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
Just a quick post to wish you all a very Happy New Year!
In my newly set up studio at Langstane Place, Aberdeen
I am especially grateful to those of you who have very kindly supported me by purshcasing my work this past year and in previous years too! Every single painting and print that you buy really does help me to continue to keep making new work, and for that I am extremely grateful! And, while I love what I do, it’s not always easy to keep going, especially in this economic climate.
Pam helping me out (as she always does!) in the new studio
But very special thanks must be given to my truly wonderful, kind and ever-supportive partner Pam. Without her help in so many ways, without her great patience, kindness and generosity and her all-round gorgousness life would simply be so much harder indeed! I love you Pammy and want to say the biggest !!THANK YOU!! from the bottom of my heart for everything you have done and still do for me! You really are the best!!
There’s plenty more to write about just now and I’ll post a fuller update on my recent studio move and some upcoming solo shows very soon. But in the meantime, I wish you all a very Happy New Year and here’s to a highly creative, productive, successful and – not least – fun-filled 2023!
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
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)
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!
I am delighted to be showing two recently finished large oil paintings for the first time with Ballater Gallery at this weekend’s Aberdeen Art Fair (details below)
Dunnottar Castle
Dunnottar Castle – oil on canvas – 80x80cm (unframed size)
Dunnottar Castle is quite possibly THE perfect landscape painter’s subject. Sitting atop a magestic outcrop of rusty red sandstone, surrounded by constantly changing seas and skies, it’s sheer immensity and magnificence are breathtaking – the scene simply demands to be painted!
My favourite place to paint!
The above painting is the view from the little bridge that spans the deep gully and leads to the cliffs on the western side of the castle. Those cliffs have also been a favourite haunt of mine over the past few months and are a great spot to paint en plein air (below).
Me painting en plein air at Dunnottar Castle
After spending several months working on this particular painting – and trying do the scene the justice it deserves – it will be great to see it hanging at the Aberdeen Art Fair (AAF) from this Friday.
Muckle Flugga (Old Norse Mikla Flugey, meaning “large steep-sided island”) is the northernmost point of the British Isles and, in my own humble opinion, has to be one of the most dramatic lighthouse locations on Earth.
I hope to have captured something of the rugged nature of the rock itself, but also of the precariousness of that lonely lighthouse perched upon it. The perpetual crashing of great ocean waves has done little to change this scene since the lighthouse was built in 1854. But nothing lasts for ever – apart from oil paintings hopefully!
Tomorrow marks the start of the Pittenweem Arts Festival (6-13th August) and I’m very happy to be taking part alongside fellow members of Fife Dunfermline Printmakers Workshop. I’m looking forward to seeing all the work we have on show at the preview this evening.
All are welcome to come along tonight for an early viewing between 6.30-9pm at Lesser Church Hall, James St, Pittenweem.
Dunnottar Castle
Above are 2 of the large framed prints I have in the show, St Monans and Dunnottar Castle. Both etchings were produced in July especially for this event.
I’ll also be showing my Blue Moon etching (below). There are only a few left from this very limited edition of 20 numbered prints, so if you want to own one you best hurry to bag yours!
Blue Moon
I have a few other mounted prints available from the venue including the following, all of which are fairly local to the area:
A Hot Summer’s Day, ElieThe Old Wooden Pier, CulrossEdinburgh CastleThe Old Iron Pier, Aberdour
If you can get to Pittenweem during the festival you will find art filling the streets and almost every home above the beautiful harbour and beyond. It’s a fantastic event and well worth the trip for a great day out!
Where There Is Light, oil on wood panel – 78cm x 78cm (framed)
After 2 year’s absence from the art show calendar, I really can’t wait for arTay 2022, which opens at 10am in Perth this coming Thursday 19th May and runs until 7.30pm on Sunday 22nd.
Every May, and as if by magic, a large marquee appears next to Perth’s Concert Hall and is filled to the brim with a great assortment of fantastic artworks.
Dubh Artach, oil on wood panel – 75x75cm (framed)
But all the real magic is what’s on show inside the marquee!
With more than 70 artists taking part and a few hundred pictures to hang and label, it’s a challenge to get it all done and looking great in just a few hours. It’s not all hard work though and there’s always a great atmosphere, with Hugh and his team making it all the more fun by providing lots of coffee and cakes to keep us all going until the show is hung. Remarkably – considering the often competative nature of a typical ‘hang’, and with so many artistic egos to be found in one relatively small compass – I have yet to witness a punch up!
Rattray Head, oil on canvas – 57cm x 57cm (framed)
As well as helping to hang the show on Wednesday, I’m also very much looking forward to catching up with lots of artist friends and maybe matching some new faces to familiar pictures and names too.
So these are the four paintings I’ll have in the show. Three fairly large atmospheric lighthouse oils and my latest dreamscape (or ‘longing’) painting of Edinburgh, as seen at night from across the Firth of Forth.
[Contact Hugh at Frames Gallery, Perth for more details, or if you would like to reserve one of these paintings. Tel: 01738 631085]
Edinburgh Nocturne, oil on canvas – 95x95cm (framed)=
If you happen to be in or near Perth then do come along and see a huge variety of great work by some of the country’s best artists. Along with many of the other artists, I’ll be at the ‘arTay Party’ preview on Friday 20th from 6pm.
Hope to see some of you there too!
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:
