Hello, hello dear friends, I am back!

Skyeworks gallery at christmas

I have had a little blogging break for all sorts of reasons, time has been sort and creative makes non existent, however as the new year approaches I am determined to organise my time and dedicate more to studio hours.

November began with the exciting prospect of working a few days a week in Skyeworks Gallery in Portree on the Isle of Skye.

I have exhibited at Skyeworks for some years and was very excited when the opportunity  to work for them transpired. Now a month or so in I am really enjoying it. meeting people who are interested in art and being surrounded by beautiful things is a joy. 

The weather has been milder than usual and there have been some beautiful sparkly clear days.

and some chilly nights to sit close to the woodburner,

And finally at last I have finished a commission! A little christmas eve box for a new little persons first Christmas.
Happy Christmas Jack, and to all of you, the New year will bring ( Hopefully) new work and more regular blogposts! ;)

Flying high

Nothing new to share this week art wise as I have been very busy so instead I will share Flying High a large collage I made during the late summer months but haven't had time to blog until now.

I started the usual way with small paper fragments and gesso but added the textural flowers by stencilling modelling paste onto the lower part of the canvas.
I may not have been making art but I'm always gathering inspiration,
At this time of year the berries are beautiful.

There are strange toadstools and mushrooms to be found.

berries of all colours

Beautiful against the clear autumn skies

Inchmore gallery Exhibition news

Hill of the red Fox

 lots of exciting news this week! This Saturday Inchmore Gallery gallery in Inverness opens its annual winter exhibition, and I have have three new collage paintings on show. It is the first time I have had work shown in the gallery and am very pleased to have such a wonderful space to showcase my work. My first piece is a favourite of mine. I don't usually have favourites but Mr fox really connected with me as I was making him. I have never made a fox piece before and I really enjoyed the challenge.

the paintings title is the' Hill of the red fox' named after the hill of the same name which is on the Trotternish ridge near lealt on the Isle of Skye. it is a piece that has been in my head for a long time so I am glad Mr fox has finally made it out my head and onto the shores of the Beauly firth!

I also have a new moonlight piece on show

 And finally another large piece, and another that is special to me,
'The happiness of Thistles'

Why happy thistles? Well thistles by their very nature are never organised, they grow haphazard, scattering themselves hither and thither. These thistles are a different breed, they stand tall, straight and organised. They have purpose, and to have purpose is to be happy. Who would not be smile to survey from the house the cliff a wonderful field full of neat rows of thistles.

Happiness of thistles

A moonlight Adventure

I have been making lots of moonlight pieces recently.
This one is on a large MDF panel. It gives a lovely firm surface  to collage onto. I am often asked how I combine the paper and paint layers so here is a little WIP photo, although I'm not sure it makes it any clearer. I tend to work quite organically, often only having a vague idea of where I am going. Pieces introduce themselves slowly.

Sometimes not knowing exactly where the adventure will take you is a little scary, however as the great explorer Christopher Columbus said,
 'you can't cross the ocean without losing sight of the land'.

moonlight Adventure

CD sizes mini crofts!!

Well lots of bits and bobs this week, all however with a theme.

Over the past year I have made more steps to get myself 'out there' and this has been paying dividends!

I have submitted four CD sized pieces for the Inchmore Gallery winter exhibition.

This is a lovely idea where mini artworks are displayed inside clear CD cases. The finished pieces are all priced affordably and make great Christmas gifts.

I visited the gallery last weekend and met Jane Owen Inglis the gallery owner, both to drop off the CD sized pieces and three other large canvas collages which were accepted for their winter exhibition.

mini crofts

Inchmore gallery Inverness

cd sized sewn crofts

the Inchmore is a beautiful airy gallery converted from a lovely old church.

It has a wonderful presence and sense of history and is set near the shores of the picturesque Beauly firth in northern Scotland. I am delighted Jane was so enthused by my work and really appreciate the opportunity to show my work in such a fantastic setting.

