent architecture.

‘Lost Building’ is currently on display at the RNIB Education & Employment Centre in Edinburgh.

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    E-mail: keith@keithsalmon.org