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Spring and summer 2020

Studio Changes

So of course, everything is very different right now. No longer the casual routine of going down to my studio most days and heading to the hills two or three times a month. Instead, like most folk I guess, I’ve been working from home ….or trying to at least and we haven’t walked further than a few miles from our house.

Prior to the pandemic, Nita and I had already made some big changes with regards our studios. As anyone who has visited my studio will know, for the last few years I’ve been renting an individual unit comprising a large space downstairs and a small space upstairs. This has allowed me to do all my painting work as well as the audio stuff too. It’s been important to be able to play the audio without it affecting another artist. At the same time, Nita (who makes ceramics) was renting a separate small studio in the old part of the Courtyard Studio buildings. With the studio rents increasing significantly over the last few years and my sales sadly falling over the corresponding time, we decided that we should perhaps down size a little. After much thought, we decided that the best way to go about this was for me to give up my small upstairs studio and for Nita to move into it ….giving up her own space in the process. It meant moving a lot of my older work to the house, along with Nita’s kiln, which wouldn’t have been safe alongside all my paints. We spoke to WASPS and they were happy for us to make this move as there were plenty of people on the Courtyard Studios waiting list and we started moving all the gear back before Christmas. It took a lot longer than we originally thought but we had everything done by February and we were just starting to get things sorted …..when the virus changed everything. At least we got all our gear moved before the lock-down and so when we can get back in, we can just start working.

Canisp: Scottish Landscape Art
‘Canisp, a winter afternoon’

A Busman’s Holiday

We didn’t of course, get away for our annual two weeks of walking and relaxing in North West Scotland this May, but did manage to get away for two weeks back in December and so as things have turned out, it was a very good move. Instead of heading up to Assynt and Sutherland as we do in May, we decided to visit a couple of areas a little further south that in the past we had only ever driven through. Our first week was spent staying in Taynuilt, a few miles from Oban. The days involved dodging the rain, visiting numerous cafes and bars and grabbing short walks down to the shores of Loch Etive. I made several lengthy sound recordings close to the point where the old ferry used to cross the narrow section of the loch. It was an interesting mix of sounds, both natural and man-made. Although it was a beautiful location, we were only about a mile from the main road and railway to Oban. Add to this the day to day noises coming from the village and the small airport a few miles away to the west and it made for very different recordings. That said, the overall feel, despite these human intrusions, is still quite wild with the sounds of the huge sea loch, its accompanying wildlife and the general sense of space all around.

Bridge of Orchy
‘Towards the Bridge of Orchy Hills from Ghlas Bheinne’

We moved a little further north for our second week and stayed in a lodge several miles from Fort William and close to the Caledonian Canal. Whereas the first week was very much holiday, the next 7 days were more about work. Prior to coming away, I’d been contacted by a small TV production company. They had been commissioned to make an hour long documentary about how artists with different kinds of sight, perceive their surroundings and go about their work. They had heard about the new audio visual work I have been doing with Graham Byron and Drew Kirkland and asked if they could include a small piece about this work. In short, it was agreed that they would travel north and meet us on the final day of our holiday so that they could get some film of us walking in the landscape and me making recordings. They would then travel back to Irvine on the Saturday and meet me at my studio to record a short interview.

Keith Salmon TV
Filming near Loch Lochy, Scotland

Of course, as we were staying in an area we didn’t really know, we had to spend our time trying to find a suitable location for them to film. It had to be somewhere that would make sense with the work I was doing and be somewhere that was easily accessible for people carrying heavy film and recording gear. As it turned out we actually found the perfect spot on our second day out. It was a section of the Great Glen Way as it winds its way along the western shores of Loch Lochy. It was perfect with the sounds of the loch, numerous busy streams and the regular call of birds ….and very little manmade noise. I actually made five recordings and worked out plans for several paintings by the end of the walk and so it was time well spent. Everything went well on the Friday and the small team got their film without any rain. We did the interview at the studio on the Sunday morning and they were back down in London by the evening. They said they thought the programme wouldn’t be broadcast until the end of the year and so I’ll have to wait some more before finding out whether I made a complete tit of myself!

