An Inspiring Start to The Year

 

This was going to be my January blog, but I'm a bit slow in posting.  I almost managed it!  

However, I've been quite busy (that's my excuse).

I wanted to have an experimental month in January.  Did I do this?  Well....I started off with good intentions but it was very, very cold in the studio and this sapped my resolve.  And then...before I embarked on any real work, I had a trip over to Inverness to see and hear Barbara Rae (recently made a Dame).  I've always liked her work, but I thought I had stupidly missed her exhibition.  However, my friend Susan (Bridge Art Collective colleague) gave me a lift over and we went to meet her and listen to her lovely impromptu talk. She talked about how she paints in places familiar to her – mainly the Lammermuirs, County Mayo in Ireland and Spain – and she returns again and again to these same places. I found this interesting as it chimes with the words of Matisse (if I remember correctly) who talked about walking and painting the same place over and over again in order to get to the essence of a place. Because Barbara paints in these distinct places, her palette changes to reflect the location, and you can discern this in her work. She also explained her processes, and how she makes monotypes to help her focus on the essentials of a scene and work out a composition. I could go on.  As my friend Jacqueline said, Barbara is generous with her insights.  A lot of us who went along to Inverness Museum and Art Gallery found the afternoon inspirational.

So, having been inspired, when I got back into the (cold) studio, I decided to make a few more monotypes before I did anything else– here are a couple.

And then, it was back to my desire to do some experimenting.  I made some (rabbitskin) size first of all.  Then, to some of it, I added chalk, then pigment. To another dollop of size, I added ash from my woodburning stove, then chalk and pigment. The wood ash made me reflect on the awful fires in California - how devastating! Climate change continues (what a surprise)!  

Anyway, the woodash mix gave me a very uneven, granular medium which I painted onto paper making a textured surface.  I then painted on this surface with acrylics. Taking the Barbara Rae approach, I should have used my monotypes as a springboard for a composition or two, but when I looked in my sketchbooks, all I could see were Hillponds.So that was what I started....

Looking at this photo now, I feel that it gives a misleading impression of the actuality.  What was emerging was too messy, too colourful (Fuar Tholl was too pinky!) and it wasn't working for me.  Should I have carried on?  I don't know now....but, well, I did!  

First of all I tried painting another version of this....a slightly different size of paper, and no texture.  Just acrylic and a bit of medium.  I thought the colours had a bit more subtlety that my textured version, and the middleground was less shouty.  So it gave me guidance for what to do next.

 

I've been at it for the rest of the month, backwards and forwards, sandpaper, craft knives, paint. And this is where I got to.  I am happier with this, with its focus on the mossy mounds in the foreground (and those colourful mounds drew me in in the first place), but, well .... it's different from my first pass.

Of course, January was a beautiful month for snow and ice. It was a huge distraction - I was always going out for a bit of a walk in the snow.  Eventually...when the forecast predicted that it was about to disappear....I thought that I must go out NOW and do a few sketches - but snow is so difficult!

 

First just down on the shore (one of several).  

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

And then round at Loch an Loin (one of several). 

It was so beautiful at Loch an Loin - the beauty of it just made me cry! - so I went on to do this painting....

 Have I managed to capture it?  Who knows. And now the snow has gone, even almost gone from the tops, so I'll be back to colourful landscapes this month...maybe! 

 

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!

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?

Winter Lingers On

January/February is the time of year which gives me the best opportunity to get on with new work. The village is quiet, the Gallery has been closed and the New Year surge is still fresh. Lots of time and motivation to get on with work you would think.

Well, there are always distractions, and, as I mentioned in January, the snow has been a huge distraction, or then again, perhaps it's been an inspiration! The transformation of the landscape with a blanket of white, the change to the light. And the roads have been a bit icy so it's been difficult to get out and about for new sketches.

More Snow pictures

I've been continuing to try to capture the joy of the snow – I do love it! And because it's come and gone and come again this year, the snow patterns have changed. One day I was preoccupied by the 'iron filings' patterns on the hills, the next I was transfixed by the shroud of ice on the shore, and another day it was the sweeping snow showers. I've also been trying to come up with a satisfactory painting of Meal Cean Dearg, one of the Strathcarron/Torridon Munros.  I got as far as producing these two, but not satisfied with either.

However the snow inspired me to make a new linocut plate too. 

I made a sketch of the kale in the garden of Seabank Cottage in Lochcarron - here's a photo 

I could see that there were the makings of a good black and white picture - loved the black patterns of the kale leaves.  So I've made this linocut and have called it 'Winter Garden'.

'Winter Garden'

  Trip to Inverewe

Despite the ice and snow I managed a trip to Inverewe Gardens in January. A number of artists met up – there was a residency on – and we managed a walk and a couple of sketches in a weather window, until the sleet started. I loved the bleakness of dead plants in the snow and managed to do a few sketches such as this one of dormant Gunnera. I was intrigued by the black shapes against the snow, but I haven't thought through where to go with this idea.

However, I'm starting to think that gardens might be a good focus for me this year. I find plant forms (and trees) interesting and I think I would like the challenge of a slightly different focus this year.

