etchings – Page 3 – Clive Ramage Art

A Certain Symmetry at SSA Open 2016

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).

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

New work to be exhibited at The Quay Gallery, Aberdour

4 Paintings for Quay Gallery — 6 New Paintings for Quay Gallery

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 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.

The other four paintings are done over 2 etchings of East Neuk scenes. Again, watercolour base with pastel and gouache for the buildings.

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!!

Dean Village (No. 4) & the Macmillan Art Show 2016

Dean Village Dusk — Dean Village (Copper Roofs) 67x50cm – mixed media

Here’s my latest in the Dean Village hand-finished etching series. This one, the forth in the series, took by far the longest to complete, but I think there is more fine detail and a greater variety of colours in this than any of the other 3 completed so far. I used copper acrylic paint to give some of the rooftops more lustre and if you look very closely you might see some gold dust stars in the night sky.

I’m taking a break from this project now to work on a large-scale oil painting of the Bank of Scotland building, which sits atop The Mound in Edinburgh. This particular building has always been one of my favourites in the city and it helps to make that Old Town skyline one of the best in the world (to my mind anyway).

Here’s how it’s looking after the first wash of colours. A very long way to go as you can see.

Macmillan Art Show 2016

I’m delighted to have had an etching accepted for the 2016 Macmillan Art Show. This takes place at Bonhams between 25-28th August and further details can be found in Scottish Art Scene article below (click the link to view the pdf). My etching of Arthurs Seat & Calton Hill is featured in the article, along with a short blurb about how it was made. Some of the other artists who’s works are also going to be on show are also featured.

http://scottish-art-scene.com/2016.Edinburgh.Macmillan.Art.Show.pdf

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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

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.

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.

Making Headlines

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.

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.

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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.

Northern Lights – Now showing at Fire Station Creative, Dunfermline

Here are a selection of some of the paintings currently on show at Fire Station Creative. All are for sale.

The Bass Rock Lighthouse (80x80cm, Oil on Canvas)

Stromness Lighthouse (50x50cm, oil on Canvas with Gold Leaf) SOLD

The Bell Rock, Blue and Gold(60x60cm, Oil on Canvas) SOLD

East NeuShoreline at Cellardyke (40x120cm, oil on Canvas) SOLD

East Neuk Cottages Awaiting the Turn of The Tide series (40x120cm, Oil on Canvas)

St Monans Harbour (Red Boats) (40x120cm, Oil on Canvas)

Bass Rock Nocturne (40x50cm, Oil on Board with Gold Leaf)

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Edinburgh Art Fair

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!

Hope to see you there!

Clive