The winter exhibition opens on the 22nd of October. I will post details nearer the time for anyone who fancies a trip to a lovely part of the world.

My mini crofts are made from sewn paper, silk and some fabric paints, a bit of everything in other words!

Finally as a little teaser here is a WIP photo of one of my pieces which will be in the winter exhibition.

Work in progress

I will share the finished Mr Fox soon, he does look a little different now in his full winter coat :)

New work in Junction arts gallery Aberdeen

 Been a busy few weeks and a couple of weeks ago some new pieces of mine travelled over to Aberdeen to a lovely gallery in Aberdeens city centre called Junction Arts
So happy to be forging links with Aberdeen and the east coast as my youngest daughter lives and works there.
Elaine the gallery owner was particularly interested in my sewn paper croft houses.

So I've made a few wee bits for her to show, some backed onto wood panels, some stretched and framed.

Also in the gallery is one of my mosaic croft pieces made from paperclay, a type of papermache.

Thank you Elaine for giving me the opportunity to exhibit in your lovely Gallery!

Thistles and salt air and a Seaeagle

  I just love thistles, perhaps it is their colour, that gorgeous purple pink, perhaps it is their resilient nature, whatever it is, I never tire of them.
 This time of year they cover the wild landscape. This canvas was finished a few weeks back but I haven't had time to blog it, or several others I have finished recently.  I don't know if it is just me, but since relenting and setting up a facebook business page I seem to struggle keeping up with doing both a regular blog and facebook posts. I resent feeling I am spending too much time on line so I set time restraints on how much I devote to such stuff. Is this wrong? Am I the only one out there struggling to multitask social media? Blogging was always my main love as it forms a sort of visual diary. It is a journey of words, thoughts and inspiration. Do you do both? If so which works best for you.

 Below is a close up of the rich textures of paper and paint.

I made it to fill a space vacated by my sea eagle at Skyeworks which happily flew off to a lovely new home.

 Below the door frame gives you an idea of size of my new thistle painting. I like working on these letterbox shaped canvas. Gives landscapes an interesting perspective and leaves lots of space for all the textural elements I want to add.

Thistles are everywhere and I photograph them all the time... I'm not sure I need any more thistle photographs but I keep on taking them!

Seagull dance

Been very busy recently working in lots of bits and pieces. The seagull dance was finished this week and is now at Skyeworks Gallery in Portree.
The summer is as skye is...one day sparkling sun the next mist and drizzle. Seagull dance is definately one of those sparkle sunshine days. Earlier in the week Paramount movies were on the island filming the new Transformers movie. Those days were unfortunately not the best. I believe they intended to ride stunt horses along the ridge...the rain and drizzle must have made shooting anything a wee bit tricky! I stopped and took a photo but most of the action seemed to be in the catering trailer out the rain!

semi abstracts

I enjoy working in a semi abstract style, primarily my passion is pattern and colour and these two pieces illustrate this. The first' spruce ridge' is on canvas and as you can see combines torn paper and paint.

This much larger piece is on wood. Entitled 'on a clear day' it is a flow of pattern and colour.Inspired by the views from Northern Skye looking east towards the mainland, in front are some of my small 3D croft mini collages which combine paperclay and paper.

Eagle bowl

Long time ago my followers may remember my mermaid bowl...

                                                                                                                                                     

mermaid bowl

                            


Well i hadn't done a collaged bowl for some time and I wanted to try something new. So here we have my eagle bowl! Made with torn paper and acrylic paint on a papermache substrate. I made it to hang on the wall rather than sit as the bowl shape collects the light and it reflects the gold on the sea eagles feathers. Skye is the home to a couple of eagle species, Sea eagles inhabit the cliffs surrounding Portree bay where little boat trips go out on eagle spotting trips. I've been on several, one in particular saw the eagle fly right down over our boat, a magical experience!

The idea began in my sketchbook

then was painted in black gesso

Then I added the paper fragments