On the Wall

Water, Water, Everywhere - my big canvas on the wall at the Cameo Cinema Bar in Edinburgh. The paintings look great in this lovely intimate space and the opening last week was a lot of fun.

Loads of family and friends came and big thanks are due to them all. The exhibition lasts for a month and then will move to home ground in the Highlands.

Meanwhile I am about to embark on a new theme, an exploration of parts of Assynt and in particular the  beautiful island of Tanera Mor.

Art at the Cameo Cinema, February 2012

Here are two more paintings from the Water's Edge exhibition.

"Wreck" began life in Cromarty where I chucked ash, sand and various other unidentifiable bits onto gesso on board. The image was developed with oils in the studio.

"Beach" is painted with oil on a small box frame and includes random bits of rusty and burnt stuff, and the odd sparkle. I like a bit of sparkle.

Water's Edge is on at the Cameo Cinema in Edinburgh from February 7th till March 5th 2012.

Water's Edge

An exhibition of my paintings is about to open in Edinburgh. Exciting and scary! The opening is on Tuesday 7th February 2012 between 7 and 9 pm in the Cameo Cinema Bar near Tollcross.

The theme of the oil paintings is "Water's Edge" and is the culmination of several month's work. Inspired by time spent pottering along the shores of the North West Highlands and also Cromarty, the artworks explore the impact on the senses of sun, wind, waves and gusty showers.

As always, I like using texture and pattern. Many of the paintings incorporate bits and bobs from the beach, sand, ash, rusty metal, bits of feather.

Some of the images are recognisably landscapes, others not but they try to capture the feel and emotion of being next to the sea.

This piece, "Out of the Fire" developed from time spent scavenging in old fire pits on the beach. I loved the blackened sticks, the melted glass and plastic, and rusty bits of metal.

Blustery Day

 
This year I have worked on a whole series of drawings and paintings based on a visit to Orkney.

The beach combing at Warebath Bay is fascinating. I just love the Orkney flagstones which form a pavement on parts of the beach.

This small oil painting, Blustery Day, is in the annual art fair at the Strathpeffer Pavilion. The preview is on Wednesday evening, 23rd November 2011, and the exhibition runs till Sunday, 27th.

Nodding off

This image of a sleeping woman is inspired by Picasso and features on advertising material for an event in Edinburgh at the Scottish Mental Health Arts and Film Festival.

On Friday 21st October 2011, a conference, "Making a Difference" will explore memory, dreams and sleep through literature and film. If you are interested, check out the website, www.MHFESTIVAL.com

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.