Northern Lights – Solo Show Graystone Gallery, Edinburgh (10 Feb – 10 March 2024)

Just a quick note to say there’s only 2 more days to see my solo show ‘Northern Lights‘ at Graystone Gallery in Stockbridge, Edinburgh.

Edinburgh Nocturne (Aurora)

There’s around 40 works in total, including several new oil paintings, etchings and Watercolours.

I’ve also included 3 different coloured versions of my Glitter Moon series of prints, each framed in non-reflective, museum-quality glass and currently available to buy only at Graystone Gallery.

Glitter Moons – Yellow, Blue and Pink, etching and screenprint – 69x80cm (framed individually)

The etchings have proved to be very popular, with A Hot Summer’s Day, Elie (seen below) having garnered 4 red dots so far. I have to thank Duncan MacMillan for his positive review in The Scotsman, describing my etchings as “certainly impressive”!

(Read about Duncan Macmillan’s Scotsman review of Northern Lights here.)

A Hot Summer’s Day, Elie

If you’d like a little more detail about the show and see a lot more pictures then I’ve written a blog post which can be found here. Or you can go directly to the gallery’s Northern Lights catalogue here.

Opening times are listed below:

Graystone GAllery OPENING TIMES

Mon-Tues: Viewings and private sales by appointment

Weds-Fri: 11:00-18:00

Sat: 10:00-17:00

Sun: 12:00-16:00

Click here or on the image below for all the details and pictures in Northern Lights!

Northern Lights – A Solo Exhibition at Graystone Gallery, Edinburgh

Last Friday night saw the opening of my latest solo show Northern Lights at Graystone Gallery in Stockbridge, Edinburgh.

A welcoming window display with my latest oil painting of Muckle Flugga (finishedand framed  just hours before the show opened!)

And despite the inclement weather it turned out to be a busy private viewing, with people travelling from as far as Aberdeen, Glasgow and Fife for a first look at my latest work.

Over 40 of My Paintings & Prints on Show

With around 40 original pieces hanging across the gallery, it’s a real showcase of everything I’ve been working towards over the past 15 years.

The show is divided into three areas: oils, mixed media and etchings …

… with the pictures hung according to those groupings and in roughly equal numbers.

All in the name

I chose the title Northern Lights as it aptly reflects the nature and atmosphere of the majority of the work included in the exhibition. There are 12 oil paintings in the show, including the 3 above, which feature either Scottish lighthouses or shimmering twilight views across the Firth of Forth.

Glitter Moons – Yellow, Blue and Pink, etching and screenprint – 69x80cm (framed individually)

I’ve also included 3 original prints from my ‘luminous’ Glitter Moon series (above), as well as numerous colourful watercolours of Edinburgh and the East Neuk of Fife.

It’s not all about light and colour, however. In my etchings I focus more on the details, marks and tones that help to give each of the prints something distinctly different from all of my other work. On one wall you’ll find various craggy Scottish mountains and ruined castles, including Ben Nevis and Dunnottar. These are accompanied by atmospheric cityscapes of Edinburgh’s Old Town, Victoria Street and Dean Village …

The North Face, Ben Nevis, etching 44×18.5cm

… while on the opposite wall are more etchings of seascapes, including the old piers at both Culross and Aberdour (both shown below).

I’ll be back at the gallery on 24 February (2-4pm) for an Artist Talk, where I’ll discuss how I made these paintings and prints and also inspirations. I’ll be happy to answer any questions you might have too.

So if you’d like to attend then please get in touch with gallery owner Lesley at: lesley@graystonegallery.com

Northern Lights is on show now at Graystone Gallery in Edinburgh’s gorgeous Stockbridge and continues until 10 March 2024. If you manage to get along to see it then please get in touch and let me know what you think at cliveramage@gmail.com 

Some words from Graystone Gallery about the show …

“Look closely at the oil paintings in Northern Lights and you can sense a love of Whistler’s London nocturnes. Clive imbues his oils of lighthouses and the darker seascapes with that same feeling of delicate stillness and calm, building it with layer upon layer of transparent glazes …

Edinburgh Nocturne (Aurora), oil on canvas 98x98cm framed (detail)

The ramshackle buildings and highly detailed compositions and colour schemes of Schiele and Klimt’s landscapes have also had a big influence, which can be seen in the watercolours of coastal villages and Edinburgh in particular …

Ramsay Garden (ii), mixed media – 79x38cm framed

His intricate, detailed etchings, such as Dunnottar Castle, tell their own romantic stories, the individual marks carving out a brooding landscape …

