Easter Sundae

I went down to Largs to take some photos of the Clyde Coast.  It was a lovely sunny afternoon, interspersed with a few incoming rain showers, and the bright yellow gorse was looking wonderful.

On down to Largs.

And of course, you can't go to Largs without going to Nardini's.

Here's a Paddle Boat.  I'm sure it's an exact replica of what the Vikings arrived in.

Yum!  Thank you, Vikings.

Colour

The new catalogues for 'Colour' have just arrived.  The show opens at the Lime Tree Gallery in Long Melford, Suffolk, on Saturday 9 April.

I'm showing alongside Pam Carter, Peter King and Marion Thomson.

  

If you'd like me to send you one of these little beauties, then just drop me a line with your postal address.

 

Mr Shah

It's been a profoundly shocking day.

Mr Shah was an ordinary man, our local newsagent who always had a kind word, and yesterday had been posting Easter greetings to everyone.

Then last night he was murdered in the street.

There was a vigil tonight, and as we left the house to walk to his shop, people were coming out of their houses carrying flowers, until there was a huge, silent crowd of us, all walking down the street together, with one purpose. 

People were pulling up in cars and parking randomly on the road, and getting out to join the movement of people.

We gathered on the corner, by Mr Shah's shop.  There were so many people, as far as I could see in every direction, so many I couldn't count them. Hundreds and hundreds of people, continually arriving.

 James Doleman

There was a steady line of people moving slowly to the front,  to lay their flowers, or to put daffodils in the large buckets, or to lay out their candles, which kept being blown out by the strong, cold wind.  It had the strange sense of one of  Bill Viola's slowed down videos, and the same sort of depth of emotion.

Everyone was quiet, even the children and the dogs (there were many, many dogs), except for some people crying.  It was hard not to cry, but also hard not to be incredibly moved.  It was a very, very powerful sense of a community coming together.

 James Doleman

James Doleman

In the silence, First Minister Nicola Sturgeon laid flowers.  Also there to support the family were Tasmina Ahmed Sheikh, Humza Yousaf, and local MP Stewart McDonald.

James Doleman

"Colour"

I've got paintings in a new show called 'Colour' that's opening at the Lime Tree Gallery in Long Melford in Suffolk.  It opens with a preview on Saturday 9th April from 10am-5pm.

I'll be exhibiting alongside Pam Carter, Marion Thomson and Peter King, all Scottish artists well-known for their exciting and vibrant use of colour.

Yellow Flowers in Spring Sunshine, Bass Rock (Oil on linen, 32 x 32)

View the exhibition HERE. 

My contribution to the show is built around the colours of the seasons, and the way that the landscape changes with the different light, flowers and plants throughout the year.

For winter, I looked at the soft, subdued colours of Scotland during short days in cold weather. This painting is of Glen Lochy, which is on the A85 heading from Dalmally to Tyndrum.

Winter Colours, Glen Lochy (Oil on linen, 24 x 26)

In spring, the days lengthen and the colours sharpen, and for summer, I looked at the vibrant shades of seasonal flowers in bright sunlight.  I have paintings of the blue of fragile harebells on cliffs in Northern Ireland, and the pinks and purples of waxy rhododendrons in the country park near my studio and sweet peas in my studio garden.

Summer Sweet Peas (Oil on linen, 16 x 16)

Autumn is all burning reds and oranges in the landscape, and a changing kaleidoscope of colour in stormy seas under turbulent skies on the coast.  This is of the long, low, shingle shore at Aldeburgh, looking out across the North Sea under the huge sky.
 

Autumn Sea with Dark Clouds, Aldeburgh (Oil, 8 x 10)

Do come along to the preview and see the show if you're in the area!

If you'd like to receive a catalogue in the post, or emailed in PDF form, then please contact me.

Tropical North Berwick

Was out at the weekend taking advantage of the good weather,in order to take some photos at North Berwick and the nearby beaches of Sea Cliff and Tyninghame.

Have a look!

We start off at North Berwick, with the Bass Rock in the distance. What I'm looking for when I take a photograph are interesting patterns, colours, shapes, ways of leading you on a journey through the photo, something which really says something about what it was like to be there.

There's lovely red tones in the sand which contrast with the bright greens in the seaweed, and echo the pinkiness in the sky.

This is the long, low island of Craigleith, with yachts sailing round it.

Forgot to turn my filter round! 

This next set are from the beach at Sea Cliff, just along the coast by Tantallon Castle.  Again, there's the lovely reddish tones to the sand.

There were several dead seabirds amongst the rocks.

 

Tantallon Castle in the distance.

 

Patterns in the sand. 

 

Snowdrops in the wood. 

This last set are of Tyninghame.

 

 

Corra Linn #2

Day 2 of my mixed media project...

Taking on board some feedback that I have received, I have been working on my Corra Linn painting again today.  Here it is.

Here's some photos of the textural parts of the waterfall, built up in acrylic and pastel, and worked into with various brushes and tools.  Hopefully, there's some interesting mark-making in there.

Here's the painting in its frame.

So what do you think?  All feedback welcome!