Keith Salmon interview
Recording interview in my studio.

The walk along Loch Lochy was really important as it turned out because it gave me new material to work on during the lockdown. I’ve actually been working on three 80 x 80cm canvases since I brought my painting stuff home back in early March. Each painting is based on one of the slightly different recordings I made as we walked along the side of Loch Lochy back on December 9th. Each one was recorded at a different time of day, morning, midday and late afternoon. They aren’t finished yet but they are close I think.

loch lochy
Loch Lochy painting 2 , work in progress

Exhibitions – New Dates

As you may know, our first big audio visual piece, called the Kylesku Project, is now finished. See excerpts from the digital version:

https://youtu.be/4kBVUsDuDww
Kylesku project – Keith Salmon, Graham Byron and Drew Kirkland

We had arranged to exhibit it at a venue in Lochinver in Assynt this summer, but this has had to be postponed due to the pandemic and we are now planning to hold the exhibition in May 2021. Sadly we’ve recently also heard that the Courtyard Studios annual Group Exhibition at the Harbour Arts Centre has had to be cancelled this year too. That all said, we are still on for an exhibition at the Barony Centre in West Kilbride in March 2021. We’ll be showing the full Kylesku Project for the first time along with a new video work and a selection of my recent paintings and drawings. I am also hoping to do another ‘Big drawing’, along the lines of the big Glen Rosa drawing and so there should be plenty to see and hear. The Barony Centre, being in a big old church, is probably the perfect venue in which to hold an exhibition during times of social distancing ….lots of space!

Beinn Leoid
‘Towards Beinn Leoid, Sutherland’

Still Open For Business

Finally, I just wanted to say that I am still open for business even if I’m not currently at the studio. If you see and are interested in any work here on the website, just email or phone me and we can work something out. Stay safe and I look forward to inviting you back to the studio before too long ……even if it is one at a time!!!

The paintings included with this blog are all currently available and were created between 2018 and 2020.

Ben Oss by Keith Salmon
‘From Ben Oss, winter. Breaking mists’

Ghlas Bheinn – what a difference a few months make!

It has all been work, work, and work these last few weeks and so it was great to have an excuse to stop for a couple of days last weekend.  Some friends of ours from Germany are over visiting Scotland for a couple of weeks and have hired a camper van for the duration.  On Saturday we drove up into the Highlands with them and did a gentle tour up to Arrochar, over the Rest and Be Thankful, past Loch Fyne and on through Tyndrum and Bridge of Orchy to Rannoch Moor.   Our visitors first few days in Scotland, spent exploring Edinburgh, were spent under cloudy skies and in wet conditions but on Saturday the conditions in the West Highlands were superb ….hot and sunny and the landscape looked at its very best.

vacation in Scotland

Andrea, Rudi and Nita on Ghlas Bheinn

Andrea and Rudi were keen to do some walking so long as it wasn’t a huge mountain hike and so our first thoughts were to take them for a wander along the Bridge of Orchy to Victoria Bridge section of the West Highland Way.  The path climbs a little but not much and reaches the most magnificent view point high above Loch Tulla…..we thought that this would be ideal.  And it would have been except that the annual West Highland Way race was taking part that weekend and as we arrived at the Bridge of Orchy…..the runners were passing through.  There were dozens of cars and vans and numerous people and stewards ….all very exciting but not the peaceful place we’d imagined we’d be able to show our friends from Germany!  We extricated ourselves, the camper van and our car from the mayhem and after a short re-think drove the few miles further on to the big view point on the road leading up onto Blackmount.

vacation in Scotland

Away from the crowds, a perfect summer evening in the West Highlands

We normally park here for our annual winter wander along the undulating little ridge leading to Ghlas Bheinn and this suddenly seemed to be the perfect solution for a walk now.  And so it was, with huge views and a good cooling breeze to keep the midges away, this short walk gave Andrea and Rudi a chance to experience a little bit of the Highlands off-piste as it were ….no paths and no other walkers.  For Nita and me it was great to see this familiar place under beautiful summer conditions with different colours and light.  We got back to the vehicles around half past eight in the evening and drove back to the Bridge of Orchy Hotel for food and refreshment ….a perfect end to a very enjoyable day.  My thanks to the staff at the hotel.  They must have been completely shattered by the time we wandered in at just after nine in the evening ….but they very kindly agreed to fix us some food despite us arriving after they had officially finished serving.  Great service and very friendly and if you are heading up or down the A82, this hotel is highly recommended.