Dunnottar Castle, etching – 77x59cm framed

In each of Clive’s works, there is a tangible sense of yearning, of a desire to create something that is beautiful, yet distant or unattainable. It’s there in those city lights twinkling and beckoning the viewer from far across the Firth of Forth …

The Bass Rock, oil on canvas 80x80cm framed

But there is also a drama at play in these atmospheric pieces that comes from a deeply felt need to create a perfectly constructed arrangement, or a harmonious symphony, out of the interplay between the land, the sea and the elements. Or, perhaps, the essence of Clive’s work is simply his attempt to try to capture and hold on to some long-sought feeling of calm and serenity.”

Graystone Gallery
52 Hamilton Place
Edinburgh
EH3 5AX
GENERAL OPENING TIMES

Weds-Fri: 11:00-18:00
Sat: 10:00-17:00
Sun: 12:00-16:00

Mon-Tues: Viewings and private sales by appointment

Aberdeen Art Galleries and Museums – Micro Commission

I was initially told about the Aberdeen Art Gallery & Museums (AAGM) Micro-commissions by a studio colleague the day before the deadline. I was in the middle of moving into my new studio and packing for a New Year trip to Crovie the following day. However, as a relative newcomer to Aberdeen and having spent many hours admiring the gallery’s fantastic collection, my interest had been piqued! I downloaded the application form and had a first draft written within an hour.

At the Aberdeen Art Gallery and Museums’ (AAGM) Treasure Hub where I gave a talk about my Micro Commission work to the Friends of AAGM

The brief

Applicants were asked to say something about their lived experience in the city, addressing themes that might include social justice, climate change, identity, well-being and migration, while responding to something that was already part of the AAGM collection.

I thought it could be a challenge to come up with an exciting print-based project that would test some of my recently acquired printmaking skills, especially in screen and photopolymer printing. And, in the unlikely event my proposal was successful, I might just about manage to complete the rather ambitious project I had put together in my mind, despite having already committed to 2 solo shows and another important commission – all of which were to be fulfilled before the AAGM June deadline!

No holiday for me … not yet anyway!

So the first day of our supposedly relaxing holiday was spent editing my application (with considerable help from my patient and very understanding partner Pam) and it was submitted within an hour of the deadline.

Having never applied for anything like this before, I resignedly put the whole experience down to good practice and relaxed for the rest of our trip.

Success!

Around 4 weeks later, having forgotten all about my application and while frantically finishing several paintings and working on the final preparations for my early March solo show, I received an email to say my proposal had in fact been successful!

My initial elation and surprise at this great news were suddenly followed by a gut-wrenching dread that I might just have overstretched myself! But I do love a challenge and that’s exactly what the following 5 months proved to be!

The final 3 prints that make up the triptych: Disintegration, Transformation & Anticipation. I named the triptych with a nod to the 3 institutions that feature in the middle print; namely the Central Library, St Mark’s Church & His Majesty’s Theatre, collectively known by locals as Education, Salvation & Damnation.

The Proposal

In selecting a work from the AAGM collection as an initial reference for my own project, John Piper’s powerfully atmospheric painting of Dunnottar Castle immediately sprang to mind. Like many of his works, it perfectly captures with great drama and deceptive simplicity the beauty that can often be found even in a crumbling old building. This got me thinking about how the disintegration of one thing can lead to something new and possibly even more beautiful in its place (a painting in this instance, but also the castle itself).

Dunnottar Castle by John Piper

From here I travelled north in my mind to Aberdeen city centre and thought of the recently opened Union Terrace Gardens and how they have helped to rejuvenate that part of the city.

Newly reopened and rejuvenated Union Terrace Gardens (January 2023)

I then took a short trip across Union Street to the recently demolished Aberdeen Market and pondered how that has provided an opportunity (and also hope) that something better might arise out of the dust and rubble.

The currently vacant site of the old Aberdeen Market

I decided to produce a triptych of handmade prints exploring the theme of disintegration in relation to those three well-loved local sites. To bring these ideas to fruition I wanted to use three different printmaking techniques, which would reflect the past, present and future in their own way.

Three Different subjects printed three different ways

Disintegration

Disintegration, the first piece in the triptych, is a traditional copper-plate etching inspired by John Piper’s painting of Dunnottar Castle.

