Just a quick note to say there’s only 2 more days to see my solo show ‘Northern Lights‘ at Graystone Gallery in Stockbridge, Edinburgh.
Edinburgh Nocturne (Aurora)
There’s around 40 works in total, including several new oil paintings, etchings and Watercolours.
I’ve also included 3 different coloured versions of my Glitter Moon series of prints, each framed in non-reflective, museum-quality glass and currently available to buy only at Graystone Gallery.
Glitter Moons – Yellow, Blue and Pink, etching and screenprint – 69x80cm (framed individually)
The etchings have proved to be very popular, with A Hot Summer’s Day, Elie (seen below) having garnered 4 red dots so far. I have to thank Duncan MacMillan for his positive review in The Scotsman, describing my etchings as “certainly impressive”!
If you’d like a little more detail about the show and see a lot more pictures then I’ve written a blog post which can be found here. Or you can go directly to the gallery’s Northern Lights catalogue here.
Opening times are listed below:
Graystone GAllery OPENING TIMES
Mon-Tues: Viewings and private sales by appointment
A welcoming window display with my latest oil painting of Muckle Flugga (finishedand framed just hours before the show opened!)
And despite the inclement weather it turned out to be a busy private viewing, with people travelling from as far as Aberdeen, Glasgow and Fife for a first look at my latest work.
Over 40 of My Paintings & Prints on Show
With around 40 original pieces hanging across the gallery, it’s a real showcase of everything I’ve been working towards over the past 15 years.
The show is divided into three areas: oils, mixed media and etchings …
… with the pictures hung according to those groupings and in roughly equal numbers.
Bass Rock, oil on canvas 80x80cm framed
Edinburgh Nocturne, oil on canvas 98x98cm framed
The Bell Rock, oil on canvas 98x98cm framed
All in the name
I chose the title Northern Lights as it aptly reflects the nature and atmosphere of the majority of the work included in the exhibition. There are 12 oil paintings in the show, including the 3 above, which feature either Scottish lighthouses or shimmering twilight views across the Firth of Forth.
Glitter Moons – Yellow, Blue and Pink, etching and screenprint – 69x80cm (framed individually)
I’ve also included 3 original prints from my ‘luminous’ Glitter Moon series (above), as well as numerous colourful watercolours of Edinburgh and the East Neuk of Fife.
Dean Village (Sunset), mixed media – 79x97cm
The Old Town, (Twilight) mixed media – 73x87cm
It’s not all about light and colour, however. In my etchings I focus more on the details, marks and tones that help to give each of the prints something distinctly different from all of my other work. On one wall you’ll find various craggy Scottish mountains and ruined castles, including Ben Nevis and Dunnottar. These are accompanied by atmospheric cityscapes of Edinburgh’s Old Town, Victoria Street and Dean Village …
… while on the opposite wall are more etchings of seascapes, including the old piers at both Culross and Aberdour (both shown below).
I’ll be back at the gallery on 24 February (2-4pm) for an Artist Talk, where I’ll discuss how I made these paintings and prints and also inspirations. I’ll be happy to answer any questions you might have too.
So if you’d like to attend then please get in touch with gallery owner Lesley at: lesley@graystonegallery.com
Northern Lights is on show now at Graystone Gallery in Edinburgh’s gorgeous Stockbridge and continues until 10 March 2024. If you manage to get along to see it then please get in touch and let me know what you think at cliveramage@gmail.com
Some words from Graystone Gallery about the show …
“Look closely at the oil paintings in Northern Lights and you can sense a love of Whistler’s London nocturnes. Clive imbues his oils of lighthouses and the darker seascapes with that same feeling of delicate stillness and calm, building it with layer upon layer of transparent glazes …
The ramshackle buildings and highly detailed compositions and colour schemes of Schiele and Klimt’s landscapes have also had a big influence, which can be seen in the watercolours of coastal villages and Edinburgh in particular …
In each of Clive’s works, there is a tangible sense of yearning, of a desire to create something that is beautiful, yet distant or unattainable. It’s there in those city lights twinkling and beckoning the viewer from far across the Firth of Forth …
But there is also a drama at play in these atmospheric pieces that comes from a deeply felt need to create a perfectly constructed arrangement, or a harmonious symphony, out of the interplay between the land, the sea and the elements. Or, perhaps, the essence of Clive’s work is simply his attempt to try to capture and hold on to some long-sought feeling of calm and serenity.”
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!
The Urban, Land and Sea show at Heriot Gallery in Dundas Street, Edinburgh, closes this Saturday. I have several pieces in it inlucing these two large and colourful scenes of Dean Village, Edinburgh and North Berwick.