North Ayrshire Open Art Exhibition 2015

It’s that time of year again when the annual North Ayrshire Open Art Exhibition takes place.  , I entered one of my scribbled pastel drawings and one of my more traditional 80 x 80 cm acrylic and pastel paintings.  Both I’m pleased to say, have been selected for the exhibition.   A quick look through the catalogue this morning  revealed a good turn out from the Courtyard Studios artists this year  as well as work by several former Courtyard Studios artists.  The exhibition preview is tomorrow evening starting at 7.30 pm and it takes place at the Racquet Hall in Eglinton Country Park, Kilwinning.  The exhibition then runs for two weeks.   Being an open exhibition with over 100 works on display, there is always something for everyone and it makes for an enjoyable visit…..especially so if you add on a wander through the beautiful surrounding parkland while you’re there.

'Breaking mists on Mam na Gualainnt', on display at the North Ayrshire Open Art Exhibition

‘Breaking mists on Mam na Gualainnt’, on display at the North Ayrshire Open Art Exhibition

The last two weeks have been a strange mix for me.  I’ve spent many days working in the studio.  I have quite a lot of different things on the go at the moment which is nice.  I’ve got back to using oil colour again and have been working on three different canvases, all of which I started last year and then put to one side.    I’m also creating nine new small size (210 x 148 mm) graphite drawings for my forthcoming exhibition in Edinburgh in August.  Busy, busy, busy!

Last Thursday Nita and I drove up to Pitlochry to collect the work at the end of my exhibition at the John Muir Trust wild Space.  It was a good experience showing work there and although I only sold one painting, my gift cards sold well ….so as a way of marketing my work and introducing my paintings to a wider audience, it was very successful.  The Wild Space is right on the main street in Pitlochry and close to where all the coaches park up.  As such the centre gets a large number of visitors both UK and from abroad and so a lot of people will have seen my work for the first time.  Anyway, a big thank you to Jane Grimley (JMT Wild Space Manager) and her staff for making me so welcome and for inviting me to show my work with the John Muir Trust.   To find out more about the John Muir Trust and the important work it does, visit:  www.jmt.org

I’ve just received an email from my colleague Dan Thornton, the photographer and film maker based in Seattle.    As you know, he has been making an hour long documentary about my work and we are now in the process of raising the funds to get the editing done.  I’ve donated seven paintings and some prints which are now with Dan in Seattle and he is setting up an auction and publicity event to raise awareness of the project.  He is also setting up a kick starter campaign for the same purpose and this should be underway around the start of August.  I’ll obviously post more details nearer the time.

The next big project for me is my exhibition at “the gallery on the corner” in Edinburgh.  I’ll be showing something in region of 30 pieces of work I think and the exhibition preview is on August 7th 2015.  The exhibition then runs until 29th August.  I’m really looking forward to this show as the gallery is such a great space.  The exhibition is on during the Edinburgh Festival so if you’re in the city, you could take a well earned breather from all the festival shows and enjoy looking at some peaceful, quiet paintings of the Scottish Highlands.  Full details of this exhibition to follow shortly.

 One other plan for the not too distant future is to visit the arts centre in Dumfries.  My partner Nita is making some great pieces in porcelain and we are starting to think about holding an exhibition together.  A colleague has suggested we look at the arts centre down in Dumfries as a possible venue for the show…..so, early days but visiting the centre would start the process.  More on this project as things develop.

Sadly we haven’t been able to get out walking since our trip to Glen Douglas the other week but I’m hopeful we can make it out sometime soon.  Fingers crossed, I’m starting to get withdrawal symptoms again!

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!

