First snow

I was asked by Drift gallery in St Anne's for whom I have led previous workshop events, if I could make a winter themed canvas for an exhibition space in the town. I have a lot of work on at the moment but thought it would be lovely to be able to make a piece just for Christmas.

I  am presently working on a series of pieces for a solo exhibition next year  at Skyeworks gallery in Portree on the Isle of Skye. The volume of work  I have to complete sometimes seems daunting but I am confident it is achievable, and so far have kept all of the completed works underwraps. ( not easy for me ;) )
 As the series progresses I have noticed  my style is changing. The constant themes return again and again, but evolve. I think the very act of making a back to back series of works make this happen, but thrown into the mix are personal experiences and feelings.

The way an Artists style develops fascinates me. Picasso very famously went through his blue period 1901-1904 where his work took on a more sombre tone, his sadness during that time led to his use of predominately blue palette warmed only by a very small amount of colour. Of course the period was relatively short lived and soon the colours came flooding back.
 Mood and season can  influence in subtle ways.
My 'First Snow' piece began a few weeks back in warmer hues, paint, thrown, dribbled and sprayed in merry abandon.

As the paper layers went down, the seasons had begun to change,

A biting wind,
A hard chill.
Cold, clear, water,
Mist, damp.... Winter.

I am working more loosely, using palette knives and splatter teqniques to apply paint freely over collaged paper fragments. the physical application of paint mirroring the wind and rain.

Of course there is still metallic sparkle in my work. Silver flakes merge with ice blue paint, but it is more muted.

 The finished work was hung in the exhibition space in Aston Pavilion on Wednesday and sold, I am told, as it was being put on the wall! Yay!!!!!
I took the photo below of ' first snow' propped up on my sofa to help show scale a little better...

first Snow

The path to brothers point

As you may know already I really don't like the cold. Much of my summer is spent outside photographing and drawing so that in the cold months of winter I can spend my days inside making. I think perhaps I would be better suited to hibernation, but alas that does not seem to be possible, so at the moment I am filling my dark days using many of the summer photographs as inspiration.

This is one such snapshot of summer, finished  a few weeks back.

It is a beautiful area of coastline on Skye which I paint regularly

.

It is quiet and peaceful, just the odd bleating sheep to break the silence.

I began by painting in the scene roughly with watered down acrylic paint.

I then covered the paint layer with paper fragments. I used pieces of old ordinance survey map as well as foils and hand made papers. ( you can also see my inspiration photo stuck into my scrapbook.)

I applied black gesso in my usual way.

 I decided to lighten the sky and sea and add moulding script to add more texture.

The foreground was filled with cow parsley and grasses using liquid pearls paint and gold leaf. You may notice the tea mug..... earl grey is what makes me function. ;)

Brothers point, mixed media on canvas)

A late autumn

sketchbook pages

Autumn is milder and later than normal, although recently the winds have picked up and the skies are changing.
 There have over the past weeks been crystal clear days where the dark berries sparkle.

And more overcast days where the warm colours are subdued.

The leaves have stayed on the trees longer.

The colours more vibrant.

The brambles are later, some still yet to ripen.

Soon the trees will lose their robes of gold.

Autumn at Loch Ard

Autumn at Loch Ard

  I mentioned I had been working on a commission and at last I can show the finished piece and it's journey.

A few weeks back It began as small fragments of torn paper and paint.

layers of gesso were added, this gives you an idea of scale.

 fragments of special memories were woven into the mix

A little boat, an autumn blanket.

The lady who commissioned the piece forwarded me some paintings of an area of Scotland called the Trossachs. An area of Scotland I have long admired but spent very little time as I am usually en-route somewhere and see most of it's beauty through the car window. It is an area of wild hills and lochs which have inspired many poets and artists. Sir Walter Scotts poem 'the lady of the lake' was written about the Trossachs region.


These photographs are mine which I took a few days ago as I drove through the area, it gives you an idea of how beautiful it is.

Over the fields

Over the fields

Last week I mentioned I had started a commission which I'm not ready to share yet as I’m still working on it but instead a new piece which I have just finished. I like to work on many pieces at once, each at various stages of readiness.

   This way when a piece isn’t working I can leave it. Often pieces need room to breathe before I decide if they are finished.  I leave them for a day or two, sometimes longer. When I look again with fresh eyes I know what needs to be done to finish them.  Sometimes it’s a splash of a complementary colour, sometimes a tweak in the composition.  Collage is great in that paper can be layered over surfaces if things are not working, it’s an intuitive process and it’s very hard to explain why I know when something is wrong and when I know something is right. It can take a short time, it can sometimes take longer. Often the pieces which I have to battle with are my favourites.

 When the painting stops  grumbling at me it is ready to go on its way.

At the same time as I was working on the little wooden panels i posted last week  I was working on a similar larger canvas.

I used similar colours and fields of Thistle like flowers which blanketed the hillside during the Summer months.

I think this is knapweed, my thistly inspiration.

I liked all the textures and papers but spend ages deliberating on the size of the wee house on the hill. If you look at this shot you can see it has been painted out and in several times!

The finished house

After several days rest I returned to the little house and knew what size it should be....

It has stopped grumbling at me and can be seen at Skyeworks gallery in Portree on the Isle of Skye

Three of a kind and something new.

Three new little wooden panels on my workdesk, each slightly different. Small fragments of an Island summer.
Collaged with paper, gesso, paint and molding paste

Also been working on a new commission... not much to show as yet, but if you follow my blog you will probably know that the paper layers are just a starting point... lots more to add.

Michaelmas daisies and new stencils

I purchased some lovely stencils off Ebay recently.

The seller very kindly put a load of extra stencils in with the ones I ordered for free!

That brightened my day!

I use stencils for ink spritzing, modelling paste layering, gelli printing, in fact anything and everything!

They make a lovely background for watercolour sketching in my sketchbook.

I use inked spritzed through the stencil and painted on top when dry.

Michaelmas daisies are so evocative of autumn days and that 

 breathy chill in the morning air,