Yesterday afternoon I went into the Studio to sort out some things and the sky above Dundee was looking really dramatic. It made me think of the challenge I have set the students at St Andrews Art Club. I have asked them to do pastel studies of the sky and promised I would be doing it too. This started out as a sky study then I couldn’t stop and continued painting trying to capture the fleeting light.
Last week during our lovely spell of sunny weather I did some outdoor painting. I did the study in ink one day. Inspired by that I got my pastels together to do some field work. It was great to be working outside. I watched a fox cross the field in front of me he was oblivious of me painting away.
Here is a study I did at the cottage in Southampton, Canada. This was the view from the patio. Lovely to look out over the lake and bask in the warm sun and to hear the Canadian geese overhead. There were birds like humming birds, woodpeckers and nuthatches moving about around us. This year I had an art show at the cottage. It was great to show my work in Canada. I have been travelling there to visit my brother and family over the past 30 years. I always find inspiration for my painting from my trips.
I celebrated 10 years at the Pittenweem Arts Festival and this year we were blessed with great weather. Our cat Xena was able to come with us and join us each day at the venue. She did have to spend some time inside but kept an eye on things. Here are some photographs taken during the Festival.
I had some new work in black and white, this painting attracted a lot of attention.
Talking about attracting attention – Xena on display for her fans!
One evening after dinner we got a treat of a fantastic rainbow right over the harbour.
End of the Festival and packing up, what would we do without the wheelbarrow!?
This is a painting of a view I love where we live. It is a short walk from the house. The light is always changing which adds to a certain sense of drama. This is a good spot to do sketching and painting weather permitting!
This pastel painting was started with a watercolour undercoat in strong complimentary colours. I love the various shadows you see in sand dunes at different times of the day.
I have just finished this studio painting. This was inspired from sketches I did in Pittenweem on a really sunny and windy day. I chose this compostition from the previous oil studies I posted.
I did these three tonal studies after a visit to Pittenweem. I referred to my sketch book to capture the feeling of the place. It was after a storm hence the large waves. I used black and white oil paint and two other tones mixed from the black and white. I have to decide which ones to work on for a larger painting. I can’t decide.
I am still thinking of Summer despite the zero degrees last night, it is warm in the studio. I stumbled across this lovely display of wild flowers just outside Balmullo, Fife. They have been in my mind since then and it is good to get my feeling of the scene on paper.
This small painting was done as preparation for a landscape demonstration at the St Andrews Art Club.