Cloud watching – from Mam na Gualainn

Layers of cloud from near the summit of Mam na Gualainn

Layers of cloud from near the summit of Mam na Gualainn

Being held up by road works and a red traffic light can be a little frustrating at times, – but not when you’ve been stopped by a traffic light in Glencoe …..as we were at about quarter past eight on Wednesday morning. It was one of those works where they run a convoy system and as we’d just missed the previous convoy, there was going to be a bit of a delay and so Nita turned the engine off. The mountains rose all around us with wisps and heavier banks of cloud drifting at different levels, breaking around the dramatic rocky peaks. As I opened the window to get a better view, we heard the distinctive calls of eagles and Nita and Guy said they could see three of these huge birds high above us. It was a great way to start our day and the convoy vehicle returned almost too soon and we had to leave the birds and these magnificent mountains behind ….but not too far behind.

From Mam na Gualainn

From Mam na Gualainn

We were headed for Mam na Gualainn, a 796 m hill set in a fine location on the north side of the fjord like sea loch, Loch Leven. Nita and I had first walked this hill back in 2005 and had been so impressed with the views from its high grassy ridge that we always said we’d return dragging our friend Guy with us…..he’s not a Munro bagger, but someone who simply appreciate a fine hill in a fine location….regardless of its size or stature. We thought he’d appreciate this one. Have to admit though, that it took a little longer to get back there than we’d originally planned!

Wild flowers on the slopes of Mam na Gualainn

Wild flowers on the slopes of Mam na Gualainn

The views we had on Wednesday from Mam na Gualainn, were spectacular, made even more so by an almost continuous flow of very low cloud drifting in from the west and breaking around and over the big hills of Glencoe to the immediate south of us and the high tops and ridges of the Mamores to the north. We had a constantly changing view all around, sometimes with peaks sticking out above the mists and at other times, the mountains almost completely clearing or disappearing. As we sat eating our lunch at the summit, the cloud rolled up the glen to the north of us, engulfing the West Highland Way far below, and then after another ten minutes engulfing us too. For a while it became very dark and we reached for waterproofs and maps but within half an hour it all passed and we were still dry and back to watching the mountains around us coming and going again.

On the steep slopes of Mam na Gualainn

On the steep slopes of Mam na Gualainn

I often say to visitors to my studio, that the best days on the hill are often not the perfect bright sunny days, but the days where the conditions are constantly changing. These kinds of day with the ever changing light and colours make a great location even greater and provide me with lots of ideas for paintings and drawings. Quite what will come out of Wednesdays trip to Mam na Gualainn, ….well, we’ll just have to wait and see…..but our nine hours of cloud watching have certainly got me reaching for the graphite pencils again and I’m tempted to try and do some new large drawings while the memories are fresh in my mind.

Cloud arriving ...the summit of Mam na Gualainn

Cloud arriving …the summit of Mam na Gualainn

Heavy skies above Mam na Gualainn

Heavy skies above Mam na Gualainn

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A proper Midsummer walk

From Sgairneach Mhor

From Sgairneach Mhor

Back, I think it was, in February 2008, Nita and I got up early one morning and drove up the A9 to the DrumochterPass.  We spent the day walking two of the hills to the west, (Gael-charn and A’Mharconaich) and had a very memorable time in the snowy conditions on the tops.  As we stood on the icy summit plateau of the second of these hills, we looked across to the neighbouring hills in the group but it was far too far to go that day and we decided to make a return visit sometime in the future.  That day in February 2008, was for me, a particularly profitable one as, out of it, I created seven paintings ….five of which subsequently sold and just recently, I’ve had interest in one of the remaining pieces.

Summit of Gael-charn

Summit of Gael-charn

Anyway, on Tuesday, Nita and I once again got up at the crack of dawn and drove the three and a bit hours up to DrumochterPass.  Six years after our first venture into these wonderful rolling high hills, we were going back …this time to walk the two we’d looked at; Sgairneach Mhor and Beinn Udlamain.  After last weeks walk near Bridge of Orchy, we were feeling something like fit again and thought these two hills would give us another good walk.

