Resipole

Last week we went to Resipole Studios - the art gallery near Acharacle which as always had a amazing collection of pictures. I particularly like the landscapes by Alan Hayman . They are often  coastal or mountain scenes but almost always include beautiful depictions of wildlife sometimes just a single bird sometimes a group of animals. There were also some lovely landscapes by Andrew Stewart and some brilliant figurative oils by the gallery owner Andrew Sinclair. Afterwards we went to Pollock for a short run and a sketch.

Autumn Colours

We've had some amazing weather this week -warm sunny days albeit with some wind. The hills are red with the dying bracken. Bracken is a big nuisance in that  it carpets everything and cuts down on the available grazing but it certainly looks fantastic at this time of year especially in the early morning or evening when the sun is low creating deep shadows. The above picture was painted over a double spread in my moleskine which is unfortunately too long to fit on the scanner hence the picture is cropped to the right. It shows Ben Kiel from the road back from Corran.

The Ben 

Aonach Mor

A couple of recent sketches from the Spean Bridge Road .The hills are rapidly changing colour and the stags are roaring. It is a wonderful time of year.

Autumn is now apon us although the weather has been very good. On Tuesday I went to Muck . I took the train from Fort William (which connects with the ferry from Mallaig) so I was able to sit back and enjoy the scenery. The crossing was calm but cold ,however once on the island the sun came out and it was glorious. Coming back the views of the islands - especially Eigg were stupendous. I did a few quick sketches which unfortunately don't do justice to reality

Coastline from the boat

Eigg

Early evening view from the ferry.

The stable block at Hylands House

Paper Mill Lock from the Tea Room

View looking inland from the sea wall  at Goldhanger (Joyce's Farm )

The General Arms in Little Baddow

After the Birmingham conference I went to see my parents in Essex. Although Essex gets a bad name and it certainly doesn't compare to the West Coast of Scotland, I have a great affection for its more rural parts. I love to go for a country walk with my  Mum and Dad and then visit  an ancient pub for lunch and a pint of ale. One of our favourites is  the Chequers in Goldhanger. A short walk from the village takes one to the sea wall and the marshes which are always beautiful and often very bracing.My parents like birdwatching and there are a profusion of waders and other sea birds to see. The smell of the salt and the mud,the cries of the birds , the ever present wind and the big open sky are very evocative for me.

After our walk which unusually was in warm sunshine, we had lunch in the front bar of the pub which was built in the 16th century. I then ran back to Maldon on the sea wall which is a lovely way to approach the old town. It is only at the end that you have to cross roads and endure the traffic.

On another day we went to Hylands House near Chelmsford which had an open day . There was a lot of information  on World War 1 when the house was used as a hospital. A band played war time tunes and there were people dressed in infantry uniforms. Rather chillingly they had rifles and machine guns that were actually used in the conflict. There was also some rare Suffolk Punch horses, a collection of artist studios and a second hand bookshop. I had a great time in the bookshop finding a book illustrated by Alan Lee, a book about the nature artist C. F. Tunnicliffe and one by Edith Holden similar to her famous ' Country Diary of an Edwardian Lady'.

Now we're back in Scotland and work is full on . I have had no time to sketch apart for one view yesterday whilst I was waiting for the Corran Ferry.

It was a beautiful day and it was a shame to have to rush rather than enjoy the gorgeous views.

Birmingham

Last week I went to a conference  in Birmingham. Large cities in the Midlands are not my normal habitat but in  fact I enjoyed my stay. A revelation was the the canal network. Apparently Birmingham has more canals than Venice. The canals are a secret, hidden world often below street level with wharves bridges and lots of locks ( but a distinct lack of gondolas) .
 Back in Fort William the Neptune's Staircase is famous for being a large number of locks close together, but in Birmingham the rise and number of locks far exceed this. The difference is the canals are much narrower with single lock gates. I found the waterways a fantastic place to sketch . The combination of the reflections in the water , the many bridges( each one unique), and the varied  brick and stone work was immensely appealing. Of course even with a good sprinkling of modern litter  the canals look picturesque now, but in their heyday they would have been grimy and dirty with far worse pollution.

Not much sketching done this week but here's a painting I did for my etsy shop. It's an evening view from the boat returning from the Isle of Eigg with the sun going down behind the island. The island on the right is Rum. Going to Eigg is always an adventure;quite apart from the stunning scenery  there is an abundance of wildlife,once I saw an otter swimming just beyond the jetty, last time I saw minke wales and dolphins.