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Loch Turret | Scottish Landscape Art - Scottish Landscape Paintings

Posts Tagged ‘Loch Turret’

Ben Chonzie, Edinburgh and Newcastle ….not bad for one week

As the title of this blog implies, it’s been another busy week this week. As well as all the travelling, I’ve been doing quite a lot of painting too ….so all in all, a very good week.

Overlooking Loch Turret

Overlooking Loch Turret

When I visited Dan Thornton and David Feeney in Edinburgh back in May, they introduced me to Neil, a friend of theirs and over a pint or two in the pub that evening we got talking about hills and walking and by the end of the evening had agreed to meet up for a walk together sometime in the summer. Both being very busy, sometime turned out to be last Saturday and we decided that Loch Turret and Ben Chonzie would be a good spot being not too far for either of us to drive. As it turned out, we were very lucky with the choice of days as we picked the one fine day between several not so good ones.

On Ben Chonzie grass and more grass

On Ben Chonzie grass and more grass

We met at the Loch Turret dam and did a clockwise circuit of the loch taking in the Munro Ben Chonzie that rises beyond the far end. It makes a good walk and amazingly for an August Saturday we saw no one once we’d left the car park until we got close to the summit. There, Neil and Nita could see a big group of folk who we figured must have come up by the shorter more popular route. They however all started to make their way down as we arrived at the summit and we spent half an hour sat enjoying the big views and bright sunshine. The descent was pretty straight forward at first, down huge grass and moss covered slopes with views back across the more craggy face of the hill. But then came the steep section of heather, grass, moss, stones and broken crags ….much of it wet and slippery underfoot. I was OK for most of it ….using my tried and tested method of descending steep ground ….sitting down and lowering myself. One short section however required moving across the slope and I sure was glad of having two people to guide me. Nita went first; trying to point out where I should be placing my feet, while Neil followed behind keeping a firm grip on the back of my rucksack just in case I slipped! I have to say I was very glad once we’d got across this little section and were once again heading downhill towards easier ground. Anyway, it made for a bit of excitement before the lengthy walk back along the side of the loch. It was a very good day and I don’t think Neil was too put off by my snail’s pace and unorthodox methods of descent……he’s suggested we all meet up again in the autumn to visit his local Fife hills…..am looking forward to it.

....and a few rocks. Approaching the tricky section

….and a few rocks. Approaching the tricky section

Sunday was a day painting and Monday saw me catching the train over to Edinburgh to deliver a small painting for the Macmillan Art Exhibition at Bonhams on Queen Street. I was a little concerned whether I’d find it OK on my own but in the end it was simple and I even managed to avoid the new trams!

Back down to easier ground ....and the long hot walk back

Back down to easier ground ….and the long hot walk back

I was painting again on Tuesday and then I spent Wednesday packing the nine paintings and one big drawing for The Biscuit Factory autumn exhibition in Newcastle. We loaded the car with the work first thing Thursday and drove down to Newcastle, arriving at the gallery about half past one in the afternoon. It’s an amazing place and I’m really looking forward to having a proper look around when we return for the preview on September 12th. Yesterday however, it was just a case of deliver the work and then head straight back …….even so , it was seven o’clock before we final got home and put our feet up.

It’s been more painting today as well as sorting out the studio ready for a few visitors tomorrow. It’s the Irvine Harbourside Festival and so there should be a few extra visitors around. I think there will be a few other Courtyard artists open so hopefully it’ll be a successful day.

‘From Carn Chois, above Loch Turret’

173 'From Carn Chois, above Loch Turret', Acrylic & Pastel, 2010, 30 x 30 cm

‘From Carn Chois, above Loch Turret’

 

‘From Carn Chois, above Loch Turret’, Acrylic & Pastel, 2010, 30 x 30 cm

I was recently asked to add a couple of paintings to the selection I have hanging in Braidwoods Restaurant near Dalry.  This is one of the five pieces they now have and it is based on the hills above Loch Turret just to the north of Crieff.  This is an excellent walking area and a wonderful place to see mountain hares.

Anyway, Braidwoods is one of the top restaurants in North Ayrshire and so if you’re visiting it, do look out for my paintings while you’re there.

Braidwoods is around half an hour’s pleasant drive from Glasgow towards the West Coast of Scotland and It is based in Dalry, Ayrshire, KA24 4LN

You can contact the restaurant on 01294 833 544

‘Overlooking Strath Earn, October’

38 'Overlooking Strath Earn, October', Acrylic & Pastel, 76 x 23 cm

‘Overlooking Strath Earn, October’, Acrylic & Pastel, 2010, 76 x 23 cm

This is one of the paintings I’ve just delivered to The Gallery on the Corner in Edinburgh.  I did this piece about 18 months ago after a walk we did on the hills above Loch Turret in Perthshire.  It turned out to be a perfect autumn day and as we made our way back to the car we took the opportunity to walk out to a small point that was marked by a wee cairn.  It was worth the half hour detour as beyond this point the ground dropped away sharply and you looked out over the broad Strath Earn.  It was a beautiful and very tranquil scene as the shadows lengthened in the late afternoon light.  For more details of The Gallery on the Corner in Edinburgh, click on the link at the side of this page.