Making New Prints

Just last week I was down in Edinburgh for a few days and managed to get a couple of sessions in Edinburgh Printmakers. I was making a couple of new photopolymer plates, like this one that a re-working of an older print.  It's known as 'photopolymer gravure' as I make the drawing first on a piece of transparent film.  Here is the drawing on film and the Toyobo plate I produced.

 And here is a finished print I made this week.  I think if anything it's more expressive that the drawing, so I am pleased with it in that respect.

 I was also trying to improve an aquatinted plate that I wasn't happy with.  I realised that the composition was not good enough and so I cut the plate and did a further series of aquatinting to bring out the landscape, and here's how the finished print looks.

 It's based on a view of a lochan in the hills above Achintee, on the south side of Loch Carron.

They were good sessions – I think the new plates are OK. Now I just have to get down to printing out editions...on my printing press up here. But at least I have made a start.

Painting vs Printmaking

I find it difficult at times to switch from painting to printmaking. I think you must use different bits of your brain. With printmaking you have to be so clear about what you're trying to achieve – plan it out properly in advance – whereas painting is more of an exploratory activity. Matisse said something along the lines of drawing is of the mind but colour is of the senses and I suppose this explains the difference. Anyway, I feel as if I'm in a drawing and printmaking zone at the moment, so that's my focus for the coming month...I think...

Venetian Reflections

The thing about being away with a group of artists is that there's all sorts of talk about "making something" out of our sketches.  Let's have an exhibition!  The GOOD thing about this is that it keeps focus and momentum going.  Although I'm writing this now, in September - in the run up to our Viva Venezia exhibition - at the time when we got back from Italy, there was no realistic prospect of an exhibition.

But the talk alone was enough to keep me focused. I knew I had to get on with things as I was moving house in July.  I also wanted to work while images and thoughts were fresh in my mind.

In reviewing my sketches (previous blog) I realised that I had homed in to detail a lot.  The beauty of the buildings, the craft of the metal railings, the plasterwork and brick patterns - these details had attracted my attention.  Also the beauty of the decaying buildings, with stucco giving way to old brick, crumbling steps, rotting wooden doorways, the spread of green mould - I loved these colours.  And the typography of street names and house numbers, repeating motifs in plasterwork and in brickwork - I was fascinated by these.  They are all part of the richness of the Venetian cityscape.  I decided that Venice is a city that has become a landscape.

There are so many artists who have made images of Venice that it's hard not to have these images in your head when you go to paint.  There are very few of us who have not fallen in love with the work of artists of the past like Turner, and contemporary watercolour artists such as Angus McEwan - masters of their craft. So the first hurdle to overcome was to try not to think about these.

And sometimes we think too much.  Best really to get on and put things down on paper.  So this one was a start.  I was striving for the Venetian colour palette - a certain shade of red alongside Canal green.

As was this

And this

I was trying to do 'experiments' to see what would emerge - not trying to complete a painting.  I was also thinking about printmaking and what might make a good image for a photopolymer print.  This next motif had been the subject of one of my first sketches on our first day, so I re-drew it in charcoal and pencil.

Maybe the composition was too busy, so when I redrew it in ink ready to make a plate, I rationalised the composition to focus on the canal and the boats.  Something lost and something gained....

I was trying to get a certain dreaminess into the image - taking that canal wateriness as far as I could - but incorporating a few of the details (doors and windows) I had observed too.
The other print I did was also a bit dreamy, but on reflection, perhaps less obviously Venice.

But then, I was not really aiming to be anything that shouted 'Venice' - I was, I suppose, searching for 'Venice beneath the surface' - the older Venice, the timeless Venice, the real Venice ?

I did a bit of reading around the history of Venice to understand more about its development. I read that in early years it had been a successful city state with a benign form of government that recognised the value of its workers and rewarded them accordingly.  Because of its defensive position in the lagoon, it retained a separateness and independence from the rest of Italy as well as being an important and wealthy trading place.  Later it expanded primarily as a place of entertainment, a playground.  That 'film-set' appearance is part and parcel of the 'real' Venice.  I also read articles in the press about the fragility of Venice, how threatened it is by damage caused by cruise ships and how this could be better managed but only if adjacent municipalities would work together. Also another threat emanating from the popularity of Air BandB which is driving full-time residents out of Venice.

So beauty and fragility continue to be two key aspects of Venice.  I rationalised that the canals are the source of the main threat - not just from cruise ships but also from Climate Change - and the beauty lies in the craftmanship and detailing and the organic nature of the city.


These thoughts led me to focus on doorways and watergates.  Rather a roundabout way to get there, perhaps.  But what followed on from this was a realisation that I couldn't do my usual free and easy acrylics, but that I'd need to take a little care over details such as fanlight and window grills in order to convey that beauty.  Hence I decided to use watercolour and ink.

I wanted to do really small paintings - like this study - smaller than A5.....

...but I needed a bit more room to recreate enough of the important detailing.  My pics have ended up roughly A4 in size.  Here's a composite with a selection. I'm not sure if I've achieved what I set out to do.  I would like to continue to develop this work and perhaps even go back for more sketching...time will tell.

