That white rabbit syndrome again..February into March

March is here! Feeling good now that spring is here, it's not exactly in full swing but tangible signs are everywhere, from the snowdrops and daffodils to the sun ever so slightly higher and warmer in  the sky.

Moving on from my experiments with the soil last month I spent some time going back to mono printing....always a good diversion when things start to go slow. Below shows the basic steps painting with oils on glass,and then pulling a print. The freshness and ease of mono printing is a joy. 

I have always worked into prints once they are pulled. This may be going against the grain for some but for me I find it solidifies the finished print and allows for a greater margin of error in the painting up process before printing.

Painting on glass

Oil on glass, good to go

Pulling the print

Final print

I have really enjoyed working on a smaller scale but I knew that I'd have to get back to some larger scale work especially with the Scottish Borders Art Fair coming up this month. I'm planning to exhibit a range of different sized paintings....having limited space to exhibit will determine and dictate the selection process. Hoping it is a success and looking forward to viewing all the other artists and meeting visitors over the week end.

Whilst doing some research  for college classes I came across May Babcock, an artist who amongst other things prints, performs and makes paper.I am drawn to her work on many levels especially to the subject matter of her graduate show The Latent Landscape. Having that back story in ones subject matter for any artist can be  a powerful agent to how the work is perceived. I 'm looking forward to seeing what she does next on her Rhode Island sited project.

Northumberland

 A connection with place is important for me. It doesn't really matter what level the connection is made,an observation,an ongoing physical connection,or a memory of place can be a strong link between the artist  and their work. Place acts as a reservoir for ideas which often leads you to pathways unanticipated.

There is so much interesting art being made which relates to our sense of place it's sometimes overwhelming.Borders based artist Oliver Reed  makes not only exquisite objects but also big drawings/paintings of many mountainous areas in Scotland. I feel connected in someway to these images...having walked and scrambled in many of those mountains leaves strong memories

In total contrast is another artist, Alec Findlay. His  work on a company of mountains shows exactly how amongst other things, a place and it's landscape are central to ideas about the various ways in which a place can be experienced and viewed.I'm really taken with this project... again before and now with family I have spent many days on the island climbing in the  the Cuillin and walking lower paths and slopes or driving around restlessly waiting for the weather to improve.

Skye is an amazingly beautiful Island. Her mountains are the draw for me. I have looked and looked in wonder and awe at this landscape again and again. To see another persons creative response and interaction with this place is inspiring.

Well then, keep on keeping on, make your observations, enjoy them and wonder. Keep curious and keep creating....below  are the images recorded in February and early March.

The crags on Green Sheen Hill

Looking seaward

Rain approaching over the Cheviots

Beautiful rock at Dancing Green Hill (Back Bowden)

Evening light, Pineal Heugh

Didn't go climbing last w/k (John was feeling abit sheepish)

A little side project, painting on the bottom of an old rusted pail

Meanwhile in the garden a thrush,he sat for a long while

January 2014

Nearly the end of January...I can't quite grasp the passage of time at the moment. I must admit it fills my thoughts constantly. I feel like I need to take a course of study in time?

I included some images in my last blog of work where I had begun using burnt soil and bark....I gathered a bag full way back from the top of Back Bowden Doors after an unfortunate small but damaging forest fire. I thought the inclusion of these organic materials would be an interesting addition to my work. It provides interesting texture and  for me is imbued with a sense of significance in the context of place. Anyway I have included a short visual sequence of how the small pieces come together.

Scrunching up the soil and burnt bark

PVA on card

Feels and looks like charcoal, I suppose it kind of is!

Weirdly I can see a horse in this!

Cadmium yellow and transparent green

Adding colour

Completed study

Reflecting on this process I see some opportunity for development. The glueing down of the soil can be controlled to an extent (depending on where you place the glue) however there is a magical random quality about it and this is something I would like to explore. Whilst I am interested and even like some of the completed colour studies the soil and glue stage is really visually exciting.

I went to the Gallery of Modern Art in Edinburgh with our students on Monday to visit the Louise Bourgeois exhibition Women without Secrets. Oh what a fantastic exhibition! I was blown away. The diversity of materials, ideas, techniques and the sheer amount of work on display was amazing. She in her long life was a force to be reckoned with and her work  stands so tall. I find her ideas so rich in meaning and emotion. She immersed all of herself, body and soul into everything she created. I particularly love her use of materials both in the sculptures,sewn and cast and her 2-dimensional works in water colour and printing. She had a deft but free hand and that is evident in everything she has done. It was a very thought provoking and uplifting exhibition and one that really  resonated with me.

And then if that wasn't enough to be getting on with the NG have had a rehang up on the top level and there was a plethora of interesting work on display...Loved the Michael Craig Martin wall pieces, sadly under whelmed by the large John Schueler painting and  fallen madly and deeply in love with Joan Eardley 's painting all over again! It really does help to see visual art in the flesh, looking at reproductions is all very well but there is no substitute for the real thing.

Joan Eardley

Detail

So far so good. Getting organised for  the first Scottish Borders art fair taking place at Springwood Park in Kelso on 22-23rd March.
I am also taking part in the Crossing Borders Spring exhibition at  Coldstream Gallery from 11th March-26th April and another exhibition on the cards for the summer. To the studio I must go!
In the meantime I've included some images from our climbing and walking days in January.

Beautiful frost formations on the car sun roof!

Making shapes on the way back from bouldering in Northumberland

Cheviots

Driving home

Red sky in the morning 

Lastly some small studies on card and a painting I'm working on at the moment....and if you are reading these blogs I just want to say thank you!

50x50cm Oil on canvas

December

Our way

Well here once again....December is coming to a close and as per usual I am filled with both trepidation and excitement at the prospect of beginning a new year. It helps to have plans and a few dreams and hopes too. The main thing is to keep positive and embrace whatever life throws at you. 

Oil and earth on card

In the mad run up to Christmas this year I was keen to do some painting and get some tangible ideas down. I did manage a few pieces on card and feel relatively enthused by the potential in them. Still drawn to the wild landscapes of Northumberland and the inclusion of burnt peat in these studies adds another dimension which I am enjoying ...it's fairly unpredictable and it's archival fragility feels irresponsible which I like!

Tiny studies on card

All at sea

I'll keep on painting and have plans to take part in the first ever Scottish Borders Art Fair in March. More of this later. I have also been thinking about how to present my smaller works on card in a more commercial way. John carried out the plan.Below are some prototypes.

Oil on card float mounted on deep wooden frame

View from Hepburn

Small night walk

I worry constantly that I somehow might run out of ideas but the landscape keeps giving. I've written about this many times in other posts .... it's all down to the light and the weather. A place so familiar can offer up so many new things at different times and on different days. The Antarctic is not exactly a  familiar place for any mortal but  listening to the Forum the other day on Radio 4 it was fascinating to hear the photographer Camille Seaman talk about her methods used whilst photographing icebergs...she never photographs in bright sunlight...only in overcast and stormy conditions, these particular light conditions provide her with unique colour and shade unseen in brighter conditions. Stunning images and really worth checking out.

Growing

We have been out walking and bouldering in between the storms, strange weather patterns lately, like shifts, 3 days on, 3 days off kind of pattern. So no matter the form we've taken the opportunity to get out.

Looking towards Ruberslaw...River Teviot in Flood

Evening Sky

Gillean going for it

Little study-just for fun

Sunday 29th December

On the way out

If you have been reading,thank you and here's  to a peaceful and very creative 2014 :)