Disintegration – 40x60cm – copper plate etching with hard ground and aquatint (including sugar lift and spit bite) on Hahnemüle etching paper

 

Inking up the plate

 

Disintegration is signed and ready to deliver to Aberdeen Art Gallery when framed

Transformation

Transformation – 40x76cm – photopolymer etching with chine collé and watercolour on calendered Hahnemüle etching paper

The middle piece, Transformation, depicts Union Terrace Gardens and contrasts old and new features now present in the gardens and also in the methods used to create the print.

Chine collé tissue cut to shape for adding colour to the etching

It combines very traditional etching techniques like chine collé above to add colour  to the print …

An acetate was used to expose the image onto a photopolymer-coated steel plate

… alongside methods employed in contemporary digital photography.

Transformation completed at Peacock Print Studio in Aberdeen and ready for the AAGM collection

Anticipation

Anticipation – 40x60cm – screen print on calendered Hahnemüle etching paper

Anticipation focuses on the Aberdeen Market area and poses the question: what does the future hold for this site?

Making a composite of the various pictorial elements in Photoshop

Photoshop was used to combine a drone-captured digital image with an interpretation of the Herakut mural from the old Aberdeen Market.

A proof incorporating the hand-painted golden question mark

 

The final image of the triptych, Anticipation, is signed and ready to frame

The Micro Commission Experience

Working on the AAGM Micro-commission has been a fantastic experience as well as a great opportunity to learn. Not only because it has allowed me to develop and test my skills in traditional and photopolymer etching, as well as screen printing, but the funding that was provided by the Friends of Aberdeen Art Gallery and Museums has also enabled me to produce an entirely new stand-alone series of prints that are quite different from anything I have done before. It is also wonderful to know that my triptych has been accessioned into the AAGM permanent collection.

Describing the processes involved in producing each print at Aberdeen’s Treasure Hub

I would advise anyone who is interested in applying to the next round of Micro-commissions to absolutely go for it. This has been a hugely rewarding experience and has shown me what I can achieve under intense pressure.

And finally …

Finally, I would like to say a huge THANK YOU to the Friends of Aberdeen Art Gallery and Museums for providing the £2500 funding that enabled my Micro Commission, and many thanks also to Shona Elliot and all the staff at AAGM for their excellent support throughout. I’d also like to thank the staff at Peacock Print Studio and, in particular, James Vaas and Struan Hamilton who have both been very generous with their time, patience and expertise throughout this process.

I will put together another post soon where I will go into more detail about the making of each print in the triptych … watch this space!

Last week of my show at Inverness Creative Academy – Artist talk Fri 14th July

This is the final week of my solo show Paintings & Prints From Scotland To The Moon at Inverness Creative Academy.

I’ll be on site from 2-3.30pm this Friday 14th July to give visitors a guided walk around the 40 pictures.  I’ll discuss the many techniques I use to create the works as well as the inspirations and ideas behind them. I’ll also be more than happy to answer any questions about my practice and experience of working as a full-time artist.

It’s free entry so just show up at the cafe at 2pm and say hello. I’ll look forward to meeting you then!

Paintings & Prints From Scotland To The Moon is on until Saturday 15th July at 4pm.

Open daily until then 10-5pm.

Solo Show at Inverness Creative Academy (10 June – 15 July)

Saturday 10th June marks the opening of my first ever solo show in Inverness.

With this body of work I hope to showcase both my varied interests and inspirations as a landscape artist, as well as the many techniques I use and often combine in their creation.

The Bell Rock (Twilight)

In conjunction with Wasps Artist Studios, I will present around 30 pieces in total. These will include dramatic new oil paintings of Neist Point and Isle Ornsay in Skye, alongside several mixed-media cityscapes of Edinburgh and surroundings.

Neist Point, Skye

Isle Ornsay (detail from wip)

Towards Arthur’s Seat, Edinburgh

Fidra Lighthouse

Also on show will be a selection of atmospheric etchings featuring, among other things, several Scottish lighthouses, castles and mountains.

Dunnottar Castle

Victoria Street, Edinburgh

North Face, Ben Nevis

There will also be 3 different coloured versions of my recent series of Glitter Moon limited-edition handmade prints, framed with non-reflective glass and available to buy for only the second time.

Glitter Moons – Yellow, Blue & Red, etching and screenprint, 47x57cm (individual image size)

So, all in all, there will be plenty to see across the two floors my show will occupy.

I will be at Inverness Creative Academy between 12-4pm for the opening on Saturday 10 June, so please come along if you are in the area. It would be great to see you there!

