The Agonies

 It's less than 3 weeks to the opening of "Our Fragile Land" in Gairloch Museum, and I'm just in those pre-exhibition agonies.  Deciding on which paintings should go up on the wall and worrying about the quality of the work.  I know it's always the same before an exhibition...the same old agonies.

But, to start with, I'll follow on from my last blog and show you what I developed from that winter woodland sketch in the oakwood.  Here it is - in acrylic.

After doing this, I decided to have a go at a slightly different version of it in mixed media, on a canvas.  Here's how that one is coming along.

 Interesting...Huh?  I was so pleased with the initial one, but now I think I prefer the larger more horizontal one.  I suppose they're just different.  I'm having a little pause now while I get things together for the exhibition.

I had this idea about doing some linocut trees in various forms.  Here's a linocut (well 4 linocuts, actually), printed over a gelli print.  I like the soft intrigue of the background that you can get with this.

I then had this idea of doing something different on the other side, so did a few drawings, like this one.

And then I concertina'd the cards, like this.

What do you think?  Not quite an artist's book, but a little fun.  I commissioned a friend to make a little plinth holder and I'm going to try and display a few at the exhibition...if they'll let me.  If you want to see the lovely plinth, you'll have to come along to the exhibition!  Well...I'm trying to keep them a surprise until then: I'll take a photo later.  I thought it would give visitors something a bit different to look at as well as the wall art.

Anyway - here's the official poster.  I'm in very good company for this exhibition, as you can see.  So perhaps you'll understand my agonies now. 

Exhibition runs from 4th May to 29th June.  It's a must see!

Trees, Trees, Trees

 Time has passed me by again - I see it's almost 2 months since I last blogged.  But that doesn't mean I've not been busy.  Just life getting in the way of art.

My main focus since January has been on trees. In the course of deciding what to paint for "Our Fragile Land" (forthcoming exhibition at Gairloch Museum) I became aware that the small pockets of woodlands in the Wester Ross Biosphere area are remnants of much larger native woodlands and oakwoods that once made up the temperate rainforest on the west coast of Scotland.  It's interesting because once you are aware of this, then you start to see remnant oaktrees and stands of Scots Pines all over the place!  

I was curious about the Balmacara Oakwoods and in 2023 I made a small expedition to track them down and go sketching there. They sit high above the main road (the A87) on a 45 degree slope, and on my first trip in late Spring I was quite blown away when I found them.  I returned a couple of times last year and spent a while painting this one in oils.

I continued painting the oaktrees, trying different motifs in different media. Here's one in acrylic - quite a  large painting on paper.  What I was trying to capture was the sturdiness of the limbs and the colours in the trunk and limbs - they are so dominant, they kind of engulf you.

Anyway...I have continued to paint the trees, mostly in acrylic, and this month I came up with this new painting.  Again it's acrylic on paper, with a little ink added. I did this one from sketches and photos as I had not been back there for a while.  Having done a few of these oak paintings (too many to show here!), I now find that I can be a little more playful, less realistic, in my approach.

I really wanted to get back to the oakwood over the winter, or at least before the leaves reappear.  And finally, in the last couple of days, I managed to get back to there to sketch - here's a wintery pastel sketch from the oakwood this week.

As I thought, the colours were quite different: the outside world intrudes much more into the woodland scene.  However, the limbs of the oak trees are just as dominant and impressive.  It's a great place!

So now maybe I'll have to select a different palette and try another painting.  In the meantime, I'll be getting a few of these framed and ready for the exhibition in Gairloch in May!

Winter Grass

 One of the things I like about winter in the western highlands is the growth and colour of the wild grasses.

 There are many different types of grass.  There is the deer grass in the hills and on the moors, sending out its delicate spikes in December. There is the untidy grass on the shores that lies flat over pebbles, combed by the sea into swirls and waves.  And there is the thick grass that grows in woodland clearings and morrland - it turns into clumps of pale ochre curls and sends out delicate tall spikes.  Close by Lochcarron there is an area which was once a plantation woodland of sitka spruce trees.  This ground is now in community ownership and the trees were cleared a few years ago, leaving rough ground with a few residual native trees.  Significant replanting with little tiny trees - native species - has already been done in places. I think of it as a “recovering landscape” and I like to go and sketch there – I particularly love the wild winter grass with the backdrop of the hills around.