And now for the advert...our exhibition is
Viva Venezia
in the Birch Tree Gallery, 23a Dundas Street, Edinburgh
14th to 29th October 2017.  Here are the details

Hope to see you there.  :-)

A Fresh Start

It's been a while since I posted a blog, but now that I'm back from a week's holiday in Caithness and Sutherland I'm raring to go with creating some new work. My aim over the next month is to get some serious uninterrupted work done. I just need to paint paint paint!

I've made a start over the last couple of days - been reviewing my sketches and supplementing ideas by looking at photographs - and I feel that I've made a good start. I find it quite difficult getting back to painting after a bit of a break.

Yesterday I was roughing out some harbour compositions, based on Kiess and Sandside Harbours in Caithness, searching for an interesting composition.

Today (with some difficulty) I selected a couple of the Sandside compositions and had a go at doing these at a larger scale using ink, white acrylic paint and a little crayon. I got as far as this and decided to stop.  I was determined to get something down on paper.

Determined not to overwork these, I set them aside and decided to focus on a view which had caught my interest - the strand and the limekiln at Loch Eribol.  My starting point was a quick graphite sketch I did yesterday.

On a large piece of paper I re-drew the scene in black ink and graphite. I was really liking making the random ink marks on the beach. However, one can't be too precious at this stage of making a picture and so I continued.

Using a combination of two acrylic paint colours (plus white) plus inktense pencils, I got as far as this next stage. I was liking the way I did the sea - a lot less fussy than usual.  But when I reviewed the picture, I thought some of the marks on the beach were distorting perspective.

So I did a bit more and it ended up like this.

Not finished yet.  But all in all quite a good start, I think.
Back to the drawing board tomorrow.  Discipline!

Year End Thoughts

This will be my last blog post of the year. I have let the blogging lapse a bit this year, so my resolution will be to get back to some regular postings in 2015. Apart from anything else, I think blogging helps me to reflect on my work, to give consideration to what is good and bad about my painting, and to develop as an artist. Here's a few pics from 2014, some finished, others maybe not...

I'm coming to believe that focus is one of the most important elements of being an artist. There are so many things that grab my attention in the world about me, and a part of me wants to try and capture them all. But that's a sort of scattergun approach and I don't think it will allow me to develop in a meaningful way. I find that when I spend time painting 'distractions' it makes me feel dissatisfied. I realise that I much more satisfied if I focus on a few themes in greater depth. But what are these?

Shed with Green Roof - currently for sale as unframed pic

Fishing huts and sheds is one theme. I keep coming back to these rickety buildings: they excite and fascinate me, their individual histories and how they stand up to the elements. I want to continue to explore them as a theme. Linked to this are old pieces of machinery like petrol pumps, and walls and piers. Machinery as a subject is more of an exercise for my drawing skills and probably a good challenge for next year.

Red Roof - now framed.

Sheds at St Abbs - not sure if it's finished yet

I continue to paint sea scenes, but sometimes my beach paintings bore me, so I think I shouldn't overdo this theme.  This (below) is one scene that excited me in Lewis. The exposure and feeling of being on the very edge of habitable space.  I wasn't surprised to learn that there's a bit of surfing done on this beach.

Stormy Beach, Lewis - now framed - one of my favourite pics!

Applecross is a bit closer to home....

View from Applecross Bay - restricted palette holds the interest (not framed)

Maybe I'd be better to focus on hills. I've definitely not done enough hillwalking in 2014 and I so want to get back up onto the high tops. 

Beinn Damph and Upper Loch Torridon - not sure if it's finished yet

 I feel that I want to explore landscapes which are more complex and seek out the abstract patterns in the world around me.  This next view is perhaps not complex enough?

High Riggs, Summer Morning - now framed

Whereas with this other pic I made a real effort to capture the essence of the moorland by focusing on the ground cover....that beautiful 'deer grass' which you find in the hills up here in late autumn.

Deer Grass Above Achintee - a WIP

However, while I want hills and landscapes to be my focus next year, I know that inevitably I will come back to the sea, its moods and patterns and the challenge of portraying the movement of the waves.

Dark Island - Charcoal and ink and conte to reflect the moody day - now framed

Loch Carron in stormy mood - a WIP

And then again, I do like to draw faces – they are all so different – and I wonder about doing some portraiture. I don't think this would ever become a main theme, but next year I'd like to draw and paint more figures and faces. One possibility is putting figures (or animals) into landscapes and urban scenes – this is always a challenge. Perhaps I should do a few more drawings of Ness the wolfhound and see where it takes me.

Ness - a drawing recently exhibited at St Margaret's House

 See what I mean.....this is already quite a diverse mix. When you add that to my thoughts about media – how much printmaking?...should I make a serious attempt at oils next year?....Or should I focus on working with graphite and pigments? So many questions to be addressed. One thing I think I've learned is that it doesn't pay to be too serious in one's approach. It's important to play with materials and concepts. Whilst I know I must be disciplined and work hard, this does not mean that I should be dull and heavy-handed. Enthusiasm, energy and exploration shall be my themes for next year!