Towards the Hebrides

Hebrides

Staffa is an organ
Thrown overboard by giants long ago.

Jura is a beast with its head down, sleeping,
Its back volcanic, its winds eroded.

Tiree is a gust of fields and houses
Low in the water on the world's rim.

Lewis is a congregation of juddled srmons
Battened-down hatches in a mist of whisky.

Eigg is one milk tooth biting the sky
Searching thirstily among sagging clouds.

by Kenneth C Steven.

Poetry inspires my paintings. I have recently come across the works of Kenneth C Steven he captures the beauty of the Hebrides in his writing. My painting was inspired by the wetlands of Lewis and is titled 'Towards the Hebrides' oil on canvas 60 x 60 cm.

the arrival of winter

oil on linen board 20 x 20 cm.

After days of such high winds our trees have almost been stripped bare of all of their lovely colourful leaves. Autumn fled away so fast, the joy of bright low sunshine that made everything alive and glowing has faded to a soft kind of light.  A light that is slow to appear in the morning, and keen to rest in the late afternoon.

I am sharing a favourite poem of mine, it is about the futility of war. I need say no more.

Futility by Wilfred Owen one of the poets of the first world war. 

Move him into the sun
gently its touch awoke him once,
at home, whispering of fields unsown.
Always it woke him, even in France,
Until this morning and this snow.
If anything might rouse him now
The kind old sun will know.

Think how it wakes the seeds,
Woke once the clays of a cold star.
Are limbs, so dear achieved, are sides,
Full nerved still warm too hard to stir?
Was it for this the clay grew tall?
O what made fatuous sunbeams toil
to break earth's sleep at all?

autumn evenings

autumn evening study

Everything outside is almost golden and bright, the dark pines in the forest are the perfect back drop for the ball gowns of the trees that almost seem to dance before it.

My art students and some invited local artists took part in a charity art exhibition that I organised and ran.  I would say it was so interesting to do, yet completely exhausting!  Those who took part and those who visited the exhibition that ran for the weekend including a preview evening really enjoyed themselves.
The large hall seemed to have an atmosphere of calm and beauty about it during the show, and once the exhibition was taken down on Sunday evening I immediately noticed the life had gone out of the place.  It had been as if all those artists had a part of themselves within their works!

 I have always loved paintings from a young age, as a child they were always represented peace and happiness to me.  My local library which was terribly small had some original oil paintings done in the traditional style, I think some would have been Victorian, I used to love spending time there as a child just gazing at these paintings probably more than looking at books which I also love.

I do hope in this world of technology we don't lost the interest of going to see original paintings in an exhibition, while the numbers that came through the door were low the comments made from those who did turn out to the preview and weekend exhibition was very positive.  They appreciated the very good standard of drawing and painting skills and it was good to hear that the public still have that ability to tell what is good well produced art and to be able to talk about it.  

My little autumn evening tree study is very small yet to me depicts this time of the year and the mood of it. Wishing you all happy autumn days of sunshine, mists and golden glory!

The arrival of Autumn

oil on canvas 10 x 8 inches

The days seem to be flying by and this morning when drawing in my art room I looked out to the sky and thought for a moment I heard the arrival of the geese, heard that lamenting sound they make. Surely not, it must be too early for them as all week the sun has been shining giving out such light and warmth.  So much is green here around my home, in the lane and further away in the forest. The wild flowers are still in places where the light gets in standing tall almost defiant against the changing season.  I don't want to see drab dull days, bare cold trees standing stark against a grey sky.  I will miss those flowers they seem to have been so abundant this year mostly due to all the rain that fell during spring and summer. It is really only during this autumn that the skies seem to have cleared allowing at last the sun to dash in and say hello for hours on end each day to Scotland!

I painted this small seascape during the summer.  We usually visit the beach at the weekends to walk along the sand or by the harbour.  For years I lived by the sea and had such a great love of that great expanse of water and the way it always seem to look different depending on the weather. I loved the way the sky changed so many times during the day, the way the colours of that sky would alter the colour of the sea.  Some days the sky would be crisp blue with no clouds, the sea a deep dark blue, but only for a moment before a few clouds would sweep in and change everything. Often the horizon line would be crystal clear, yet another day it would disappear while a cloak of mist obscured everything. Then there was the moon light dancing on the sea, setting sun, dusk, and dawn. Once in the depth of winter I saw the moon and the sun both visible in the early morning sky. I was painting in a studio over looking the bay during November, the studio was perched high above the village, from it I could look down on the narrow lanes and see everyone going about their daily routine.  I could see the birds in the bushes by the wall playful and their bird song could be heard above everything.  Then I could look up from the lanes to the roof tops and then right out to that bay and right out beyond to that far horizon line and see boats so small in the distance.
At 4pm I could walk through the lit lanes and over to the beach then with the moon light shining over the small path up some steps to where I would finally find myself walking along a coastal path that lead over to the next sea village. The moon light lit up everything and the scene was so beautiful, sea, crashing waves against the rocks, moon shining on the sea just above the sea village illuminating the old crofts giving the illusion that it was close by. I knew I would remember that moment for always, it was just perfect, ....

In the forest

oil on linen board 30 x 30 cm.

I have been for walks in my forest again and even on days of rain it is a special place to be. Even when the rain is dripping onto leaves and the mist can be seen coming in slowly almost creeping gently in to find shelter from the showers.   I have started drawing, all kinds of things from the forest leaves, a branch with rowan berries and pine cones.  This helps me to get to know my forest better and to see the different kinds of trees that live there.  I brought home a cone to draw and noticed it was a different shape to the ones I usually see.  I looked up the tree in my book on the subject and discovered the cone was from a mountain pine.

My  small oil painting was an exercise to capture a part of the forest from memory.

wishing you a happy painting day.

rain and misty weather

'Highland glen' study 10 x 12 inches new masters acrylics by Old Holland.

We had a beautiful day of sunshine yesterday and I went out for a walk in the countryside close to my home. I am lucky to live on the edge of a forest and also farmlands with trees that surround it. I picked some wild flowers too that I brought home with me.

Today as forecast it is a different kind of day! misty and continual rain! the sky is so bright and white. The American landscape painter the late John Carlson who was a teacher of art and painter left us a wonderful landscape book that tells us everything we need to know about landscape painting. One of the things he writes about is that on a dull rainy day the sky is actually lighter and brighter than on a blue sky summers day. I can really appreciate that today as the sky is white with light!

Wishing you all a happy painting day!

north east coast

30 x 30 cm oil on linen canvas.

Once again I have been held back due to my health.  This time I have been suffering from Shingles which was a surprise, not as bad as it could have been but it has prevented me from going out sketching and spending days out.  Some days now it seems better but then seems to return and give me discomfort.  I can't complain really when I think what some people who are really ill have to deal with but it is hard at times to accept that I have to slow down for a while longer.

A strange summer regarding cool and wet weather for a great deal of it so far.  It has been very windy too.  But there have been some beautiful skies to gaze at and in our pond there are now several water lilies and a tiny frog who tends to just stick his head out between the lilies to say hello during the day!

I have been invited to exhibit four paintings for the Strathpeffer pavilion art fair.  This is one of the paintings I will be having framed up for the event in November.  I plan on putting in four seascapes showing different weather conditions but mostly based on the same view!  I love the variety of colour that can be seen during the ever changing weather conditions.

I hope my painting friends here in blogging land have been keeping busy! sorry for not commenting during the last month but I will be catching up with you all soon.

Happy painting to you all!