Dark skies at the summit of Sgairneach Mhor

Dark skies at the summit of Sgairneach Mhor

We left the car at the summit of the pass and headed up the glen.  The route to Sgairneach Mhor involved crossing the big stream in the base of the glen and although it wasn’t by any means in spate, there was still a good bit of water flowing and we thought we might have to walk a long way up the glen before we could get across without getting our feet wet!  To our surprise, after about 1 kilometre Nita spotted a large new bridge spanning the stream.  As it is large enough for a vehicle, I don’t think it was put there for the soul convenience of hill-walkers, but what ever the reason, it certainly proved useful and we took full advantage of it.  We gained height after that quite quickly and before long gained the ridge and with it, views down to Loch Gary.  From the forecast we’d seen the day before, we’d been expecting a bright warm day, but alas, the clouds, although above our summits, remained heavy and dark with just an occasional short lived glimpse of the sun. ….it was certainly not going to be a day for using my new sun hat!

Overlooking the Drumochter Pass, evening

Overlooking the Drumochter Pass, evening

Sgairneach Mhor has an impressive corrie and the few remaining small patches of snow made for a good view as we neared the summit.  Beyond this, big expanses of grass led first down and then up onto the second hill, Beinn Udlamain.  This, at just over 1000 m is the highest point in this group of hills and as we picked our way over the stone clad upper slopes we got our first good views out over Loch Ericht to the Ben Alder hills.  This then was going to be it for the day …the original plan being to continue around the end of the glen before descending into it to pick up the path back to the road.

Loch Ericht from Beinn Udlamain

Loch Ericht from Beinn Udlamain

But ……of course, of course, we started looking over to A’Mharconaich and Gael-charn!!  It was late June and the days are wonderfully long and these other two hills looked so inviting.  To start with, we decided to aim for A’Mharconaich as from that summit we could still descend to the track leading back to the car.  We arrived at this summit at about 16.00 and by now the dark clouds were beginning to break and bright patches of sunlight were appearing all around …it looked like it was going to be a lovely evening…..we just had to continue over to the fourth and final Munro….Gael-charn.  By the time we were picking our way over the stony slopes near the summit of Gael-charn, we were both starting to feel a little tired …but the views were now stunning and we were starting to get a real sense of achievement.  All we had to do now was descend the long broad ridge of Gael-charn to another track leading the short distance to the A9 ….and then walk the 4 km back up to the top of the pass to our car.  We arrived there 11 hours and 55 minutes after setting out …phew, but what a day, a real mid summer walk.

For many hill walkers this wouldn’t be thought of as a big day, but for me with my still declining vision, it felt like quite an achievement still.  Its twelve years since I first went to the inspirational ‘summer mountain skills course for visually impaired people’, held each year at Glenmore Lodge.  That course gave me so much confidence and I’m certain I wouldn’t have been out on Tuesday dong that big walk, if I hadn’t attended the course in 2001.  The course is still being run and they’re looking for takers for this year’s course.  So, if you know anyone who is visually impaired who would be interested in a truly inspirational week in the Scottish Highlands, they should contact Glenmore Lodge for further details, or they can contact me and I can put them in touch with the course co-ordinator Norma Davidson.

Next step

 ' A January morning, Glen Rosa, Isle of Arran'

‘ A January morning, Glen Rosa, Isle of Arran’

As any of you who visit my Face Book page will know, I’ve been doing some more drawing this last week.  The drawing, to be titled, ‘Rock, snow and water, Harris, May 2013’ is small than the last few pieces and is square as opposed to rectangular.  I wanted it to be similar in size to the 80 x 80 cm paintings I do and so cut the paper to this size.  As you know though, I do like my drawings to have a rough edge and so the actual image size on the paper is 70 x 70 cm, ….give or take few millimetres, leaving a white border all around..

