oil painting – Clive Ramage Art

Ballater Gallery “Small Paintings” goes live tonight at 6pm!

Moray Village (iii) 5×7” Acrylic & ink on wood panel £380

David and the team at Ballater Gallery have been hard at work curating a unique show featuring over 250 ‘small but beautiful’ artworks from around 40 of Scotland’s most renowned artists.

SMALL IS BEAUTIFUL … and affordable!

With most prices being around the £250-£500 price range, this promises to be a hugely popular and successful show. Small Paintings opens officially on Friday 29 November. However, the catalogue goes live tonight (27th) at 6pm and all paintings can be purchased directly from it then and in advance of the show opening.

Moray Village (iv) 5×7” Acrylic & ink on wood panel £380

Each piece has been painted especially for the show and is “postcard-sized” (or thereabouts!) — and unframed — to help keep prices affordable. So this is a great way to start an art collection, or an opportunity to buy a piece by an artist whose work usually commands far higher prices. And if you’re looking for an extra special Christmas present, or to treat yourself because you do deserve it then … click here!

Moray Village (i) 5×7” Acrylic & ink on wood panel £380

MY CONTRIBUTION

I’ve contributed six newly finished pieces, including some vibrant village scenes of the Moray coast (see above), painted with ink and acrylics on wood panels and finished with a gloss varnish for added depth and shine.

The other two are part of my Gale Force series of stormy seascapes, featuring crashing waves and lighthouses in rich, impasto oil textures on canvas.

Opening Night

David is kicking things off at The Viewing Room in Aberdeen this Friday 29th November from 6-8pm. With so much variety and so many paintings on show, this will be a fascinating exhibition! All are welcome to go along on the night and enjoy a glass of champagne while viewing this fantastic collection of stunning small works.

Small Paintings is on for the whole of next week, but if you can’t make it in person you can view the entire catalague online right now by clicking this link. (See my works on pages 16-17)

How to get there

Small Paintings
Ballater Gallery
The Viewing Room
25b Spa Street
Aberdeen
AB25 1PU

New Work at Ballater Gallery

These three paintings went off to the wonderful Ballater Gallery this weekend. Between them I think they give a fair representation of the kind of work I’ve been doing lately.

Bennachie, oil on canvas (24×12” unframed) – buzzard or seagull?

Bennachie is possibly Aberdeenshire’s most prominent and, among the locals, favourite hill. It’s a fairly easy walk through a seemingly enchanted woodland, before steepening significantly towards the top. With it’s very distinctive torr (known as Mither Tap) it’s a hill that can be easily spotted from just about every other hilltop in the Grampians.

I’ve never seen such an abundance and variety of mushrooms and toadstools as I found under its lower slopes last autumn, and I can’t wait to get back up there on a hot summer’s day. It’s a magical place and I hope to have captured a little of that in this newly finished oil painting of the view as seen from across fields ripe and ready for harvest near Inverurie.

Bell Rock (Nocturne) oil on wood panel (24×24” unframed) – Arbroath’s flickering lights far right – SOLD 🔴

The Bell Rock lighthouse is one of my favourite subjects for so many reasons. I grew up in Arbroath, from where Robert Stevenson and his team planned then carved the dovetailed stones to build this 36m high wonder of the industrial world. They then shipped them 11 miles across often very dangerous seas to the reef and, when complete, it became the very first rock-based lighthouse in the world. It took the full 3 years between 1807-10 to build and that was no mean feat, considering the base is fully submerged every high tide and also for much of the remainder of each day.

While this very spot has set the stage for many a tragedy (including scores of shipwrecks and even a helicopter crash in 1955; the rotars hit the anaeometer on top of the tower) I have tried to capture it at a more serene, benevolent moment. The brilliant beam flashes out across 18 nautical miles every 5 seconds to warn passing ships of the very real dangers that lie just a few inches beneath those calm, dark waters.

Dean Village (Twilight), mixed media over etching (26×20” unframed) – over 500 individual window panes, I’ve counted!

Dean Village in Edinburgh is another favourite place of mine, as I’m sure it must be for many. It’s a view that will be very familiar to anyone walking or driving across the Dean Bridge as they enter the city centre from the north. Looking over the bridge at the myriad jumble of buildings your eyes are met with seemingly countless windows. I like to imagine the lives of all those others who might be gazing dreamily back out from each and every one of them.

I’ve painted this scene several times, each version capturing the same place, but at a different time of day and giving the same composition a completely different feel or atmosphere.

My partner Pam providing a little scale …

Heriot Gallery Winter Show

Just a quick update to say I am very excited to be working with Heriot Gallery in Dundas Street, Edinburgh. They recently got in touch to say they admired my work and requested some for their current Winter Show.

The Old Town, Edinburgh (Twilight), Mixed media 65×50 (image size)

So I delivered these paintings yesterday and very much looking forward to continuing to work with owners Angela and Lorna. I haven’t shown any work in Edinburgh since moving to Aberdeen earlier this year, so it’s great to have some of my locally-inspired pieces available in the Capital once again.

Ramsay Garden (ii), Mixed media 60x18cm (image size)

The show runs until 29th Jan 2022, after which I’ll also be including new work in their follow-up exhibition Land & Sea in February 2022.

Dean Village, Edinburgh, Mixed media 65×50 (image size)

I’m currently working on some new Edinburgh-based oil paintings for that, so watch this space for further details … !

St Monans (Blue & Red Boat With Smoking Chimneys), 35x15cm (image size)

Bass Rock show at Fidra Fine Art, Gullane. Only 1 week left!

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”.

arTay 2020 is online now … and you can see and buy 2 of my paintings there!

