windswept sails

windswept sails. mixed media on canvas

I am very pleased Skyeworks have continued my Pieces of Skye exhibition for an extra week until the 11th of June!

I have received such wonderful comments.

So happy and touched that my artwork connects with so many people, even those who live many miles away. 

One of the recurring questions people ask me is where do I get my Inspiration.

That to me is the easy part!

It's all around!

I take lots of photos, but not to copy, more as a sensory reference. They act to re-jig my memory so I remember the colours, smells and atmosphere of a moment. sketchbooks scrapbooks too act as memory banks for ideas. Summer is a wonderful time to be out with my camera, and that is exactly what I have been doing. The weather has been glorious!

I went on a wee trip to Elgol. at the south end of the Island of Skye. From Elgol you can take boat expeditions to many of the smaller outlying Islands.

Set off on an adventure to the Islands of Canna and Rum and Sanday

The Island of canna has huge populations of seabirds, puffins have little burrows in the cliffs.

Every ledge a resting or nesting point.

Canna has a tiny population of around 10. ( It also has a sweet little tearoom) ;)

It also has a lovely little church.

Time to continue the journey to the island of Rum. On the way we passed an eerie shipwreck, apparently too expensive to salvage.

As well as seals Rum has a large population of red deer in Kilmory bay who seemed to enjoy sunbathing on the beach! So wonderful to see.

Then homeward bound to Skye, A lovely view across the sea to the black Cuillin mountains.

When the weather is kind, there can be fewer more beautiful places to be.

Stained glass workshop

I have had a busy week!

Over the weekend I was a very excited student at .Emma Butler-Cole Aikens stained glass taster workshop in the Scottish Borders.

It was held at the beautiful Abbotsford House.

Abbotsford House

It was a bit of a grey day, however the excitement of trying out something which I had never tried before brightened everything!

I LOVE stained glass so much... yet I have never tried making it.

I thought it would be ridiculously difficult. Emma the talented tutor made it suddenly accessible!

Emma makes some beautiful pieces including church windows, if you have time check out her website Here 

Well... this is how we started, although I got so absorbed in making the glass panel I forgot to take photos of the leading and soldering process.

my panel after cutting, leading and soldering joints.

Then it was time to decide on a glass design inspired by the house and its contents. Abbotsford House has some stunning stained glass. I particularly like the glass in the entrance hall. It has beautiful mermaids painted on it.

But instead of the mermaids I decided to use the drawing room wallpaper as my inspiration. We didn't have long to draw out the design as this really was just a beginners workshop so I simplified the design so I could do something achievable in the time.

Then we used posca pens to outline our designs

Finally filling in the design with glass paints.

Everyone produced something special!

I was very pleased with my first stained glass attempt... I just love trying new workshops, I have no idea if I will be able to use some of the process in what I do but I am certainly impressed by the possibilities.

Then to finish off a lovely break I had a beautiful day out at Bowhill House, again in the Scottish Borders. The house is not open to the public on a regular basis but the extensive gardens and country trails are. 

Bowhill house from across the lake

Bowhill Rhododendrons

me beside Bowhill lake

Tibor Reich exhibition

Tibor Reich workdesk

Tibor Reich? I hear you ask, who was Tibor Reich?
I thought I would share some recent photos of my trip to Manchester's Whitworth Gallery and the fascinating exhibition of his work.

The Whitworth is looking fabulous after it's 15 million pound facelift!
Although you may not have heard of Tibor Reich, if you are a 'Baby Boomer' then his textile designs will fill you with buckets of nostalgia. Even if the nostalgia is not familiar the influence his textile designs have had on contemporary design is obvious.

Born in Budapest, Hungary in 1916, Reich studied architecture and textiles in Vienna before moving to the UK in 1937. In 1946 he set up Tibor Ltd, and introduced Colour into the drab interiors of post war Britain.

Printed fabric

The bright and modern designs must have been a breath of fresh air to those used to dark and sombre furnishings and fabric.

