Royal Scottish Academy Open 2017 etc

Dean Village, Edinburgh (Sunset)

I’m delighted that my latest Dean Village hand-painted etching (Sunset) has been accepted to be exhibited at the Royal Scottish Academy Annual Open 2017.  It’s the 4th in a series of 10, each of which depicts the scene at a different time of day or season.

I’m especially pleased that this painting was accepted as I think it it’s the best piece of work I have done to date. It’s certainly the one I’m most satisfied with, insofar as it’s the closest I’ve gotten to achieving what I had in mind when I began the series last year. I’m also really pleased to have work in this particular RSA Open as it’s on during the Edinburgh Festival, so it’s going to be very busy.

I won’t make it to the opening of the exhibition unfortunately, but I’ll look forward to seeing the exhibition when I return from my summer holiday. I’m off to Belgium and Holland to get up close and personal with all my favourite paintings by artists like Bosch, Brueghel, Avercamp, Rembrandt and Vermeer. I’m especially looking forward to going back to the Rijksmuseum which was mostly closed for refurbishment the last time I visited, so I only saw a fraction of the artworks they normally have on show. 

I’m currently reading the weighty Van Gogh, The Life tome and so this is also going to be a bit of an artistic pilgrimage to the places where he lived, worked and painted in those 2 countries. I’m hoping to come back brimming with ideas and inspiration and, despite the huge amount of anticipation I have for going on this trip, I’m already looking forward to getting back to work when I return.

I’ll try and post a few pictures from my trip here and on my Instagram page, so watch this space.

Pittenweem Arts Festival

On another note, I just delivered a batch of etchings and paintings to The Coach House Gallery in Pittenweem, which will be on show there during the Pittenweem Art Festival.  So drop in for a look if you’re planning a visit (which runs between 5-12th August). And if you haven’t been to Pittenweem or the festival before then it’s well worth the trip. The village is stunning and the interiors of some of the houses perched on the hill above the harbour are well worth a visit in their own right. There’s over 100 artists showing, as well as music and other events so there’s plenty to see and do.

Happy Holidays!!

Exhibitions and Other News

Museum on The Mound, 65x25cm, mixed media over line etching

Here’s a quick update on a few things that have happened recently and will be happening over the next few weeks.

Grand Art

Grand Art Exhibition opens tomorrow at Strathearn Gallery, Crieff

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
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:

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/cliveramageartist/?hl=en

Facebook: https://m.facebook.com/clive.ramageart.9?ref=bookmarks

 

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Exhibition News

20 Hand-painted etchings of Edinburgh & the East Neuk of Fife
20 Hand-painted etchings of Edinburgh & the East Neuk of Fife

Here’s some news about some upcoming exhibitions.

I’m happy to say I have a number of exhibitions in the pipeline for this year and this lot of newly framed work will be heading off to a gallery near you in the coming week. I’ll have some of this work in the Gallery at Fifty Five Spring show opening in Stonehaven on 4th March.

There’s also arTay during Perth Festival of the Arts which takes place in May, and either side of that I’ll have work in the Pittenweem Arts & Galleries Weekend along with fellow Fire Station resident artists in April, and at the Fire Station Creative gallery which will be happening around Open Studios time in June. I’ll post the specifics for all of these nearer the times.

In the meantime, I’ll be working mainly on new oil paintings and etchings, including lots based on my recent Cornwall, Devon and East Lothian trips in the campervan.

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A Certain Symmetry at SSA Open 2016

 

A Certain Symmetry
A Certain Symmetry (the print with lines dusted out of each design by Steven)

A little bit of background on the project Steven Blench designed and I printed as an etching and which has been included at the SSA open exhibition this year. It was great to get the piece on the front cover of the exhibition catalogue and also hung up at the entrance to the show as a huge blow up on vinyl.