Back to Ben Chonzie

Ben Chonzie, near the start of the walk

Ben Chonzie, near the start of the walk

If you walk the hills regularly, you reach a point at some time where you find you’ve walked many of the main tops that lie within a day trip distance of your home.  This really isn’t a problem though as you can always walk them again, and again and again! If there’s one thing you can absolutely guarantee on, it’s that they’ll always look different.  As anyone who reads this blog will know, we regularly go back to hills we like, especially those that are close …the Luss Hills, the Arrochar Alps, the Arran Hills etc.  On Sunday last, we revisited another of our favourite haunts ….Ben Chonzie, the large lump of a hill that rises above Loch Turret.  It is not a dramatic hill but is well set back from the main roads and so tends to be quiet.  It is the highest point in what is a very large expanse of wild, rough upland country.  In the past we’ve normally approached the hill from the Loch Turret….parking the car at the end of the road near the dam.  To reach the summit of Ben Chonzie from here makes quite a long day but there is plenty of fine walking to be had on the lower hills around.

Ben Chonzie, the fine start already fading

Ben Chonzie, the fine start already fading

The other usual (and shorter) approach is from the south west of the summit.  A four wheel drive track leads from a small car park on a single track road, high onto the hill.  This can be followed to its end and then up onto the main back of the hill a short distance from the summit.  We’d gone this way just once before, on a dark, damp and very windy day a few winters ago.  It really was quite a grim day and we saw nothing of the views as the cloud was very low the whole time.  When we got out onto the upper slopes the wind was really starting to pick up and as we followed the line of the old fence up towards the summit it appeared to be getting stronger by the minute.  There seemed little point in continuing to the top (we’d all been there on a fine day a year or so earlier) and so we headed through the mists towards the steep slopes below the summit and the shelter they offered from the increasingly strong winds.  I remember we stamped seats into the large patch of melting snow we found there, and sat down to ‘enjoy’ our lunch.  By the time we’d finished and were making our way down, the wind had become exceedingly strong and it was hard to walk and for a while it was decidedly unpleasant.

Ben Chonzie, looking towards the summit

Ben Chonzie, looking towards the summit

So then, on Sunday we decided it was time to revisit this side of the hill and try and see it under better conditions.  The forecast was certainly hopeful and indeed we arrived at the wee car park at the start of the path in bright sunshine and there was frost on everything around.  We’d seen nothing of our surroundings last time we were here and so it was great to see the hills all around us this time …it really is a beautiful and quiet location.  Several other people had had the same idea as us and there were a couple of cars already parked and a couple more arrived as we were getting the boots on.  We enjoyed the fine weather for about an hour and a half I guess but as we gained height the blue skies turned gradually to grey and then the grey descended onto the tops and the summit of Ben Chonzie disappeared.  As we emerged once again onto the back of the hill, we felt the wind, not strong this time but very cold.  The ground was covered in frost and there were frozen pools and patches of icy snow all around.  The final rise to the summit came and went in the grey mist and we once again decided that we wouldn’t bother with the top but would instead walk over towards the lunch spot on our previous visit.

Ben Chonzie

Ben Chonzie

We got some interesting views of the big snow patches lying on the steep slopes and Nita spotted several mountain hares …resplendent in their white winter coats.  After this, we made a hasty retreat, back down the way we’d come.  In the end then, we still didn’t get the fine views from the top that we’d hoped for but we did see enough in the morning to want to come back once again.  There was a fantastic line of smaller hills just to the west that will have to be visited at some point in the future and this could well be a good place to do some sketching on a slightly warmer, clearer day.

Back to work …with a bit of walking as well


Ben Lawers and Loch Tay

Ben Lawers and Loch Tay

It’s amazing to think that a week has gone by already since we returned from Assynt. It’s been a good one though and I’ve got quite a lot of work done.  When I left for Assynt I had three paintings on the go (two 80 x 80 cm and one 76 x 23 cm) and so I’ve spent my time trying to develop and finish these.  I’m pleased to say that yesterday I completed one of the big 80 x 80 cm pieces and have brought the other two paintings on quite well.  I’ll be back down the studio later this morning for another eight hours and I’m feeling quite confident that I can get close to finishing one of the other two pieces by the end of the evening ….but it’s always easy to be confident before starting to slap on the paint!  We’ll have to wait and see.

