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
I will have a few artist proofs available to buy soon and they can be reserved by contacting me directly. Click here to reserve yours now!
However, the first and original Super Moon is still available to buy here!
Super Moon
And, if you’re quick, you still have time to grab one before Christmas!
Better still, you can get 25% off the usual price using discount code BLACKFRIDAY
I thought I’d post a few pictures from my new studio here in Aberdeen. I’ve been working up here for a few months now and have really enjoyed getting back into painting with oils. Having my own studio again is wonderfully liberating, as I can work much more freely and splash the paint and thinners around without worrying about getting it all over my furniture at home! It’s also great to have all my work materials out of the house and to be able to find everything I need within arm’s reach.
I also became a member of the very highly regarded Peacock Print Studio earlier this year. Working there has been a real eye opener on many levels, and having the entire space to myself (thanks to Covid!) has felt like quite a privilege. But I’ll dedicate a post to all of that at a later date.
So, in the meantime, here are a few pictures of things I’ve been working on recently at my studio in Eagle House.
Rattray Head (WIP)
This first one (above) is an oil painting of Rattray Head Lighthouse, between Peterhead and Fraserburgh. Some of the pebbles in the foreground were carefully painted while others were literally lashed onto the canvas using a liner brush with a very runny mixture of oil paint and thinner.
This second Rattray Head picture is a larger version I decided to do after feeling quite happy with the first. Both need further fine tuning though. The lighthouse painting below it will be built up in painstakingly slow glazes to convey an altogether different mood using a different technique.
The following 5 pictures are the products of my end-of-the-day palate scrapings (as I like to call them). When I’m finished working on the main picture each day, I basically smear together all the colours left on my palate and add a little oil painting medium to produce what Whistler would call his ‘soup’. He would apply this liquid paint in streaks across his canvases to produce many of his nocturne paintings. This painterly ‘soup’ often produces the loveliest of greys which I then use as the ground for future paintings. These sky and beach pictures were done this past week from imagination and I’ve yet to decide how to finish them off.
Cloud and beach studies (WIP)
A rather messy corner of my studio
Bennachie (WIP)
The above picture is a quick sketch I did this week of beautiful Bennachie. I’ll work it up into a finished painting, but quite like the dreamy quality of it as it is. And below is another of Rattray Head from a different angle and then there’s Catterline, one of my favourite places to paint and to spend time.
Rattray Head and Catterline
So that’s what I’ve been doing this past week or two. Every week I intend to start a whole new batch of pictures and finish at least some from the previous weeks, and continue on in this vein for many years to come. So as long as I can keep my studio (and lungs and head!) free of turpentine fumes, I’ll also try to keep posting regular updates on what I’ve been working on and also where the work will be available to see and buy.