When we were over on Harris last month we had, to our surprise, one day of heavy sleet and snow.  The following day we did a great little walk through a glen between the hills.  The snow was really quite low on the hillsides …less the 100 m and after a few kilometres the path reached a bealach at about 130m.  Even at this height there were several centimetres of snow on the ground and everything looked quite wild and wintry.   By this time though, it was thawing and the streams were really full, cascading down their rocky beds in a mass of white water and it struck me how similar it looked to the patterns made by the snow lying on the rocky hillsides above.  We spent a long time wondering and looking and I decided that I’d have to do some drawings based on this scene and idea.  ‘Rock, snow and water, Harris, May 2013’ is my first attempt and I’m already working on a second piece that will be more abstract, more about the patterns of marks.

'Rock, snow and water, Harris, May 2013'

‘Rock, snow and water, Harris, May 2013’

Anyway, this first piece is finished I think and I’ve decided that it might be fun to enter it for the forth-coming North Ayrshire Open Art Exhibition.  As you can enter up to two pieces, I’ve decided that I might as well enter one of the other recent graphite drawings too.  Of course, the next step is to decide quite how to have them framed.  I normally use a distressed ‘York’ silver frame with a simple mount behind glass, for my smaller paintings and I had at first thought I do with this.  However, I wasn’t sure whether the silver would work with these quite stark graphite images and so went to my framer at the Waverley Gallery in Prestwick seeking some advice and ideas.

I’ve always found selecting a frame very difficult and so to be honest I wasn’t looking forward to this part of the business.  Amazingly though, Tim had the perfect solution …a very simple charcoal coloured frame.  The moment he put it down against the drawing I knew this was the one and although we tried several other options we came back to this first choice.  To retain the ‘rough’ edge of the drawing, there will be no mount, just the glass sitting directly onto the paper.  I’m quite excited and am looking forward to seeing the pieces framed in this way especially as the second piece I’ve chosen is one of the large Glen Rosa drawings.

Well then, that’s about it for this week.  Nita and I are finally starting to get over the nasty bug we’ve had although my voice is still very rough.  Needless to say there have been a few jokes down at the studios about my needing to take up singing the blues instead of painting!  Of course though, we haven’t been out walking for over three weeks now and have been missing all the fine weather which has been most annoying and now that we’re starting to plan our next outing ….the rain is back on!  Hopefully by next week we’ll have made it out onto a hill and my next blog can include a few nice photos of the Scottish Highlands.

No walks, just work

'The Saddle from glen Rosa, Isle of Arran', Graphite on paper, 125 x 75 cm

‘The Saddle from glen Rosa, Isle of Arran’, Graphite on paper, 125 x 75 cm

I had hoped that we’d have been for a good walk by the time I came to write this week’s blog, but what with one thing and another I’ve spent most of my time down the studio.

We did get out though on Thursday, driving through to ‘the gallery on the corner’ in Edinburgh to collect the work after my exhibition.  I had a pleasant surprise though as we only had to collect 5 framed paintings and the 7 mounted drawings.  The gallery had sold a couple more paintings and wanted to hang on to several others as they have customers interested in some of them.  It seems from what they said, that a number of people who follow either this blog and or my Face Book page, visited the gallery to see the exhibition ….so if you’re one of those ….thank, you.

For any of you who do go to my Face Book page, you’ll know that I’ve spent several days working on a new graphite drawing.  I’ve posted a couple of photos of it at different stages and it is now finished I think.  I got the measurements wrong on FB though ….the actual size of the drawing is 125 cm x 75 cm.  It’s a nice size to work on and more importantly it’s given me an idea of quite how feasible it would be to do a very large drawing using the graphite sticks and pencils.  The answer to this question is, very feasible.  Yesterday I started a second drawing this size, also based on our recent visits to Glen Rosa.  These medium sized drawings should also give me an idea of how I might compose the really big drawing when I come to do it.  Anyway, this is the first one, completed the other day.

We will finally get out walking tomorrow.  As we haven’t been up a hill for several weeks now we reckon a gentle introduction to steep ground would be a good idea.  We’ve decided to head over to The Pentland Hills just outside Edinburgh.  There appeared to be a lot of snow on them still when we drove to Edinburgh on Tuesday, so despite their gentle nature and lack of any real height …we’ll still be taking the winter gear just in case.  We are going to meet up with Dan Thornton, the photographer who we walked with in Glen Rosa a few weeks ago.  He was up in the Pentlands Hills a short while ago when all the snow arrived and he took some beautiful photographs.  You can see some of them on his Face Book page: Daniel Thornton.

