Over the Finish Line

Last two.

I felt that the show needed a beautiful pink painting, to balance all the blue coastal work.  So here are the Cuillins.

And lastly, I wanted another Paris painting.  This is view of the Seine from near the Bir Hakim metro station, which is the one you get off at if you're going to visit the Eiffel Tower.  

As you can see, the trees all have beautiful autumn colours, and the sky was a wonderful blue.  Even though it was the beginning of November, it was very warm, T-shirt weather.  You couldn't ask for a more beautiful day.

It's funny when you finish all the paintings for a show.  Although I've spent a long, long time thinking through what I want to paint, and months planning how to gather the material for the work, and then travelling round doing the fieldwork, then very carefully considering which of the images that I want to use, how they work together, and then weeks painting the actual pictures...I am still left feeling as if there are other paintings that I should have done, as if I haven't said it all.

But there comes a point where you just have to say 'that's it'. And that's it.

Almost There...

Here's today's painting.  

It's a large one of the pinky white sands at Camusdarach near Morar.

The thing about the beaches there is that they are deserted, and as you walk along the shore, you come across a series of curving bays.  

In the distance on the horizon are the Small Isles - Eigg in the middle of the painting has the distinctive long low flat shape with its tooth-like Sgurr on the left, then mountainous Rum is on the right behind the line of rocks on the shore.  Making up the other two islands in the group, but not in the painting are Muck (to the left of Eigg) and Canna (to the right of Rum)

Today's Work - White Park Bay

Today I finished my painting of the old school house at White Park Bay.  The long, low island in the top right is Rathlin Island.  On a clear day, you can see Scotland and the islands of the Inner Hebrides.

The school house is down there at the bottom towards the left...

If you'd like to see what the real place looks like, there's a video HERE.

Makes me feel slightly tearful just looking at it.

And Today's Painting...

So here is today's piece.  Both are of Northern Ireland - the bottom one is at Rinagree, between Portrush and Portstewart, with Ireland on the horizon, and the top one is of White Park Bay, with Rathlin Island on the horizon.  

The top one is only half finished. by the way!

As you can see from the unfinished piece, I don't paint on to white canvas - I use a midtone, usually in a warm grey, lilac or I've been using a lot of cobalt blue backgrounds lately.  It makes the sea colours really zingy, and contrasts with the oranges of autumn scenes.

Meanwhile - fancy a quick art historical romp through colour and shape?

Have a look at this article with short videos HERE.

It gives a timeline on the development of abstract art from Turner to Sol leWitt.  And it has Andrew Graham Dixon - why wouldn't you want to watch it?

 Rain, Steam, and Speed - The Great Western Railway by JMW Turner, National Gallery / Bridgeman

Spot the connection?

 

Wall drawing # 951 by Sol LeWitt, Museo Civico, Spoleto, Italy / Bridgeman

Today's Painting...

Here it is.  It's of the beach at North Berwick with the Bass Rock in the distance.

Thank goodness that the end is in sight for painting this collection for my show.  The light is bad, the studio is cold, and the toilet doesn't work. 

Hard at Work

I'm into my final stretch of work for my solo show coming up next year.  The theme is the contrast between gardens, parks and urban spaces, and the wild landscapes of the mountains and the coast.

Here is a collection of paintings based on studies of waterlilies in the glasshouses at Kew Gardens and Edinburgh Botanical Gardens, and also in Central Park in New York. 

The preview  at Duncan R Miller Fine Arts is on Thursday 11th February 2016, so put that in your diaries!  There will be a catalogue available, so if you'd like one or an invitation to the private view, drop me a line.

Edinburgh Art Fair

I'll be exhibiting at the Edinburgh Art Fair this weekend, starting tomorrow.  It's at the Edinburgh Corn Exchange (I went to see Pulp there once, and Jarvis Cocker came on stage and asked laconically 'Anyone exchanged any corn yet?').

I'm going to be showing with the Strathearn Gallery, and for the fair I have done a special collection of paintings of the east coast around Tyninghame and Sea Cliff beaches.

The one thing which dominates the horizon there is familiar shape of the Bass Rock, with it's little white lighthouse.   It's home to thousands of seabirds which make their nests on its cliffs.

If you'd like a free ticket to the Fair, click here, click on 'Fairs' on the top bar, and follow the link to the free printable ticket.

 Pink Flowers, Tyninghame Beach (Oil on linen, 16 x 16)

  Two Sets of Footprints, Sea Cliff Beach (Oil on linen, 16 x 16)

  White Horses, Bass Rock (Oil on linen, 12 x 12)

Here's some of my other work that you'll see if you visit the Strathearn Gallery stand (this one shows the Cuillins in Skye).

London at Night - the Paintings

So here's the paintings in the studio that I've done from the photos that I took earlier in the week.

London at Night

This is a set of photos taken from the Golden Jubilee bridge, crossing to the south bank, walking along the south embankment under Waterloo Bridge, past the National Theatre, and looking towards Blackfriars Bridge with St Pauls across the river.

These are also going to form part of the group of paintings for my solo show.

Autumn in London Parks

Here's some new photos taken during my latest visit to London to see the autumn colours. I'll be working from these over the next couple of weeks,building up a set of autumn painting in various sizes for my solo show in February in London, and also for the London and Affordable Art Fairs.

This is Hampstead Heath back in September...

and this is the same location in November...

This is Green Park.