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munros | Scottish Landscape Art - Scottish Landscape Paintings

Posts Tagged ‘munros’

Journey’s end ….a commission completed successfully.

It seems quite a long way from the summit of Mam na Gualainn, (where I first met Richard) to this photograph showing the finished painting he commissioned from me, hanging on his living room wall.   The actual painting took me 5 – 6 weeks to complete but there was quite a lot to work out before I first picked up a paint brush. 

As I say, I first met Richard at the summit of Mam na Gualainn, an almost 800 m high hill rising on the north shores of Loc

An Teallach painting, framed and on the wall

An Teallach painting, framed and on the wall

h Leven in the West Highlands.  I was walking with my partner Nita and our friend Guy and we had just finished lunch and were about to head off east along the broad ridge of the hill when we spotted another walker making his way towards us  We stopped for a quick chat with him  and then continued on our ways

It must have been six or eight weeks later that I received an email from Richard introducing himself saying that he was the chap we’d met on Mam na Gualainn and that he was wondering if he could visit my studio next time he visited Scotland.  This visit took place a couple of weeks later and it was great to meet him again and to hear more about his exploits in the Scottish hills over the previous I think 40 years……very impressive.  Over this time he has not only reached the summits of all the Munros but also all the Munro tops too …. and was now in search of a painting based on the Scottish Highlands that would  perhaps sum up what he had already done as well as looking  forward to further outings.   He’d been searching for such a painting a couple of months before we’d met on Mam na Gualainn and had come across my website ……only to recognise my face on the hill  a  little later in the summer.

While visiting my studio Richard asked whether I would create a painting for him based on one of his photographs….a view from the top of Bidein a’ Ghlas Thuill on An Teallach.  Although I’d never used another persons photo as a starting point for a painting, I was intrigued by this as Nita and I had stood at the very same point on Bidein a’ Ghlas Thuil a number of years previously ….and it was certainly one of the most memorable I’ve had on a hill.

After a short time to  consider this  I agreed to try and create the painting for him.  Firstly though I needed to know the kind of painting he was looking for …..as you know, my paintings vary from almost abstract to much tighter more traditional looking landscapes.  We agreed that I would send him a CD containing  40 or 50 images covering a broad range of paintings and I asked him to look carefully through them and indicate which were the kind of paintings he most likes.  He did his homework very well and a week or so later he contacted me with a short list, along with his reasons for liking them …he pointed out certain elements that he particularly liked and made some very useful comments.  He said that he was looking for something that whilst still being recognisable as An Teallach, would  also contain bold marks and the texture that he so much liked in my paintings.

This information was really helpful and allowed me to visualise how the finished piece might look and therefore how to go about painting it.  Sounds easy doesn’t it?!  As it turned out, getting that balance proved quite difficult and in the end I probably erred more towards the recognisable.   Strangely I probably drew as much on my own memories of the day we were up there as on Richards’s original photograph …certainly for the kind of atmosphere and light.  We stood at the summit on a May day under darker skies with little if any sun.  The photograph Richard had taken showed a large area of blue sky at the top and although this made for a great image I felt it allowed the painting to drift away.  I decided instead to add a darker area of cloud at the top of the painting  ….a sort of cap to hold the eye and redirect it back down into the painting.  I think this also had the added benefit that it helped enhance the feeling of height and scale.

I sent Richard a number of images showing the progress of the painting as well as posting a couple of them on my Face Book page, Keith Salmon – Scottish Landscape Artist.   In the end though I just sent the finished painting down to him ….no photos of it beforehand.

An Teallach painting finished and framed

An Teallach painting finished and framed

Richard asked  that I supply the painting without a frame so that he and his family could select this.  I know how different a painting can look when it is just there without a frame and so was a little worried that he may not see beyond the raw edges!  I suggested that he spent a good few days looking at it before making any decision but I shouldn’t have worried as about a week later he kindly sent me the photos of it framed and on the wall.  I have to say that I think he selected a good frame and I was very pleased with the final result ….I think Richard is too.  He told me in his last email that he’d bought it as a 60th Birthday present to himself ….so then, Happy Birthday Richard.  I hope you enjoy many more walks in the Scottish Highlands and maybe we’ll meet up again on a hill sometime.  Enjoy the painting.

