atmospheric – Page 4 – Clive Ramage Art

Busy Month Behind and a Busier Month Ahead

Bass Rock Lighthouse (SOLD at Maggies Cancer Care charity event)

The past few weeks have been extremely busy what with deadlines for various exhibitions, including those organised by the RSA, the SSA, the National Original Print Exhibition and the International Print Biennial. On top of that, my work has been included in 2 exhibitions in support of Maggies Cancer Care and the St Columbas Hospice in Edinburgh. I was delighted to have sold 4 large works in these, raising over £1500 in the process to share between these two deserving causes.

July will hopefully prove to be just as busy. But that’s over a week away and there’s lots of painting to be done now. I’m currently working on a series of small hand-painted etchings that have been sat in my drawers for the past couple of years gathering dust. The most recent of which has since been dusted with gold leaf and can be seen along with some of the others in the Watercolours & Etchings gallery. Some of these will be distributed to galleries in the next week or so. But if you like anything you see on my website do feel free to get in touch with me at cliveramage@gmail.com

I’ll also be working on the latest Dean Village hand-painted etching this week, which will be a blue and gold night time version (similar colours to that East Neuk etching mentioned above). This will be the 4th one of the 10 of these I have planned. I’m excited to see how this one and the 6 others will turn out. Watch this space as I’ll post updates here of how they are progressing.

Fresh off the Easel (Exhibition Update)

Dean Village (Pink and Blue)

Here is my latest version of Dean Village in Edinburgh. It’s another hand-painted etching and I have focused here on the pinks and blues of the setting sun. I have also added a detail of the bottom right-hand corner of the painting below to show better how the colours are built up in layers using various methods.

I currently have work in 4 separate exhibitions this month and also next, including the Royal Scottish Society of Painters in Watercolour at The Meffin in Forfar; Fire Station Creative, Dunfermline and arTay (Perth Festival of The Arts).

We will also be opening our doors once again at the Fire Station Open Studios event over the whole of next weekend from the evening of Friday 27th and all day Sat/Sun 28 & 29th (10-4pm). Celie and me have completely covered our studio’s walls along with half the walls in the building with work to see and buy! Do come along if you’re in the area, or make a special trip and I assure you it will be worth it. Lots of very good work and interesting artists to see and meet and also great entertainment in the cafe throughout the weekend.

Finally, I will be exhibiting and hopefully selling my work alongside a selection of other artists in support of the St Columbas Hospice from the 3-5th June. Please come along to any or all of these events and remember to say hello if you do.

Clive

Prints for sale at Big Cartel!

I’ve just set up a shop at Big Cartel. I’m selling limited edition giclee prints of my Dean Village and Edinburgh’s Old Town paintings. See images below and click here to go directly to the shop.

Super Moon Highlighted in Duncan Macmillan’s Scotsman Review

Super Moon Etching (finished full size)

The 125th Society of Scottish Artists (SSA) annual exhibition is about to come to an end (this Monday 18th Jan). To have had my Super Moon print accepted and then described by renowned art historian Duncan Macmillan in his Scotsman review of the exhibition as “elegant” and “lovely” is the career highlight so far for me. I’m now looking forward to a full year of working hard on several new large-scale copper etchings, a new series of oil paintings and many watercolours based on my upcoming travels.

Get in touch if you would like to have your very own Super Moon.

Read the full SSA review below.

Scotsman Review of 125th SSA Exhibition

Making Headlines

Here’s a link to a piece in this week’s Dunfermline Press about my show Northern Lights -An Artistic Odyssey of Scotland’s Coast.

Text from article below:

BE captivated by the beauty of Scotland’s breathtaking seascapes and lighthouses at the Fire Station Creative’s latest exhibition.

‘Northern Lights: An Artistic Odyssey of Scotland’, the first solo exhibition by self-taught Dunfermline artist Clive Ramage, 45, launched at the weekend and will run until November 22.

The artworks on display are based on Clive’s year-long travels in his camper van around Scotland documenting the landscape and scenery from Stromness to the Mull of Galloway, after being awarded a grant by Fife Contemporary Arts and Crafts.

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The inspiration for the project came from Clive’s childhood experiences growing up in Arbroath.

He said, “I’ve always been drawn to the sea. Each night, like clockwork, the Bell Rock, Isle of May and Fife Ness lights would intermittently flash their beams out across the cold, dark sea and I would watch – mesmerised at my bedroom window.

“Those magical, exotic lights across the sea have continued to tantalise and inspire me and I have always wanted to capture something of that magic and atmosphere in pictorial form.”

The effects of the weather also provided their own inspiration for Clive’s paintings.

“The colours and atmosphere of each location probably became the more important feature of the work,” he explained.

“It wasn’t so much the lights themselves that were intriguing me pictorially, but the wild spaces between them, the surrounding landscapes.”

Clive has previously exhibited in the Royal Scottish Academy, the Royal Glasgow Institute of the Fine Arts and the Royal Scottish Society of Painters in Watercolour.

He is also a member of the Fife Dunfermline Printmakers Workshops and rents a studio in the former fire station.

He added, “Fire Station Creative is such a beautifully renovated space for exhibiting artworks.

