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

Wildflower printing

Taking pleasure in the simple things,

I have been printing  from nature using wild plants.

The prints from my printing press have turned out beautifully!

I used spritzing ink in a lovely shade of aubergine to spray the blooms and grasses.

I love the way some of the plants natural colour combined with the ink to make beautiful green shades.

This year has been a good year for wildflowers.

I also used my Gelli plate and acrylic paint in a neutral shade to print with grasses,

 When printed they look like Mediterranean  Cyprus trees standing, soldier-like in rows!

I have trying to find out more about Eco-dying fabric now I am discovering what wonderful prints can be made using plants. I think that may be my next stop on my journey......

See you soon! J

Wild sewing, wild heather

Wild sewing
Warm violets
cushions of springy  Heather

Made in one long strip...

Then divided in two..

Heather twins!!!

Fleeting beauty

I’ve been out hunting for wildflowers over the past few weeks,

Drawing them, Photographing them,

Printing  with them.

Capturing  their  fleeting beauty.

They change the colour and mood of the landscape.

I have used Fushias to make prints on paper with an old printing press I've managed to get hold of.

 Ferns leave their imprints on papercloth ,I may sew into it later.

I have also been busy wildsewing ........

Using vintage lace as well as papercloth.

 Thanks for visiting ;)

Foxgloves and Lighthouses.

Firstly I thought you may like a peep at my new display at Skyeworks Gallery in Portree.

 I love the way it looks and you may recognise some of my recent pieces. Skyeworks is a beautiful Gallery with a great Artisan bakery downstairs, if you are visiting Skye try their lunchbreads and cakes....delicious!

The weather continues to be gloomy, but in amongst the clouds and there are windows of sunshine, and when this happens I am out with my camera!

The hillsides seem to be covered in foxgloves this year... far more than normal,

My new piece is inspired by their cheerful exuberance!

WIP

A rare glimpse of sun

I had a trip to the most westerly edge of Skye last week...

Yes this is August...

The lighthouse is at Neist point on the Duirinish coast is set in wild and dramatic setting. The wind fiercely whistles in from the Atlantic.  This is one hardy foxglove!

 The lighthouse built in 1909 is no longer manned and can only be reached  by walking along a long steep path which winds ribbon-like over the exposed finger like peninsular. It is said the light can be seen over 20 miles away.

The path passes An t-Aigeach or as it is known’ the Stallions head’. A huge craggy cliff which has a sheer drop of 230 ft.

Not the weather for staying out for long....

The view from the single track cafe ( Duntulm)  Where they serve the best coffee on Skye!

Waiting and watching

 Little hare waits and watches in the long grass
collaged onto a wood panel....

A close up reveals his fur is made up of small pieces of bookpapers.....

I painted the surrounding frame red and gold to compliment the textured surface....
All ready for a new home.