Steven and his wife Ffion design and make plasterworks including highly ornate cornices and ceiling roses, among other things. They were to exhibit some of their work in Edinburgh earlier this year and Steven asked me if I had any ideas as to how they could render what they do in a 2D format to hang in a frame alongside their other work.

I pictured an etching featuring several of Steven’s ceiling rose designs as a good way to show off the incredible detail at it’s best. Etching on copper gives a very precise line and Steven’s designs obviously required a huge amount of accuracy. So I prepared a large piece of copper plate onto which Steven enscribed his designs before I etched it and ran off a couple of prints.

We hoped to get something we could at least hang in that exhibition, but when the print was pulled it was probably much better than either of us had expected (see top picture). Steven and I agreed that this could be an interesting collaboration with more prints to come as a sideline to what we normally do. He took one of the prints home and, a couple of days later, came back with it having dusted down some lines and areas leaving the final design more prominent (bottom left).

close-up-of-design-2
Close up of middle left design in the top photo with chalked out lines

This process informs the next, which is to render the 2D design into a 3D plasterwork (top photo).

plasterwork
The final plasterwork of the middle right design in the top photo

The print was exactly what we had hoped for but then one of those happy accidents occured that added that something extra to the final piece. I’d been keen to show the prints to Steven asap, so they hadn’t been allowed to dry properly. I resoaked and dried them out on an old piece of plywood, not realising there was a residue of sepia watercolour on it. This soft tone bled out across the wet paper giving the prints a lovely ‘antique’ feel.

Prints are available from the RSA building on Princes Street until 24/11/16
£260 unframed (£350 framed)

See link for exhibition details: SSA 2016 Exhibition

See more of Steven and Ffion’s work at: Chalk Plaster Design: Our Story

Charity Exhibitions – A Great Way For Artists To Exhibit!

Dean Village at Dusk (Blue & Green) 67x50cm
Dean Village at Dusk (Blue & Green) 67x50cm – SOLD at St Columbas Hospice charity event

I was delighted to sell this painting of Dean Village at Dusk along with a Super Moon aquatint this weekend and help to raise some funds in the process for St Columbas Hospice in Edinburgh. I recently finished the painting below (Dean Village Sunset) which will be up for sale later this month along some more of my work in support of Maggie’s Cancer Care. The way I see it, working with charities like this is a ‘win win’ way of exhibiting my work.

Selling art through charity exhibitions is a fantastic way to increase both the profile of artists and the charities and I would love to see more of this kind of opportunity for both to work together. It works the same way galleries do, in that the charity takes a percentage commission for any sales made. So the artist still gets paid appropriately for their work, but the charity makes money too. I know many galleries are struggling in today’s tough economic climate, and art can be seen as a luxury, but if those who appreciate art feel like they’re also helping to give something back to society while getting something that they can cherish forever then that is a real double whammy for all concerned! Not to mention the important point that any sale helps to promote art and artists and to encourage them to continue to do what they and hopefully some others love.

I’ll certainly be looking out for more opportunities to sell my work via charity exhibitions in future. Watch this space!

Dean Village Sunset (Pink & Blue) 67x50cm
Dean Village Sunset (Pink & Blue) 67x50cm

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

 

Detail of Dean Village
Detail of Dean Village

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.

Edinburgh's Old Town
Edinburgh’s Old Town
Dean Village, Edinburgh
Dean Village, Edinburgh

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

 

‘Super Moon’ at Society of Scottish Artists (SSA) 2015 Exhibition

I am delighted to have had this piece, ‘Super Moon’ (etching and aquatint, image size 48x58cm) accepted for the 118th Society of Scottish Artists Open Exhibition. It runs from 21st Dec-18th Jan 2016 and is held in in the galleries on the top floor of the Royal Scottish Academy on Princes Street, Edinburgh.

Super Moon
Super Moon

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
St Monans Harbour
St Monans Harbour
Super Moon
Super Moon
The North Face, Ben Nevis
The North Face, Ben Nevis