 His fabrics were used by famous furniture designers of the 50's and 60's, G plan and Ercol.

Many moons ago I started my time at Art college with the intention to go into textile design, although I meandered down a different path I still have a love of pattern and I found it fascinating how Reich used photographs to create abstract fabric designs. This was based on a sweetcorn cob.

This fabric is based on a photograph of cracked mud. Before the world of digital manipulation the photographs he took were cut up and rearranged into pleasing patterns and then hand drawn as fabric designs.

His fabric designs were stylish and aspirational even gracing the seats of Concorde in the 1960s. Being an Architect he designed whole houses and interiors.

He also created tiles and ceramics

Little ashtrays free given to clients in the late 1960's

He drew such wonderful quirky faces.

This is an original design drawing for a ceramic piece.

I loved this patchwork of his fabrics!

 These are some original drawings for fabric designs. Beautifully drawn and painted.

This was a very well presented exhibition that brought  history to life in such a successful way!

Wanderings in Southern Scotland

  I've had a lovely break in southern Scotland.
 Some of you may recognise the outline of my favourite city... Edinburgh!
This is a picture laden post... warnings now!:)

I arrived at the end of the fringe festival and the city filled with a tangible, vibrant energy. My first stop was the national gallery. I love visiting Art galleries, they give me endless inspiration.

I thought I would share my favourite works,particularly as they are from Scottish artists which you may not have heard of..
This is by Robert Burns... no not the poet!. ..
The other perhaps less famous Robert Burns. Born in 1869 he was a champion of the Scottish art nouveau movement. He combined producing beautiful paintings with teaching, becoming head of painting at Edinburgh College of Art ( A place dear to my heart ;) )

This piece is called Diana and her Nymphs and was created for Crawfords tearooms on Edinburgh's Princes street. It must have been an amazing place as Robert Burns designed the whole tearoom interior. Sadly the tearoom is long gone but at least the panel survives in all its glory.
The gold leaf is unbelievably beautiful..

Detail of gold embelishment

The other WOW pieces are a set of four embroidered panels entitled  'progress of a soul'
They are by the Irish born artist Phobe Anna Traquair. Although Irish Phoebe married a scot and spent much of her adult life in Edinburgh. She was a star of the Arts and crafts movement at a time when men dominated the art world. She was the first leading professional woman  artist in Scotland, painting several Edinburgh interiors including the hospital for sick children.

The embroidered panels are exquisite and glow with rich colour despite being over a hundred years old.

I tried to take a detail of the embroidery, the lighting in the gallery is not bright to preserve the panels and of course no flash photos are allowed but it does give you  an idea of the work!

 History of art over and a change of scenery, I moved south to the Scottish border region. A beautiful and tranquil part of Scotland. This is Smailholm Tower tower near the market town of Kelso.

Smailholm tower

  I have always wanted to visit one of these tower houses. It was built in the 15th century, a time when this region was often a dangerous place to live, if you had money you best protected it by building yourself one of these mini fortresses! This one was built by the wealthy Pringle family.

Standing 65 ft tall.

  Some beautiful contemporary tapestries grace the walls, I'm not sure of the artist. ( if you know drop me a line)

Tapestries on display at Smailholm

The view from the roof shows the distinctive outline of the Eildon hills in the distance.

view from the roof, which you can see is carpeted with wild flowers.

The view from the roof parapet was incredible! Such a clear and bright day too. Scotland's summer has been dreadful so a bit of sun was wonderful.
Finally to end it off I visited Floors Castle again in the borders near Kelso for the annual massed pipe day. A day of re-enactment, piping displays and dog agility events... lots of fun :)

mass pipe display

There is a beautiful garden at floors, which despite the summer rain was ablaze with colour.

 Anyway this was my end of Summer break and I am so glad the sun shone...if only briefly
I hope you have had a great Summer and are looking forward to the changing colours of  Autumn.

Floors castle gardens