I've done several sketches of the grass and trees and I was determined to develop the sketches into a painting or two.  I started out on a scene looking towards distant hills, flanked by trees.  

This was a large square painting.  I quite liked the simplicity of this, but at a large scale I was not satisfied. I continued to develop ideas, adding different textures and got to this point.

I still wasn't happy, so I altered the composition slightly and added more spectral greys.

However, I felt that this was a bit dumbed down....not very exciting....it had lost its freshness and drama.  So I put it aside and reached for a fresh piece of paper, to start again.   This time I did a landscape composition rather than a square one.  I focused much more on the grass rather than any other element within the composition.  Looking at it now, I see a hint of Paul Nash's "Wood On The Downs" in the composition, but these, of course, are Birch trees, not Beeches.

It is now finished and framed - title "Wild Winter Grass, Kirkton Woodland" - and I've just heard that it'll be in the RSW open exhibition in January/February this year.  Delighted!

As I quite liked this composition, I've been back to sketch in the same place from time to time.  It looked different in summer colours, in strong light.   I thought I'd try a wee acrylic painting of a similar scene.  Thia one is also framed - "A Delicate Light" - and it was in the Gairloch Museum Winter Show.

I'm continuing to make paintings of grass (winter and summer) and some of these will be ready for an exhibition in Gairloch Museum in May and June this year - "Our Fragile Land".  Here's a work in progress....

It makes me think of the Three Graces....but I don't think that's a good title...is it?

Getting Off To A Good Start

Happy New Year!

I started this blog in December, but didn't finish it.  Must do better in 2024!

My focus this year is to get a body of work finished and framed for the start of May.  I'm doing an exhibition - "Our Fragile Land" - in Gairloch Museum.  The exhibition will be with three other artists, showing landscapes of the Wester Ross Biosphere.  I've been working up ideas for this for most of last year, off and on, and I realise that I now need to get my pieces finished very soon!

My starting point was a number of pieces I did based on sketches done at the Black Water at Silverbridge, near Garve (See earlier Blog).  Since then I've been thinking about other fragile landscapes.  Possibly the most fragile place within the Biosphere is the Beinn Eighe summit and plateau.  It was designated a National Nature Reserve many years ago, and it is one of the core areas of the Biosphere.  I had a walk up there in the summer and did a couple of sketches.  From these, I developed this oil painting.

 

Not sure if it's finished yet, though!

The other particularly fragile landscape in the Biosphere is the area of native woodland - oakwood - within the Balmacara Estate near Kyle of Lochalsh.  I've done a lot of sketching over there this year and I've been working on several paintings - oil and acrylic - all different shapes and compositions.

I've been particularly struck by the strong shapes (positive and negative shapes) made by the mature oak trees, and the way the foliage filters the light.  I've noticed how the limbs of the trees follow the contours of the slope - it seems to be a particular characteristic of oak trees, because I observe it with oak trees in other locations.  Anyway, here's quite a large oil painting.

 Painting woodland in this way has been something new for me.  I find I keep coming back to the motif, and trying it in different media.  Here's another interpretation, this time a smaller painting in acrylic, although it's not quite finished - I'm not happy about the shape of the tree on the left and I think the background needs a bit of finessing.  These ones are more like dancing trees (perhaps that should be in the title).

I've also been looking for appropriate quotes and reading books about trees and woodland.  I hope to write a bit more on the subject....but we'll see how that goes.  In the meantime, here are a couple of quotes to think about.

“Most of us walk unseeing through the world, unaware alike of its beauties, its wonders, and the strange and sometimes terrible intensity of the lives that are being lived about us.”
― Rachel Carson, Silent Spring

“If you truly love Nature, you will find beauty everywhere.” —Vincent Van Gogh,

So here we are at the start of 2024.  Sending good wishes to you for the year ahead if you manage to read this blog.  Let's all keep creative and positive this year!