Finally, I have taken part in the Scottish Art Circle Easter On-line Sale.  Several of my paintings are included in this along with a number of other artists.  You can visit this by following the link:  http://www.tcweb.co.uk/scottish-art-circle/listings/846.html

Right then, that’s it for this week.  Tales and photos from the Pentland Hills and maybe even another walk next week.  We need to get some exercise …only just less than four weeks to go till our May walking holiday ….on the Isle of Harris.  Can’t wait!

Back to Beinn Chuirn ….ice free this time!

Ben Oss from just above the gold mine on Beinn Chuirn

Ben Oss from just above the gold mine on Beinn Chuirn

The last time we went to walk Beinn Chuirn, (in the winter a couple of years ago) we encountered difficult conditions ….well, for me they were anyway!  There was virtually no snow, but it had been very cold for quite a long period and so there was a lot of ice ….thick and black amongst the grass and rocks.  I was really struggling to see it and this made for very slow progress.  After several hours we were only a little over half way up and with the prospect of having to descend on this slippery ground, we decided to cut our losses and retreat.  It was disappointing but wise ….and we had checked out a very good route up the hill ….perfect for a return trip in more favourable conditions.

as we thought...it was steep

as we thought…it was steep

On Thursday last week, with a reasonable forecast, (well at least not torrential rain all day) we finally got to go back to Beinn Chuirn and complete our previously curtailed route.  Beinn Chuirn lies on the north side of Cononish Glen, opposite Beinn Dubhchraig and Ben Oss  ….and next door to its much larger neighbour Ben Lui.  It took us about an hour and a quarter to walk along the estate tracks to a point just short of the hill.  A large track leads uphill from Cononish Farm to the entrance of a now disused gold mine.  The tunnel entrance leading under the mountain is sealed but a set of tracks leads out and there are still sheds there …presumably when the price of gold rises they’ll start working again.

Overlooking the corrie, Beinn Chuirn

Overlooking the corrie, Beinn Chuirn

Anyway, our route led up into the dramatic and rocky little corrie and then steeply up by way of a grass and rock ridge until the broad easy angled upper slopes were reached.  It makes for an exhilarating walk, the ground dropping away steeply on both sides and behind you and as we reached the steepest section near the top I felt glad we had turned back the previous winter!  We were lucky this time though,  as despite the dark heavy clouds, the rain kept away and we had good views in what was very clear air.  The top of the hill is littered with boulders and strangely layered outcrops of rock ….very beautiful natural sculptures.   Beyond these was the summit cairn ….the perfect lunch spot with views of mountains in every direction.

 "Monarch of the Glen"

Being watched!

As we ate our lunch though, the cloud started to descend onto Ben Lui and it became pretty obvious that we were in for a soaking.  Our route back did a wide circuit down easy angled grass slopes before a final steep section led back to the track in the glen.  Some way below the summit though, Nita spotted that we were not alone on the hill.  Above us standing on the sky line was a large stag …watching us carefully.   Despite the rain the views were still dramatic  in the dark and gloomy light.   We were back in Tyndrum in time for a pizza at the Green Welly and back home in Irvine at the reasonably respectable time of nine o’clock.  Another great day in the Scottish Highlands and maybe even one that I’ll get a painting or two out of?

‘From the east ridge of Ben Lui, April afternoon’

 209-from-the-east-ridge-of-ben-lui-april-afternoon-acrylic-pastel-2011-76-x-23-cm

‘From the east ridge of Ben Lui, April afternoon’, Acrylic & Pastel, 2011, 76 x 23 cm

The latest of the new small paintings, this is revisiting a scene I first painted as a 30 x 30 cm piece.  Based on a wonderful day a few years ago when we did our first proper winter scramble.  It was very exciting and we only got as far as this level half way point on the ridge.  Stunning views out to the east though, despite the heavy skies.