Of course I can’t just leave it there …the business part of me has to spring into action now.  Should you be looking for a painting of the Scottish Highlands and be unable to find the right thing, you could  always consider commissioning a painting unique to you.  I’m always happy to consider ideas and am always up for a challenge!

‘Approaching Sgorr Dhearg, above Ballachulish’

253 'Approaching Sgorr Dhearg, above Ballachulish', Acrylic & Pastel, 2012, 30 x 30 cm

‘Approaching Sgorr Dhearg, above Ballachulish’

‘Approaching Sgorr Dhearg, above Ballachulish’, Acrylic & Pastel, 2012, 30 x 30 cm

When we were out walking on Mam na Gualainn last week, we had superb views across Loch Leven to the big range of mountains that sit on the south side of the Ballachulish bridge.  We walked this range on a fine May day back in 2005 and had this fine view as we approached Sgorr Dhearg, one of the two Munros in the range.

I started this painting several years ago but could never quite get it right.  Then last year I dug it out once more and started work on it again …and this was the result.  It’s not an over bright painting or one of an over dramatic scene, but it does I think nicely capture what it’s like to be walking in the hills as the mists come and go around you.

This painting is currently on display at my studio ….visitors are always welcome, although to check that I’m not out walking on yet another hill …it’s always worth giving me a quick call on my mobile first: 07742 437425.

Keith Salmon
Scottish Landscape Painting
Studio J
Courtyard Studios
128 Harbour St
Irvine
Ayrshire KA12 8PZ

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

100 not out …but no telegram from the Queen!

A little bit of Europe at the summit of Beinn Dubh

A little bit of Europe at the summit of Beinn Dubh

Well, according to my records …this is my 100th blog ….give or take one or two that is.  I’ve quite enjoyed writing these blogs, admittedly, some more than others.  Some weeks it’s easy …..there has been something definite to write about …a walk, an exhibition or something to have a moan about …like the council dismantling the crane on the harbour side.  Occasionally though, nothing obvious has taken place during the preceding week and then it’s more difficult.  On these occasions any resemblance of writing disappears and as you’ve no doubt noticed …all you get is a bit of a ramble.

Now then, by pure chance, ‘a bit of a ramble’ is just what we had on Tuesday!

But before I go on to tell of this I need to set the scene …and go back to an evening in September 2008.

Loch Lomond from Beinn Dubh

Loch Lomond from Beinn Dubh

I had been working in my studio and to my surprise at about seven o’clock in the evening, there was a knock on the door and four people came in to have a look at the work.  Stewart, a Scotsman now living and working in Germany, was visiting family in Irvine along with his wife Evelyn and two friends from the same region in Germany.  They had just been into The Ship Inn (where Stewart and Evelyn first met …I wont say how many years before) ….and on coming out onto the street they’d noticed the Courtyard Studios sign and decided to take a look.  The main reason for coming in was that their friend Markus is a sculptor and was interested in seeing what was being done in Irvine. At the time I had been working on a large 200 x 100 cm painting and Markus was really interested in this.  After quite a time he told me abut the artists group he was a member of over in Speyer…and went on to say about the annual scholarship offered each year to an artist from around the world.  He asked me if it was something I might consider applying for …and very casually I said yes.  Well, I didn’t really expect anything to come of this, but Markus good to his word, went back to Germany at the end of his holiday and passed details of my work and website onto the members of the committee of the Kuenstlerbund Speyer eV.

In January 2009 I received a phone call from them formerly asking me to apply for the 2010 scholarship.  The rest, as they say, is history.  For anyone reading these blogs, you’ll no doubt have followed the preparations for my trip to Speyer last summer …and the weekly reports from said city.  And of course, it didn’t stop on my return to Scotland in September last year for as you know, I’m just about to go back to Speyer with an exhibition of my latest Scottish landscape paintings.

Take-off point for Paisley!

Take-off point for Paisley!