From Creag Uchdag

From Creag Uchdag

In between the painting I’ve also been priming several boards ready for new work.  This is surprisingly time consuming as each board needs at least four coats of primer, but I now have five boards of different sizes ready to start work on.  I returned from holiday with quite a few new ideas for work and so one of the important jobs this weekend is to start to develop these a little in the sketch book so that I can start new paintings early next week.

After getting a little fitter over the holiday we’re keen to make sure we don’t let things slip and so were determined to get out for a walk one day during the week.  With Nita working all weekend, the weather not looking very good and myself with a dentists appointment on the Thursday, it wasn’t looking promising!  Of course, the best weather for the week seemed to be forecast for Thursday …the one day I couldn’t go and then on Wednesday I had a call from the dentist to say that they’d have to cancel my appointment and rearrange it for another week….suddenly we had a day to go walking…..we just had to decide where exactly to walk.

The grassy summit of Creag Uchdag

The grassy summit of Creag Uchdag

In the end we decided to go up to an area of high rolling hills that lie just to the south of Loch Tay.  We’d not been there before so it’d have added interest and the thought of good views north to the Ben Lawers group of hills, was quite enticing.

'Spot the hare'

'Spot the hare'

Our target for the day was an 878m hill called Creag Uchdag.  I have to say that it didn’t look from the map that it was going to be anything other than a good walk….just a high lump with broad ridges and easy angled slopes….but in a fine location.   I expected though for it to be a mixture of grass, heather and on the higher areas perhaps some stone …a little like its bigger neighbour Ben Chonzie a few kilometres to the south east.  But no, this was a grass hill …well, with some peat hags thrown in for good measure.  I would be lying if I said there were no stones …but you could almost count them on one hand.  In fact, I don’t really remember walking for so long on just grass ..it was everywhere …a great grassy wilderness!  On it’s slightly steeper southern flanks it did appear to have  a few minor outcrops of rock but that was about it …quite amazing.  It was certainly different from the rocky northern hills of last week and we saw no one the entire day.  There was though quite a lot of wild life around and as well as the regular calls of Curlews and Sky Larks, Nita spotted  several hares …one close enough for me to see with my monocular which was very nice.  On our return she also watched a large bird of prey which she was fairly certain was a Red Kite.  Having lived in west Wales for a good number of years we were used to seeing these birds while out walking Carmarthen Fan and so I’m confident Nita got the identification right.  We did see one last year over the hills near Loch Turret so I guess as Red Kites fly, it’s no distance at all.

So then, it’s been a pretty good week.  Two good days work at the studio this weekend and it’ll round it off nicely.  I’m collecting framed work from my framer at the Waverley Gallery in Prestwick on Monday and will be starting to put everything together for my show at Blairmore Gallery starting in June.  Full details of this to follow in a week or so.

Research work!

Ben Chonzie from Meall na Seide

Ben Chonzie from Meall na Seide

When I first set up my studio at the Courtyard Studios in Irvine, my work was based around the man made landscapes of the town and its Harbourside area.  Although I’ve been a keen hill-walker for much of my life I’d  never combined the two interests of walking and painting.  By 2004 though, we were getting out into the Scottish hills on a very regular basis and it was while out on what was my very first real winter walk with our local mountaineering club Air na Creagan, (check out their website www.craggy.org.uk ) that it suddenly dawned on me that I was missing a trick and that I really ought to use my experiences whilst out in the landscape, as the subject for my paintings.  By this time I’d started to get a bit of a reputation at the Courtyard; if the weather was fine I would not be found in my studio …..I’d be out on a hill somewhere!  So then, it made perfect sense to start painting the wilder parts of the Scottish landscape ….and of course, now my days away on the hill could be called research work!

As I’ve said in the past I’ve been invited to put on a solo show of work at The Strathearn Gallery in Crieff  for a month starting on the 12th of February 2011.  For anyone who hasn’t visited this gallery, it’s a fantastic space and Fiona (the gallery owner) has said I’ll need around 40 – 45 pieces ….so quite a lot of work.   As Crieff is situated close to the wild heather clad moors around Loch Turret, it seems to make sense to try to do some paintings based on this area for the exhibition in February.

Anita and I visited Loch Turret back in the late winter / early spring and had a wonderful day wandering the hills.  At the time there was still quite a good deal of snow around and the loch was completely frozen …it was some sight.   So then, last Sunday we decided to head back there and to do a bit more wandering.  I hoped to see it in its autumn colours and to perhaps do some sketching and take some photos.

