I have been experimenting with more versions of my picture of sunset on Loch Linnhe . I hope to have at least one for sale in my etsy shop soon.

Wintry day in Acharacle

The Road to Strontian

Yesterday I was working over the water in and around Acharacle.There were some brutal showers of hail and snow that turned the roads white in seconds . Fortunately when outside I managed to miss the worse.This is the view looking back up the  road to Strontian, a squall was sweeping across the valley almost blotting out the late afternoon sunshine. I was struck by the  yellow /pink light below the storm and the blue greys of the the snow covered hills. It seems that whatever the weather one is almost guaranteed beautiful and dramatic views in Ardgour. I was in a hurry so could only manage a quick pen sketch at that time. The above picture was painted from the sketch and a photo.

Bullet Proof Coffee

Recently I have discovered bullet proof coffee. I had been aware of it for a year or so - basically it entails putting butter and oil in to coffee rather than milk. However when I tried adding a lump of butter to coffee it tasted disgusting. The secret it seems is to blend the butter with an electric blender, this results in a lovely creamy frothy drink. It both stimulates and satisfies and keeps one going all morning. Dave Asprey who invented it advises putting up to 2 tablespoons of butter and 2 tablespoons of mct oil in a cup ! The idea of the mct (medium chain triglyceride) oil is that the body uses it as fuel rather than storing it.
For a change to illustrate this post I did a sketch of my cafetiere, as is often the case what at fist seemed a boring subject turned out to be complex and interesting. I could have spent much more time doing a proper study rather than a quick sketch. For speed I 'broke the rules' and used some black . Most watercolourists avoid black paint creating darks by overlaying washes of other colours. This aversion to black paint puzzled me for many years. Now I appreciate that one can create more glowing and nuanced darks by combining colours .Black paint is a 'dead' colour and I now try to avoid it myself (except when I'm desperate for coffee and cant drink any unil I've finished my sketch of the cafetiere!) James Gurney did a good blog post on the use of black on his blog gurney journey.

The hills from Spean Bridge

The view from the Commando monument

Two views sketched today. On Friday I was quite surprised to see wet sleety snow falling in the morning.Surprised and a little disappointed since having  a day working out doors ahead of me  I had hoped it would be dry. In the event the cheery nature of the guys I was working with made the hours out in the cold fly by as did the spectacular countryside we were in . In between snow showers it was actually quite pleasant.
This morning there was more snow then a little sun. The mountains looked amazing ! I expect that the ski slopes were busy . Frustratingly my back is still very sore; walking is painful  and running out of the question.
When I started this blog one year ago I had hoped to regale the reader with tales of mountain adventures and ultrarunning exploits . Unfortunately since that time I have struggled with various back injuries and illnesses. My running has been mainly reduced to runs in the forest and commuting to and from work. However I'm still hopeful that I will be able to regain my fitness and that 2015 will be a good year. I think it is unrealistic to expect to be able to stay in top form year in year out especially when trying to juggle a demanding job with ultrarunning.  In contrast to last year 2013 was a great year for me with a p.b on the West Highland Way race. I also won a race for the first time in my life-  this was  a small race and more due to luck than talent but all the same I will treasure the memory of that day forever.
Frustrating as my recent lack of fitness has been I still get a tremendous amount of pleasure and fulfilment out of my running I believe that being able to run at all at any speed or over any distance is a privilege and a gift especially in the gorgeous countryside around here, many people are not so lucky .I hope that I never take it for granted.

Sunset Pictures

Sunset over Loch Linnhe

I have been working on paintings from the photos I took from the West End car park ten days ago. The above picture had a chequered history . It is on an A4 Arches (cold press) block which I hadn't used before. The idea of a watercolour block is that the edges are glued to the other sheets to prevent buckling when wet washes are applied. Unfortunately on this block it doesn't work very well and there was a considerable amount of buckling resulting in the washes pooling in the valleys of the buckles. In frustration I cut the paper off the block and washed most of the colour off under the kitchen sink tap. The good thing was that now the picture was officially a failure I felt free to experiment, planning to use it as  practice for a second attempt. As often happens it then turned out better than I expected !

Ben Nevis Inn

Ben Nevis Inn

 This weekend we had planned to do a long run on the West Highland Way . Unfortunately I was hit by the double whammy of a cold and an attack of sciatica. Reduced to a hobble , running was not an option which was frustrating because the weather has been good.  Instead we went to the Ben Nevis Inn for lunch . This is always a treat because the food is excellent ,the wood burning stove very cozy and the huge picture window looks out onto the Ben Nevis path. Afterwards went for a short walk in Glen Nevis.

Glen Nevis and the Mamores

These sketches are from the west end car park in Fort William - exactly where I saw the amazing sunset at the weekend . What a difference! Today we returned to what Lochaber does best ; damp cloudy weather with a bitterly cold wind. The distant hills kept fading into the uniform grey cloud then reappearing.
After getting shopping in town we went running from the Nevis Range car park . I spotted Bear Grylls near the cafe , I would have loved to have spoken to him but didn't want to intrude on his day . We really enjoyed his exploits on his TV series Born Survivor where he would eat the most disgusting things and make rudimentary shelters in the most inhospitable environments. I admire him for his ability to overcome obstacles; Lying in hospital with a broken back after a parachuting accident he decided to climb Everest. Two years later he was standing on the summit and was at that time the youngest Brit to have reached the top.

Melantee

Very quick painting of the view from the office window - the only sketch I found time to do this weekend.The snow is starting to disappear from the lower hills close to Fort William although there is still plenty in Spean Bridge.

More beautiful frosty days and moonlit nights . Yesterday as I jogged past Inverlochy castle on the way to  work there was the first glimmer of dawn from behind the Ben- a turquoise blue tinge to the dark sky- and I heard birds singing. This was almost a dawn chorus and must be the first sign of spring on its way ! This evening after a busy Saturday at work there was the most gorgeous sunset. The whole of Loch Linnhe was ablaze with a brilliant orange red reflected from the sky  which was also suffused with pinks and purples. I took some photos on my phone which I would like to paint  but the colours look garish and outlandish. If I didn't know otherwise  I would have said that a filter had been used to get some weird special effect.

 A lovely day like today draws walkers and climbers to the hills . Sadly all too often this leads to the familiar drone of the rescue helicopter over Fort William . There were at least two incidents in Lochaber this afternoon, I hope and pray that those injured are all OK. Thank goodness for the wonderful mountain rescue team .

For the last week the weather has been stable - some snow but mainly dry and frosty and very cold. Running has been harder work with the snow cover and icy patches but it has been gorgeous ; starry clear nights and  sunny days . I had to go to Glenuig on Tuesday . The combination of coast and mountains is always beautiful but in the snow it was out of this world. I did a quick sketch from a layby on the way back. The sky was turquoise and there were ultramarine shadows on the hills. It would have been great to spend the whole afternoon sketching but sadly I had to get back to the office.
On Wednesday morning running to work before dawn there was an amazing halo to the full moon just like an Atkinson Grimshaw painting. I tried to memorize the view as it would have made a tremendous though technically  difficult watercolour.

Painted this view of the route home from work. It's from a photo taken at sunrise and is to be a present for a friend.
The last few days have been very snowy. We have had some wonderful runs in the forest this weekend lovely powdery snow underfoot, crisp, bright weather. The mountains look amazing. We are so lucky to live in such a beautiful area. A tougher artist would be painting the views en plein air but it is just a tad too cold for me , I prefer to keep moving!