Woodland Focus

Since my trip to Arnisdale, I've managed to get quite a bit of time in the studio and I've been trying to develop some pieces from the sketches (in preparation for my exhibition next year.)   I started with a couple of landscape scenes based on sketches in the previous blog....like this one.

Loch Hourn and the Small Isles

But I've been thinking more about the woodlands, the remnants of the rainforest. I must confess that over the years I've not thought much about woodlands – I've always been more of a hill person – and let's face it, native woodlands were not such a big thing in my youth. I feel as if I'm only now beginning to discover them, helped by going to meetings run by the Woodland Trust.

I made a start to working on a large painting of the woodland on the coastal path along the north side of Loch Hourn, the Herring Path, based on part of one of the sketches in the previous blog. I was thinking with this one that I didn't want to be too detailed - a slightly misty approach might work better.

Loch Hourn Woodlands 1

It's acrylic on paper - not finished yet, of course. I also tried a couple of smaller ones of the same woodland. I was focusing on how it felt sitting within the woodland, immersed in it. Not painting trees, but thinking about the patterns and textures of the woodland floor; positive and negative spaces. The calmness of trees. The fragility of these surviving trees. So much to think about – such a challenge!

Loch Hourn Woodlands 2

Loch Hourn Woodlands 3

 

After this, I ran out of steam a bit, and decided to go and find some oakwoods near home. I realised that a woodland would be a perfect sketching location in the relentless sunshine and heat we had earlier this month. Where to go? I decided to try the Balmacara estate and on my way back from Kyle one day, I parked in the layby where the path leads up to Loch Scalpaigh. I took the path into the oakwood there. What a place! I hadn't been there before and I was quite enchanted by it. Here are a couple of photos.

 

Of course, it felt a bit daunting to sketch there....how to capture the feel of such a place in a sketch? The dark majestic trees, strange positive and negative shapes, strong shadows, filtered light. And there were some surprising colours.

Oakwood Sketch

As the good weather continued, I returned to the oakwood a couple of times for more sketching and thinking.  Again, what was on my mind was how I felt so enveloped by the woodland and the beauty of the space.  Because of the robustness of the trees, it did feel quite different from the fragility of the Loch Hourn woodlands.Well, here's something that I've painted so far.....

Oakwood Summer

I have a few more unfinished woodland paintngs.  My question now is should I continue on the woodland theme, perhaps even finish a few paintings, or shall I have a change and tackle another aspect of the Biosphere?

A Week By Loch Hourn

 

I just had a week of walking and sketching at Arnisdale, on the shores of Loch Hourn. It wasn't many miles for me to travel, but it felt like a real change.  And we took the ferry at Kylerhea - the shortest route for us.  I decided to go there because it's within the Wester Ross Unesco Biosphere, and I'm trying to focus on the Biosphere as the main subject for my next body of work.  The most southerly point is actually in the middle of Knoydart.

View from Arnisdale to Knoydart

 

Arnisdale seems to me to be a special place. It lies at the foot of a very steep hill, crushed up against the sea, and looks out over Loch Hourn to Knoydart, one of the most remote areas of Scotland. The hill that overshadows it is the iconic Beinn Sgritheall, a rather isolated munro mountain...and a rather steep climb.

 

Glowering Beinn Sgritheall

I wimped out of climbing Beinn Sgritheall, but I did get up as far as some lovely lochans.  Here's one of the views I sketched of the hill viewed across the lochans.

 

Beinn Sgritheall (blue)

This one gives a better idea.  It's a lovely approach from the west, and not nearly so steep....!

Beinn Sgritheall 2

We stayed in a traditional cottage on the shore - great for weather-watching - we experienced a range of weathers, luckily mostly benign.   Strangely the outlook was similar to our view at home!  Just a bit more dramatic.