Picnic Spot

Picnic Spot

The forecast for the weekend was for sun and cold northerly wind ….and for the chance of some snow on the higher tops …especially further north.  As it turned out  Nita spotted the snow up on our hills, from just north of Stirling on the A9.  It looked quite wintry and it didn’t seem any time at all since I was complaining about the heat over in Speyer …where had all the time gone?!

When we got to the dam everything looked beautiful with the autumn colours of the grass, bracken and heather on the lower slopes and the bright white of the snow above about 700m.  But there was a biting cold wind blowing down from the north and I decided that there was little point in taking the sketch book – it would be just too cold.   We followed the same route as back in the spring and although in the wind the conditions were quite severe, once out of it and in the sun, it was really very pleasant. Oh well, too far to go back and get the sketch book. But the light and colours were great. As we got near our high point at a little over 750m we were just into the snow and Ben Chonzie, a couple of kilometres further to the north, looked quite white.

We took a rather circuitous route back, but one that gave us great views down into the strath below. The sun was getting very low as we descended the steep slopes back to the dam and the hillside opposite was coloured vivid yellows and ochres in the late light. It was quite an end to the day and I have come away with a number of ideas for new paintings. Quite a good day’s work!

Late Sun

Late Sun

Winter Patterns

It’s back to normal today with paperwork all this morning. I’ve finally sent my claim in for the North Ayrshire Council Business Development Grant. I was awarded this a few months ago. The council heard what I was doing and came to the studio to see if there was any way they could help. I explained that we were planning to re design the website in order to help promote my work and therefore sales and they said they offered 50% grants for small businesses to help them develop their web based business. Anyone who has explored this site will have seen the changes we’ve been making and hopefully like them. It’s great to get such excellent local support and indeed I’ve just made my first sale as a direct result of the new ‘work for sale’ page on the website …so then, a good start and a big ‘thank you’ to North Ayrshire Council for their support.

Ben Chonzie, near Crieff, Scotland

Towards Ben Chonzie

Anyway, yesterday we got out into the hills again …a proper hill walk – the wind was too cold to sit down and sketch. But it was a great day and I came away with many ideas for new work. We’ve wanted to get up to the hills around Loch Turret, a reservoir situated above Crieff in Perthshire. It’s a wonderful location with high rolling heather clad hills rising on either side of the loch and the big lump of Ben Chonzie (931 m) rising beyond the far end.

As we drove towards Crieff though we had our doubts as to whether we would be able to get up to the parking area by the dam …there was still loads of snow piled at the sides of the main road …it didn’t look to hopeful for the narrow road that climbs up to the dam. But we needn’t have worried, Crieff itself was clear of snow and the wee road was fine, though there was still much snow higher up. It had been an early start; I was up at 4.30am and we left Irvine at just after 6am …but it was worth while. Climbing out of the car at the dam we were surrounded by a magnificent patchwork of snow and grass and crag. It looked like being a great day. As we got to the dam and looked over we were met my the amazing sight of Loch Turret completely frozen over …it was a strange colour – a mixture of greys, pale duck egg blues and purples…wow….and we’d barely started the day.

Walking Near Ben Chonzie, Scotland

The Frozen Waters of Loch Turret

We decided that we’d not try and get to Ben Chonzie (the munro). It’s a lengthy walk to the summit and back and although we’ve done it in the past, we aren’t quite as fit at present. We decided instead to head straight up the hill side above the dam and to follow the rising broad ridge around and over Beinn Liath and on to the craggy little top of Carn Chois at 786 m. This is a grand view point from where the main bulk of Ben Chonzie can be seen. The hillsides above the dam were a complete mixture of grass, heather and snow patches. Most of the snow was quite soft lower down and so we kept mainly to the grass and heather as we clambered quite steeply up to the first little top – and what a view point it was. Overlooking the dam you could see all the way along the loch to the bigger hills …and as always happens at times like this, I got jaw ache from smiling so much …it was simply stunning. Beyond this wee top there was a slight descent and a long level curving sweep of good firm snow leading to the next bit of ‘up’. This snow was perfect for walking and being level I could stride off without my guide for a few hundred metres. Something of a rarity for me these days!

Looking Down on Loch Turret

Looking Down on Loch Turret

As we gained height the wind really started to blow. Bad weather was forecast for the west and we could see it building up, but over Loch Turret we still had much sun shine and beautiful colours. By this stage my partner Nita had already spotted quite a few mountain hares – all still with their white winter coats. This is a great place for spotting hares and in the past I’ve even spotted a few as they’ve run from the snow onto areas of dark heather …they’re just small white moving blurs to me! That said, I missed them yesterday. At one point as we topped a rise not far from Carn Chois, we apparently scared off around 20 hares. We retraced our steps a short way back along the ridge and then descended to the loch side and a difficult walk through soggy deep snow back to the dam and the car …what a day.

Video: Above Loch Turret, March 2010