St Monans Harbour (Sunset) mixed media over etching (framed size 55x36cm)
ArTay 2018
Next week sees the return of ArTay, an exhibition featuring over 60 artists and more than 300 works of art curated and hosted by Frames Gallery, Perth. The event is part of The Perth Festival of The Arts and runs from 17th- 20th May in a marquee beside the Perth Concert Hall.
As well as the painting above, I will be showing the 3 pictures included below, all of which are for sale.
Bass Rock Light, oil on canvas (framed size 92x92cm)St Monans, mixed media over etching (framed size 36x30cm)The Old Pier, Aberdour, etching & aquatint (framed size 45x37cm)
Green Gallery, Dollar
I also currently have work for sale at Green Gallery in the lovely Clackmannashire village of Dollar, including the paintings shown below. It’s a lovely place and Dollar and Castle Campbell on the hill above it are well worth a visit on a sunny day.
The Old Town, Morning Sunshine, mixed media over etching (framed size 90x74cm)South Queensferry, mixed media over etching (framed size 49x39cm)
I have a few pieces in this show at the lovely Strathearn Gallery including these 2 above and below. It’s on until 21st May, so do drop in tomorrow for the opening or before the show closes in a month.
Tobermory, 65x25cm, mixed media over line etching
Quay Gallery
I also have new work on show at The Quay Gallery, Aberdour, including this large oil of The Bass Rock (a favourite subject!).
The Bass Rock (Sunset) 80x80cm, oil on canvas
Studio Move
The other news is that I have left Fire Station Creative and will no longer be taking part in exhibitions or open studios at there. I will, however, be opening my new studio doors (in Edinburgh) to the public at some point in the future, so keep an eye out for news on that front.
And Finally …
Many thanks to those who visited the recent show at Gallery at Fifty Five in Stonehaven. The feedback was fantastic and I look forward to exhibiting there again in 2018.
Until then, I’ll be working on new pieces including more versions of the 2 hand-painted etchings above and those I’ve done of Edinburgh and the East Neuk, along with more oils based on my recent travels to Yorkshire, Cornwall and Northumberland. There will no doubt be a few more lighthouse paintings and new etchings in the pipeline too.
There’s more to report as far as exhibitions coming up are concerned and an exciting piece of news (for me at east!) about my work featuring in a new glossy magazine … but I’ll leave that for next time.
You can always find more updates and pictures of my latest works in progress etc by following me on:
Just finished these 6 new paintings and will be taking to the framer in edinburgh later this week. They’re off to the Quay Gallery in Aberdour, Fife, in a week or 2 and each is a hand-coloured etching painted in a variety of ways.
The one on the right, The Old Town, Edinburgh, is 65x50cm and was only just finished this morning. It has a watercolour base for the sky and buildings and the hard work was done with my recently aquired Faber & Castell pastel pencils. These were bought on Ebay by accident as I thought I was getting watercolour pencils (I hit the bid button in a bit of a panic to win them). Anyway, I’m glad I did because they are fantastic!
The Old Town, Edinburgh (2)
The middle painting, the 4th in my Dean Village series, is maianly watercolour over etching with a little copper acrylic for some of the roofs. It’s roughly the same size as Old Town.
Dean Village, Dusk (copper roofs)
The other four paintings are done over 2 etchings of East Neuk scenes. Again, watercolour base with pastel and gouache for the buildings.
East Neuk Paintings
If you have the time do go to the Quay Gallery in Aberdour. It’s a beautiful gallery and just happens to be in one of the loveliest seaside towns in Scotland. But wait a week or two!!
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.
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.
With my painting The Bass Rock Light
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.
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.
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!
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.
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.
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!
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, EdinburghSt Monans HarbourSuper MoonThe North Face, Ben Nevis
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.