Looking west along Loch Hourn

Loch Hourn is a commanding presence.  Many of my sketches are of the Loch.  I did these two when we walked the Herring Path - a fascinating walk, if somewhat awkward in places.  The path is beautifully constructed in several places and is holding up despite a bit of erosion.  And you feel as if you're walking into the past as well as walking closer to Knoydart - almost within touching distance.

Loch Hourn's Little Isles

From the End of the Herring Path

Glen Arnisdale has another long-distance path which apparently was occasionally used in the past for motor-cycle racing (it's barely navigable by bike now).  We walked to the lochans in the glen on a very mature footpath (very steep in places).  I found it rather brooding - this sketch is a bit too bright!

Glen Arnisdale Lochan.

The woodlands were also rather fine.  The trees were mostly oak and birch - beautiful places to sit and sketch.  I think it's a remnant of our Temperate Rain Forest.  And the trees cling to the shore at the bottom of the steep hills.  It was a lovely time of year to go, with the trees just coming into leaf.

Woodland Paths

Woodland By The Shore

You can't go to this area without visiting Sandaig - where Gavin Maxwell once lived.  It is a beautiful spot and we caught it on a lovely day.  The white sand and the rocks reminded me of Iona.  

From above it looks so beautiful too....a most unusual place.

View of Sandaig, with Skye in the Distance

This part of the Biosphere has a pronounced coastal influence - it's everywhere you go.  I hadn't expected to feel such a sense of history – the Herring Path and Glen Arnisdale path feel so old and well-trodden.  Someone kindly lent us a book "Arnisdale and Loch Hourn" which records a past way of life in the area in an engagingly anecdotal way, with lots of old photographs.  Peter English collected the old stories and local lore and compiled the archive.  And the Ceilidh House at Corran has an interesting set of historical interpretation boards.

 

Loch Hourn From The Slopes of Beinn Sgreathill

What I have taken away from the week is how Arnisdale and environs have such a feel of rugged remoteness and fragility.  Knoydart casts a shadow of enchantment - it's so massive, hardly anyone lives there and it feels unreachable.  And, for an artist, Arnisdale bay has great light and interesting clouds as the weather systems move in and move away.  I think I'll have to return.

Working Hard In January

Full of New Year resolutions, I've tried to do a sketch every day this month, and I've tried to get into the studio too.  I've been at home for the whole of January, so no excuses! Despite spending so much uninterrupted time working, I'm not sure if the results are as good as I would like.  As we know, time spent in the studio does not always produce great results, but I'd like to think my time has not been wasted.

 I thought I would use this blog to reflect on some work done in the studio and let you judge for yourself.

Keeping my focus on the Biosphere, I decided I wanted to do something with this particular sketch.

It's a a somewhat wasted landscape at Achnashellach where the trees in a plantation woodland have largely been removed, leaving only a few remnant trees here and there.  This is quite a common story of small landscapes in this area.  I also liked the light on the far hill.

I had made this start to quite a large painting (acrylic on paper) way back in August.  

It looks kind of OK at this scale, but I wasn't happy with it in reality....too literal, perhaps.  So I tried to improve upon it, trying to simplify it a little.  But you can see that it's lost a bit of drama.

I didn't like it now and put it away for a few months.   Then I was along at Achnasheen in December and did another sketch of roughly the same scene, deciding that the trees needed to be taller.  When I came back to the studio I pulled it out of the drawer and had another go. Actually, I had a look at the trees by Cezanne and by Peploe to inspire and encourage me to take a bold plunge! 

Of course, I still wasn't happy - too much bracken and the blue of the far hill didn't work.

I thought this one was getting there....worth continuing....

Then I decided that the far hill needed more drama!

And finally, I've added the pale green hill back in, brightened up the grasses at the front and inserted a bit of shadow.

So this is it - finished...or not.  I've decided that I've done enough for the moment - I think it's better than it was, and I feel that it has a cohesive whole.  Anyway I'll put this away in a drawer.  Then I might take it out for a look in a month or so to decide whether or not to frame.

It's been a hard month!