Opening Night of my Solo Show – Frames Gallery, Perth – 3 March 2023

Minutes before the doors opened

After almost a year of hard work and preparations, last Friday night saw the opening of my solo show at Frames Gallery in Perth. And what a fantastic night it turned out to be, with almost a quarter of the pictures sold within 2 hours!

But I have to admit that I am always a little anxious when it comes to opening nights, and especially when it’s just my work that’s on show.

There’s a lot of pressure to get everything finished, framed and on the walls on time and I feel that heavily on my shoulders for weeks in advance.

A quick spin around the show!

And there’s quite a lot of variety in my work too, so I’m also always wondering how all of those pictures will look when they’re hanging together in one room.

Glitter Moons, watercolours and etchings
Etchings and oils with a sea theme in the main

Of course, I’m also hoping there’s going to be a good turnout for the opening, as a great atmosphere always helps to get any show off to the best start.

But in spite of my growing nerves as 6pm approached on the big day, I should really have known that I needn’t have worried! Hugh and his team at the gallery had done a brilliant job of hanging the show and I couldn’t have been happier with how all 45 pictures were presented!

The first picture to sold was one of the largest, Muckle Flugga, oil on canvas

And to add to my great feeling of relief and excitement I was delighted to see that there were already some red dots accompanying pictures before the doors officially opened!

It’s always lovely to chat to the people who have been to my previous shows and have bought my work in the past, and I love to meet those who’ve come along to see it for the first time.

Two more of my lighthouse oil paintings sold on opening night!

It’s really the one chance I get to hear what people think of my newest work and that feedback is always very helpful when it comes to starting new pictures.

All in all it was a lovely night, with lots of interest and by closing time at 8pm 10 pictures were sold, ranging in price from £250 for a framed etching of Victoria Street in Edinburgh to £3450 for my large oil painting of Muckle Flugga.

I want to say a huge !!THANK YOU!! to Hugh, Julie and Jenny at the gallery for making it such a wonderful event and also to Lucy who so beautifully framed many of the pictures there! Massive thanks also to Kevin at Framing Point in Aberdeen for his incredible service and help over the past couple of years! I can’t recommend both highly enough!

And, finally, thank you so much to everyone who came along on the night, with some of you traveling a fair distance to get there! When you buy my pictures, or any artist’s, you really are helping to ensure that we can keep making more and the world would be a much duller place without art!

Here are some photos from the night. If you couldn’t make it along but still want to see the show, then you still have 2 weeks to go. And if you do go, please let me know what you think.

 

Frames Gallery Solo Show – Invitation to the Private View (3 March 2023 6-8pm)

I am delighted to announce that my first solo show with Frames Gallery in Perth opens in less than a week and will run until 25th March! I have been exhibiting regularly with the gallery since the very earliest days of my artistic adventures, and working with Hugh and his team has always been a great pleasure.

I hope this diverse collection of over 40 paintings and original prints will not only demonstrate my development as a painter and printmaker over the past 15 years, but will also be something of a visual feast. However, that’ll be for you to decide!

Come along and enjoy a glass of wine at the private view this Friday 3rd March 6-8pm at Frames Gallery. It would be great to see you there!

Here is just a little taster of what will be on show …

Neist Point, Skye, oil on canvas

 

Muckle Flugga, oil on canvas

 

The Bell Rock, photopolymer etching

 

Glitter Moons – Yellow, Blue & Red, etching and screensprint

 

The North Face, Ben Nevis, etching and aquatint

 

The Old Town, Edinburgh (Twilight), mixed media over etching

 

Towards Arthur’s Seat & South Queensferry, mixed media over etching

 

Bothy paintings, mixed media on paper

Click here for the whole exhibition and picture details!

Black Friday Sale – 25% Discount off all my prints online!!

It’s that time of year when everyone’s looking for a good deal. So I’ve decided to offer a HUGE 25% Black Friday DISCOUNT on all my giclée prints and etchings for a very limited time only. (Ends Sun 27th Nov at 11.55pm)

Dean Village (Sunset) – 65x50cm (usual price £150 – now £112.50)

So if you’re looking for an extra special and very personal Christmas present for yourself or a loved one then look no further!

The Old Town, Edinburgh – 65x50cm (usual price £150 – now £112.50)

Select anything from my Big Cartel shop using discount code BLACKFRIDAY and you’ll not only get this great saving but you’ll also receive it carefully wrapped and packaged well before Christmas.

Towards Arthur’s Seat, Edinburgh – 45x33cm (usual price £95 – now £71.25)

And that includes one of my very rare and highly saught after Blue Moon etchings! There’s just a couple of these available right now, so you’ll have to be quick off the mark to get one at this price – and with almost £150 off the usual price!