Here’s a quick note to tellk you about two paintings I have available to buy at arTay 2020. It’s an online only show, of course, but still runs for just 4 days (ending on Sunday 31st May). So you best get in quick if you want to buy one of these two or something else from one of the 80 artists also showing.

And here’s a link to what’s available and more details.

Dubh Artach Lighthouse (Nocturne), acrylic on wood panel 67x68cm in frame

St Monans, acrylic on wood panel 108x70cm in frame

Pictures available from Marchmont Gallery & #ArtistSupportPledge

There’s no lockdown on art!

It’s been great to sell some of my work directly via the #artistsupportpledge on Instagram recently. And I’m very excited to unwrap my first pledge purchase today. I bought it having reached £1000 in sales through the scheme and, as promised, I’ll also be sending £100 to Dunfermline Food Bank this week. (See below for more details on how it all works.)

Despite the Covid19 lockdown, I do still have paintings and prints available to buy from Marchmont Gallery, Edinburgh. It’s currently closed to the public, but my pictures can still be viewed and purchased there online.

Click the link below to browse the brochure from my recent solo and contact the gallery if there’s something that takes your fancy.

From Edinburgh to The Moon brochure Download

Marchmont Gallery contact details:

info@marchmontgallery.com

0131 228 8228

56 Warrender Park Rd

Edinburgh, EH9 1EX

And here’s a little more info on Artists Support Pledge

Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, many artists have found themselves without work, teaching, technical support and gallery work. Exhibitions and sales have disappeared. ARTIST SUPPORT PLEDGE is an attempt to help alleviate some of this.

The concept is a simple one. Artists post images of their work, on Instigram which they are willing to sell for no more than £200 each (not including shipping). Anyone can buy the work. Every time an artist reaches £1000 of sales, they pledge to spend £200 on another artist/s work.

Search for pictures using #artistsupportpledge; or use the same tag to sell your own work. Simple!

Marchmont Gallery Solo Show Preview is a Blast!

The preview gets under way

After a busy few months of painting, I had the opening of my solo show at Marchmont Gallery last Sunday. It was a fantastic afternoon and stayed busy throughout, with a number of people taking away paintings and prints. It was great to have so many people come along and I’d like to say a big “Thank You!” to all those who made it and to all at Marchmont Gallery for being great hosts!

Some of my paintings at Marchmont Gallery

I’ll be topping up the show over the coming weeks, but had to take a week off to recover from the inevitable post-show cold that kept me in bed for days afterwards. I have been thinking about what’s to come though and can’t wait to get back to the easel on Monday.

On the painting front, I’ve been really enjoying using acrylics on larger-scale plywood panels and have prepared 2 new ones to get started on. As is the case with these, I often like to use the golden ratio to determine picture dimensions and sometimes compositional elements too; here’s a recent example below, but there are others in the Marchmont show.

I am hoping to get away soon in my campervan to explore some new areas I haven’t painted before. Possibly a trip to Orkney or even further afield. The Faroe Islands are top of my list for etching inspiration and I can see a lot of printmaking happening over the summer months if I make it there.

If you get along to the show, do get in touch and let me know your thoughts. It’s always great to get any kind of feedback!

From Edinburgh (and Perth!) to The Moon

It’s been a very productive start to 2020 and I have two new shows coming up this month. There’s my solo show From Edinburgh To The Moon at Marchmont Gallery, which previews on Sunday 16th Feb. And I’ll also be taking part in a printmaking show at Frames Gallery, opening this Friday. All details below …

The Old Town (Crescent Moon) will be on Show at Marchmont Gallery

From Edinburgh to The Moon

I’m currently putting the finishing touches to the last few paintings that will be included in my solo show at Marchmont Gallery and titled From Edinburgh To The Moon. It’ll be a selection of recent mixed-media paintings (including these below) of Edinburgh and Scottish coastal scenes, as well as some hand-made etchings and prints. I will have at least 25 original pieces large and small hanging and can’t wait to see how they look as a collection. You are most welcome to come along to the opening on the 16th (1-4pm) where I’ll be happy to chat about my work and answer any questions. There will also be drinks and nibbles!

Solo Exhibition – Marchmont Gallery, Edinburgh (Preview 16 Feb 1-4pm, all welcome!)
Runs until 22 March.

Cellardyke
The Royal Mile
St Monans
St Monans Harbour
Dean Village (Sunset)
St Monans (Blue and Red Boat)

Fife Dunfermline Printmakers Workshop at Frames Gallery

This Friday 7th marks the opening of the Fife Dunfermline Printmakers Workshop exhibition at the lovely Frames Gallery in Perth. The preview is from 6-8pm and there will be around 80 works including a great variety of printmaking techniques and a huge array of subject matter produced by my talented colleagues at the workshop in Dunfermline. I have the following 4 pieces in the show and, altogether, it looks like a fantastic exhibition of work. So go along if you’re in the Perth area and we’ll maybe see you on Friday.

Frames Gallery, Perth (Preview 6-8pm, all welcome!)
Runs until 29 February.

Dean Village (Sunrise) 65x50cm
St Monans, 18.5×11.5cm
Blue Moon, 58x48cm
The North Face, Ben Nevis (Carmine), 44×18.5cm

Showing at ArTay 2018, Perth Festival of The Arts 17-20 May and now at The Green Gallery, Dollar

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)

Details for my solo show this November …

There will be a variety of recent watercolours, oil paintings and etchings on show. Proceeds from sales will go towards the costs of a 2 month residency at Castlemaine Press Print Workshop, Australia next year.

Please join me at the private view. I look forward to seeing you there!