So then, it was rather nice timing to learn a few weeks ago that Stewart, Evelyn and Markus were to be visiting Irvine again in early October.  They all turned up at the Open Weekend last Sunday and it was great seeing them all again.  Needless to say we ended up going for a pint of Guinness in The Ship later and arranged to meet up again on Tuesday morning in Luss on the side of Loch Lomond.  Markus had particularly wanted to see the loch, and what better way to see it than from one of the many hills rising around it.  It was a perfect excuse to go and walk my favourite little circuit in the Luss hills.  The only problem though was the weather.  There had already been much rain and severe gales and it seemed to be getting worse through the week..and getting colder too.  There was even forecasts of snow on the higher hills come Thursday.  So, Tuesday seemed the best of a bad bunch …showers and very strong winds forecast (gust to 75 mph) …but relatively high cloud …certainly above the Luss Hills if not the Munros.

We had a great little walk and Markus certainly experienced the Scottish hills in ‘real’ Scottish weather ….bursts of bright sunshine, heavy dark clouds sweeping across the skies and temporarily shrouding everything in sheets of rain …and all blown along by an increasingly wild wind.  Once above 500 m it was quite a battle just to make progress at times.  The gusts were so strong that we were almost blown off our feet and it was very slow progress over the last few hundred metres to the small cairn marking the summit of Beinn Dubh at a little over 600m  Wow….wild or what, but we made it.  Our plan had been to walk the usual horse shoe circuit around and over Mid Hill before descending to the single track road in Glen Luss, but it would have taken us a long time battling against these severe gales …so we decided to go back the same way with the wind behind us.  How we all didn’t end up being blown all the way to Paisley I really don’t know.

As I say to my colleagues sometimes …if you invite people into your studio, you never quite know what will come of it.  Little did I think back in September 2008 that three years later I’d have completed a four month long scholarship in Germany, held an exhibition of my Scottish paintings there …and been for a crazy walk in the Scottish hills with a Scottish / German translator, a German sculptor and a German teacher (retired!) …it could almost be the opening line for a joke!

Anyway, thanks again to Stewart, Evelyn and Markus for visiting my studio back in 2008 …it’s been a great adventure since then. I hope they enjoy the exhibition in Speyer in a couple of weeks time when we all meet up again at the preview on Friday 21st October.

‘Heavy weather, Drumochter’

152-heavy-weather-drumochter-acrylic-pastel-2010-76

'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.

Work of the Week: ‘Winter morning, above Glen Shee’

'Winter morning, above Glen Shee', Acrylic & Pastel, 2010, 60 x 30 cm

'Winter morning, above Glen Shee'

‘Winter morning, above Glen Shee’

A very early start from Irvine a few years ago, found us in Glen Shee on a cold December morning. The plan was to walk three Munros; The Cairnwell, Carn Aosda & Carn a’ Gheoidh. As anyone who goes skiing in Glen Shee will know, the first two are really just part of the ski area and only a relatively short walk from the top of the pass. The latter though is a little more off the beaten track being as it is out to the west somewhat.

The plan was to walk up to The Cairnwell, then out and over to Carn a’ Gheoidh. We’d then retrace out steps to the edge of the ski area and finally head up to Carn Aosda. As we climbed up the slopes towards the summit of the Cairnwell, everything looked stunning. Early morning mists clearing from the glen and sun picking up the colours of the snow and grass.

This painting (finished recently) is one of several I’ve done based on this early morning scene. But things never quite stay the same and within half hour of leaving The Cairnwell, thick low cloud had enveloped us. The route out to our second hill was fairly straight forward but the snow cover was complete here and the mist thick enough to make everything rather white! As we reached the second summit though, the sun broke through above our heads and we found ourselves atop a sea of bright white mist …then everything was gone again. The walk back should have been fairly simple but in ever thickening mist and fading afternoon light we suddenly found ourselves …well, if not lost, then definitely ‘geographically embarrassed’!

It suddenly turned into a rather challenging walk back, stopping constantly to check the map, compass and GPS. When we finally got back to the point above the ski centre it was too late to head for the final hill …we were just relieved to hear the sound of the ski tow generator grumbling in the glen below. A memorable day although after the first hour we saw next to nothing.

This painting is to be exhibited with Scotlandart.com shortly.