[PLEASE NOTE: my Blue Moon numbered edition has now SOLD OUT! See most recent post for details on how to reserve a a very rare Artist Proof Blue Moon!]

Blue Moon A/P – etching 57x47cm image size (usual price £595 – now £446.25)

These are just a few of the pictures available so click here to see them all and remember to use discount code BLACKFRIDAY

My BLACKFRIDAY discount ends Sunday 27 November at 11.55pm!

Spectacular Winter Show with Graystone Gallery at ‘The Art Hotel’, 24 Royal Terrace, Edinburgh

I am very excited to be showing several of my oil paintings and handmade prints with Edinburgh’s newest purveyor of fine art, Graystone Gallery. Owner Lesley has found a truly inspired space for her inaugural show in what has to be the most exquisite and stylish boutique hotel I’ve ever seen!

And you are invited to the Private View at 24 Royal Terrace this coming Thursday (details below).

 

On any given day, the walls of 24 Royal Terrace, aka The Art Hotel, are full of colour and when I dropped off my own works for this winter show last Friday I was astonished (in a very good way!) to see such a huge variety of great art in one incredible setting. The pictures above give only a tiny taste of what it’s really like in there!

Glitter Moon – Blue
Etching and screen print
58 x 48cm (image size)

The hotel owner, who has personally collected art from around the world and curated each and every room herself, not only has excellent taste but has created a highly unique setting in which you can indulge yourself over a cocktail or a fine whisky while taking in some fabulous contemporary art.

The Bass Rock (Nocturne)
Oil on wood panel
74 x 74cm framed

Alongside some pretty huge and important works by the likes of John Bellany and Alan Davie, there’s a highly ecclectic mix of landscapes, figurative and abstract pieces that should pique the interest of any art enthusiast. I could easily have spent a day in there myself!

Dubh Artach
Oil on wood panel
74 x 74cm framed

For this first Graystone Gallery pop-up show a number of the walls have been rehung with works by around 20 contemporary artists from Scotland and beyond, including 9 by yours truly.

Where There Is Light
Oil on wood panel
78cm x 78cm framed

So if you love art and happen to be in Edinburgh this coming Thursday evening then you need to get along to the private view (details below)!

Rattray Head (Cirrus Clouds)
Oil on canvas
79 x79cm framed

If you can’t make that then the show will run until 2 Jan 2023. And, as you can see below, Lesley has also organised a number of events to run alongside this show, including an Artist’s Night, at which I and a couple of others will discuss our techniques and inspirations.

It all promises to be a very special feast for the eyes and one not to be missed this festive period!

House Music, a new album by Tom Baird

House Music by Tom Baird

I’m delighted to have one of my pieces used as the cover art for a fantastic new album by Scottish musician Tom Baird.

Tom got in touch with me last November, having spotted some of my work in a Facebook post by Braemar Gallery. At that point he was just finishing off the recordings and was looking for something different for the cover that would help illustrate the overall feel of his collection of new songs.

He particularly liked my Little Cottage series and East Neuk pictures and thought one of them would make a good cover. The album’s working title at this point was This Old Town, the name of one of the tunes, and he initially considered the East Neuk (Shooting Star) picture below for that.

East Neuk (Shooting Star)

But in the end it became House Music (Tom has a home recording studio and did all the work on the album there) and so it seemed a perfect fit to have one of my Little Cottage pictures to illustrate that. He felt Autumn Bothy By The Sea stood out because the yellow roof against the blue sky was particularly striking and, I have to say, I’m delighted with the final result!

House Music album back

The album has 12 great songs, all brilliantly written, performed and produced by Tom. It won’t be out until 10th June, but he kindly gave me a few copies and I’ve had it on repeat since getting it. I’ve been very impressed by the diversity and quality of all the album tracks, but my current favourite is the new single Peace Pipe. It’s short and snappy and a real belter of a tune, with a few surprising twists and turns in the music and also the philosophical (with a large dose of irony!) lyrics too. Several of Tom’s songs have been played regularly by Steve Lamacq on BBC 6 Music and on Radio Scotland and you can hear Peace Pipe and lots of his other excellent releases right now on Spotify.

I always fancied doing a book or an album cover so what an absolute privilege to have one of my pictures on the front of this great album by a very talanted songwriter!

Find out more about Tom and have a listen to his great music yourself by clicking the links below:

Tom Baird Bandcamp