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.

A summer evening, pieces of skye

 At last I can begin to show you my new collage paintings made for my pieces of Skye Exhibition in Skyeworks Gallery on the Isle of Skye which opened last week
.It has been so difficult keeping what I have been up to, Feedback be it good or bad is a great barometer, When you spend hours with a piece of work you often fail to be objective about it, Often I need someone to say " that bit's wrong, or that bit is great!" However I made the decision to keep everything under wraps until the opening day,

This piece uses  the colours of a highland dusky evening and is one of a pair I made using these deep blues and golden green tones.

I took some photos last August on a beautiful evening and I loved the way the deep blue hues combined with the whispy white meadowsweet. The air was heady with the scent of wild flowers. I wanted to capture that moment of a still summer evening.
I know many of you like to see my process so here is a little WIP interlude. You can see the paper layers and texture being built up in the sky with moulding paste.

Then paint is splattered over the texture with a trusty old toothbrush!

My other evening piece is ...

As you can see the inspiration from the meadowsweet and evening blue hues is more obvious here.

Unusually this piece is collaged onto a wood cradle, I covered the sides too, wrapping round the paper fragments, time consuming but I think it gives a better effect.

Pieces of skye exhibition.

A very quick blog post to show you a little of what's been going on for the past few days at skyeworks gallery on the isle of skye. My new exhibition opened on Monday the 23rd of May and runs for a couple of weeks. I'll show some of the new pieces in detail over the next few weeks but for the moment here are a few photos taken on opening night. I've already made quite a few sales and am so pleased seeing my work all together and displayed so well. Big thank you to Liza and all who attended opening night. I recieved such lovely comments...klimtesque I heard one person day!!! Praise indeed! !

Paperclay croft mosaic

sewn collage pieces

sewn croft cottage

sewn collage

My Exhibition, more sneak peek photos!

Less than a week to go until my solo exhibition at Skyeworks Gallery ( Click here for details)

Below some of my work has arrived at the gallery already in preparation for Mondays opening.

If you zoom you may notiecesome smaller framed pieces...my new mosaic pieces which I will share next week.

Until then only a few more detail taster photos to give you a little peep at what else is in store next week. ( All of these are just close up detail shots, no big reveals just yet! )

The detail close ups do reveal a little about how I work, using small torn paper fragments and paint.

Building up layers....

Creating texture....

Splattering paint and inks over the layers.

Adding flower accents and sparkling gold and copper leaf.

All photos are detail shots, full photographs of my new pieces will be on my blog from next week. including all my new textile pieces which I have not revealed yet!

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

Pieces of skye! My exhibition details and sneek peek!

I have some exciting news!

My long awaited exhibition has a name and an opening date!!

It is to be called 'Pieces of Skye' and opens on the 23nd of May at Skyeworks gallery in Portree on the Isle of Skye.

I have been squirrelling away lots of work over the winter....

Keeping it secret and safe,

Often I have left my blog looking neglected as I thought it best to leave all my work unseen until the big event. 

My theme for the collection is summer on the beautiful Isle of Skye. You won't find any snowy landscapes or gloomy stormy seas ... this is all mid summer on the Island. There are lots of wild flowers, wild mountain views, sparkling seas and wee croft houses. It is true that the sun does not always shine on Skye, but when it does the light and mountain colours fill the horizon.

 I have produced over 40 pieces of work, some on canvas using torn paper and paint, other stitched pieces, stitched on collaged cloth paper. I think the name 'Pieces of Skye' sums up very well the way I work, using small pieces of often found papers, sewing them and gluing them to create my artwork.  There are some new things too. Little mosaic croft house pictures made with paperclay and kissed with gold.

So....just to give my readers a little sneak peak at what is in store I have a few detail photos to show you..... non of these are full pieces, just little areas...just to give you a taster. These are sections of larger canvas collage/paintings made from torn paper and paint.

detail

I will of course blog all of my new paintings in full and embroidered pieces once the exhibition opens..

exciting times!!!! :)