If you are in town the whole show is well worth a visit!
Dean Village (Sunset)
Click here for details and to see what’s in the show.
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.
The Bass Rock (Nocturne) Oil on wood panel 60x40cm £1450
Just over a week to see this amazing show of 70 pictures by 30 artist at Fidra Fine Art in Gullane. All of whom have been inspired by the sheer beauty of the Bass Rock.
Bass Rock
4 September to 3 October
Featuring:
Julia Albert-Recht, Claire Beattie, George Birrell, John Boak, Georgina Bown, Davy Brown, Dominique Cameron, Alan Connell, Ann Cowan, Fee Dickson, Matthew Draper, Michael Durning, Ronnie Fulton, Andy Heald, David E Johnston, John Johnstone, Suzanne Kirk, Simon Laurie, Neil Macdonald, Julia McNairn White, Rachel Marshall, Ann Oram, Clive Ramage, Gregory Rankine, Pen Reid, Pascale Rentsch, Arran Ross, Jayne Stokes, Astrid Trügg and Darren Woodhead.
It has cast its spell over artists and writers such as Turner and Robert Louis Stevenson. In the 17th century, it was dubbed Scotland’s Alcatraz following Cromwell’s invasion of Scotland. Now the Bass Rock, which sits a few miles off the coast of North Berwick in East Lothian, is to be the subject of our latest exhibition.
Around 30 artists have been invited to present their unique view of the famous volcanic plug, which is home to 350,000 seabirds, including over 150,000 gannets – the largest ‘single rock’ colony of northern gannets on earth.
It is an irresistible, imposing, brooding and beautiful muse for artists and it has inspired a fascinating and varied collection of work for this show.
The exhibition continues until Sunday 3 October, I hope you will be able to come and view the work “in the flesh”.
I have these two large pictures for sale at Gallery Heinzel’s upcoming Winter Show. Opens on the 9th Nov and runs until March 2020.
Three Views of The Bass Rock
Three Views of The Bass Rock Oil and gold leaf on gesso-primed hand-made paper (126x52cm framed)
The above painting has been over a year in the making. It glows and looks great in this frame with non-reflect art glass. The tiniest touch of gold leaf adds a very subtle beam and sparkle to each of the lighthouses. I’d liked to have kept this one for myself, but needs must!
Non-reflective glass allows more light and colour to bounce back from the picture rather than off the glass. This also means there’s no annoying reflections that prevent you seeing the picture properly. It’s very expensive but well worth the money and I’ll be using it more from now on.
This Harvest Moon etching is the 3rd variation I’ve made from a single copper plate. This edition is the result of a seemingly never-ending series of painful and time consuming trials with various ink colours (each pigment having its own peculiarities which can make or break a picture). I’m finally happy with this combination. Fellow printmakers have asked how I got the blackest ink and palest orange together without a gap or mixing the two. The simple answer is with great difficulty, as both colours are wiped onto (and off) the plate together for a single pressing. For every successful print two others went in the bin. This is by far the most difficult print I’ve ever made!
This is number 9/20 and is framed and available at the gallery, but there are more unframed copies available. I also have some Super Moons and only a very few Blue Moons left for sale. Contact Gallery Heinzel or myself directly if interested.
The show opens with a preview between 11-2pm at Gallery Heinzel this coming Saturday.
The year has only just begun but 2019 has proved to be pretty busy for me already. The recent Architectural Landscape show at Fidra Fine Art saw some of my work heading off to new homes and then I spent the remainder of February visiting lots of different galleries and delivering new paintings and etchings to some of them too. Details below …
Three Studies of The Bass Rock, oil and gold leaf (126x52cm framed)
But first, take a look at what’s currently on my easel. It has taken over a year on and off to get it finished with lots of thinly painted glazes, drying time in between and fine tuning. Then more glazes … etc etc! But all it needs now is my signature. Gold leaf has been used extremely sparingly, but there’s just enough to provide the subtlest suggestion of a beam of light coming from each of the lighthouses when viewed at a certain angle. If you are interested in owning this oil painting then please feel free to get in touch via the contact page or email me at:
cliveramage@gmail.com
Three Studies of the Bass Rock (detail left)
Three Studies of the Bass Rock (detail middle)
Three Studies of the Bass Rock (detail right)
February turned out to be a great month of sales. I was particularly happy to hear from Marchmont Gallery that 3 of my differently coloured moon etchings had been bought by one client to be hung alongside each other. That made my day as they were bought only a couple of days after being dropped off and it was the first time I’ve had all 3 moon variations for sale at the same time. (If you happen to be the new owner and read this then I’d love a photo of them on your wall if possible – and thank you for buying them too, of course!).