“The wonderful Fife coast and the East Neuk in particular have also proved to be a huge inspiration to me, so it will be great to be show some of that work here too.”

Gallery curator Ian Moir said, “We’re really proud to be showing off the talent that comes from our own studios.

“I think this exhibition will be well-received by the public. The subject matter is very accessible and the artworks have been extremely well-executed. It’s going to be a great show.”

Entry is free. The gallery is open from 10am to 5pm Wednesday to Saturday and 11am to 4pm on Sunday.

Northern Lights – Now showing at Fire Station Creative, Dunfermline

Here are a selection of some of the paintings currently on show at Fire Station Creative. All are for sale.

The Bass Rock Lighthouse (80x80cm, Oil on Canvas)

Stromness Lighthouse (50x50cm, oil on Canvas with Gold Leaf) SOLD

The Bell Rock, Blue and Gold(60x60cm, Oil on Canvas) SOLD

East NeuShoreline at Cellardyke (40x120cm, oil on Canvas) SOLD

East Neuk Cottages Awaiting the Turn of The Tide series (40x120cm, Oil on Canvas)

St Monans Harbour (Red Boats) (40x120cm, Oil on Canvas)

Bass Rock Nocturne (40x50cm, Oil on Board with Gold Leaf)

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Edinburgh Art Fair

As well as having the solo paintings show on at Fire Station Creative, Dunfermline, right now, I will also have some of my Edinburgh etchings on show and available for sale at Edinburgh Art Fair this weekend.

Please click the links for more info! I’ll be demonstrating printmaking techniques there tomorrow, so stop by and say hello and have a go yourself if you can make it!

Hope to see you there!

Clive

Northern Lights – An Artistic Odyssey Around Scotland’s Coastline

Only 2 weeks to go until my solo exhibition at Fire Station Creative. Here are some words and pictures to help shed some light on what will be hanging on the walls there. The preview will be held between 7.30-10pm on Friday 6th November and the show runs until Sunday 22 November. I hope to see there.

_DSC0496 — The Bass Rock Light (oil on canvas, 80x80cm)

I grew up in Arbroath, so have always been drawn to the sea. Each night, like clockwork, the Bell Rock, the Isle of May and the Fife Ness lights would intermittently flash their beams out across the cold, dark sea miles and I would watch – mesmerised at my bedroom window. I’d follow the fishing boats as they puttered out into the firth from the harbour, eventually becoming little more than red and green dots that slowly edged beyond the moonlit horizon. The twinkling orange lamps of St Andrews and Kingsbarns would beckon to me from far away across the Firth of Tay and illuminate my dreams. Those mysterious, exotic lights across the sea have continued to tantalise and inspire me and I have always wanted to capture something of that magic and atmosphere in pictorial form. So my campervan travels around Scotland’s coast this year have provided me with a wealth of inspiration for new paintings and etchings; I feel I have barely begun to scratch the surface with the work for this exhibition.

Stromness Nocturne — Sromness Nocturne (oil on canvas with gold leaf, 60x60cm)

I quickly discovered that it wasn’t so much the lights themselves that were interesting me pictorially, but their situations within the surrounding landscape and the wild spaces between them. Lighthouses proved to be a wonderful general theme for the trip and also a great focal point for some of the paintings, but the ‘interesting’ Scottish weather and the colours and atmosphere of each location probably became the more important feature of the work.

The Bell Rock, High Seas (oil on canvas, 60x60cm)

I was very fortunate to be awarded a grant by Fife Contemporary Arts and Crafts to help fund my travels, which took me from The Mull of Galloway at the south western tip of Scotland to Stromness in Orkney. I have yet to reach Muckle Flugga, Scotland’s most northernly lighthouse, but I will get there one of these days!

Exhibition at Frames Gallery, Perth: Exhibit ‘A’ – Original Art for Under £500

It’s been a very busy few months! I’ve settled into my great new studio at Fire Station Creative and have been working hard on preperations for my first big solo show there in November. More to come on that later!

My priority this past week has been to finish and frame some new works for the upcoming exhibition at the beautiful Frames Gallery, Perth. It opens this Friday 12th September and I cordially invite you to come along to the preview if you are able to (6-8pm). I handed my 4 pictures in yesterday and the place was full to brimming with amazing looking work. It’s all very affordable too, everything being under £500.

But now that’s done, I can look forward to the preview on Friday evening and then I’ll be getting back on with my lighthouses project (which will also include non-lighthouse paintings of coastal scenes!).

Anyway, here’s what I’ve included in the Frames show:

Jeffrey St & Arthur's Seat, Edinburgh — Jeffrey St & Arthur’s Seat, Edinburgh

New Studio at The Firestation, Dunfermline

After a few years of waiting and hoping that the Firestation Creative project in Dunfermline would become more than just a great idea, it has finally opened its studio doors to artists. I was first to get in and start working last Tuesday and it was well worth the wait! It’s a fantastic looking place and when the cafe and gallery are fully open to the public, which should be in the next couple of weeks, it will be a truly wonderful artistic hub for the town.

So here’s what’s currently on the go in my new studio. Two large oil paintings, one of Jeffery Street with Arthur’s Seat in Edinburgh and another of my Awaiting The Turn of The Tide series, based on my travels around the Scottish coast.