Out of the Fire

Last month I spent a couple of days with some fellow artists in the lovely coastal settlement of Cromarty. We were on a landscape course, looking for inspiration and recording information.

This place is historic and pretty so what to choose, the sandstone buildings? the boats in the harbour? the Soutars and the sea?

Well, I did draw at the harbour and found the wonderful, decrepit Peedie Lass (pictured) but what attracted me most was the remains of a beach fire. In effect a rubbish tip, this was full of wee gems of melted glass and plastic, rusty bits and bobs and some old bedsprings.

Crouching on the sunny beach with the wind blasting, rain spitting and a sound track of crashing waves, I scratched away in my sketchbook with a burnt stick.

Back in the studio, I worked on various pieces including the monoprints and oil painting shown above. Amazing what comes out of the fire!

On the Surface

In August I had lots of fun on Eleanor White's course, "On the Surface".

Eleanor runs art courses at Bridge House Art in Ullapool which is a lovely highland west coast village amidst stunning scenery.

The first couple of days were out of doors chasing the horizon. The coast in this area is littered with islands and the skies are big and constantly changing. We sketched from the high point at Rhue and were rewarded with a swim past of porpoises.

At Badentarbet near Achiltibuie, under a blazing sun (yes really) we painted images choosing from seascape, old decaying boats, rusty buoys or just simply the pebbles on the beach.

Eleanor encouraged us to clart on sand, ash from a fire pit, whatever to make an interesting textured surface. I picked some damaged bits of hardboard, stuck on some burnt plastic and bits of sea rope, added some sand and textured paste and painted the lot with acrylic. Amazing what one can do with rubbish!

Here is the result, yet to be titled.

I can thoroughly recommend Eleanor's courses, see attached link.