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!

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?