Towards Arthur’s Seat (34x25cm)
I also recently begun to sell limited-edition, signed Giclee prints with Aquila Gallery in Jeffrey Street, Edinburgh. They have the above and following 2 pictures for sale at the moment, but more will follow soon. Marchmont Gallery also have these pictures and I’ll be dropping off more moon etchings there as soon as they are all hot off the press and dry (a week or 2 from now).
The Old Town, Edinburgh (65x50cm)
Dean Village, Edinburgh (65x50cm)
Lastly, Morningside Gallery, also in Edinburgh, have a selection of my latest acrylic paintings for sale, including a recent one of the Bell Rock Lighthouse, along with some East Neuk of Fife and Edinburgh pictures. Click the link to see what’s available there.
That’s all my news for now.
I’m about to start on a new series of works and will keep you updated here as things take shape. I’ll also be contacting a number of galleries who’s collections and artists I’ve admired for a while, and hopefully I’ll have work available in some of them soon too. Watch this space!
I’m very happy to have had the above etching hung at this year’s Society of Scottish Artists Annual Open Exhibition, which is being held at the RSA building on The Mound, Edinburgh. The show will run from 23rd Dec-17 Jan 2019.
I’ve also had my work shown in 2 other prestigious annual exhibitions held at the RSA this year, the RSA and RSW. So it’s been a great year on that front, but I’m hoping 2019 will be my best yet.
The new year will kick off with a show at Fidra Fine Art, Gullane, on the 25th of January, where 6 new paintings will be shown alongside works by 5 other artists who specialise in architectural landscapes, including my friend Ann Oram and some other artists I’ve yet to meet (George Birrell, Ann Cowan, Amy Dennis and Allan J Robertson). I’ve been working flat out on these pictures for the past few weeks and will post some of them here in due coarse.
In the meantime, thank you to all those of you who have supported me and my work this year and every other so far with your purchases and with your encouragement! I hope you all have a wonderful Christmas and a very Happy New Year!
It’s been a while since I last posted anything here but that doesn’t mean I haven’t been keeping busy. In fact, it’s because I have been so busy that I haven’t had a chance to get near my website to update it.
During the past few months I’ve taken to painting with acrylics on wood panels primed with gesso and I have to say that, despite not being one for regrets, I wish I’d done so much earlier. I love it!
The above painting of the Bass Rock (always a favourite subject of mine) is my first painting using acrylics and below is the second. I’ll continue to paint with oils for certain things, but for the time being acrylics are the way forward! Painting with them is so much quicker and easier for me and I can’t tell the difference in the end result. I always struggled with the fumes involved with turpentine, not to mention the sometimes ridiculously long drying times, which often mean waiting days if not weeks before the next colours could be layered on top of previous ones. I’m quite an impatient and impulsive person at the best of times and I like to work with a certain immediacy backed by intuition and feel, then step back to assess the results before getting on with the next stage. And because I like to work in layers across the whole picture the fast-drying nature of acrylic paint suits both my temperament and working methods perfectly.
Bass Rock (Pink) Acrylic on plywood 66x36cm
I imagine the reason it took me so long to give them a go was because of the significant expense I’d already laid out on oil paint and the sundry materials required to get the best from them. It also meant a large initial investment in all my usual colours of artist-quality paints in the new binding medium (the pigments are exactly the same and isn’t that what really counts?!).
I think there’s also a certain historical stigma or bias (even snobbery?) attached to various methods and painting media – within the artistic community and among collectors, the public at large etc – which has meant that oil paint is sometimes seen to be king and the other binding agents are classed somewhere lower down the pigment-carrying rankings. And while there’s an obvious difference in the look and feel of a pastel, an oil or a watercolour painting of the same subject, I don’t really see much difference in the quality between oils and acrylics. I never really understood why say watercolour is often seen as a very poor relation when some of the finest artworks ever created were done in that medium (Albrecht Dürer’sYoung Hare, for example). But maybe I’ve been guilty myself of a little snobbery on that front too in the past. No more!
But the other big change for me has been using good quality plywood, which has a lovely grain and firm surface and is a pleasure to layer paint on, thick or thin. (I never had a great love for the ‘giving’ nature of canvas!) Adding gesso as a primer allows even more texture for creating interesting marks and runs of thin paint, which I also love to do.
So I’ve just primed a stack of plywood ready for painting a series of Bass Rocks of various colours and moods. The above ones are the first of many to come and they will be available for sale later this week at the 2018 Art Friends of St Columbus Hospice show, details of which can be found below.
