Summer evening

I've just finished a late Christmas present - a painting of a friend's house and garden where we spent a wonderful evening last summer, having a barbecue  and drinking beer on the lawn as the sun went down.
It has been very cold and frosty  over the last few days, we had some great runs up to the CIC hut and also on the west highland way. From both directions the Ben looked magnificent. I took lots of photos but didn't do any outside sketching - it has been too chilly to pause for long!

Yorkshire Coast

This is a watercolour picture I did a few years ago of the Yorkshire coast . It is from a photo I took whilst training for the Hardmoors 110 race. For us it was a long trek from Scotland  to Yorkshire but I grew to love the Cleveland Way (which the race route follows). The coast is very varied and often feels quite remote. There are some beautiful cliff top sections but the route also goes through some very picturesque towns and villages such as Robin Hood's Way and Staithes. On foot on the coastal path one also avoids the traffic and busy roads .

Robin Hood's Bay

Since I did the Hardmoors 110 Jon Steele has added a whole series of races along the Cleveland Way . The first of the year is the Harmoors 30 on New Years Day.

Beeleigh

The weather today is appalling  - heavy  rain and high winds . Yesterday there were a few sunny spells between the heavy showers and we did a run from the Well of Seven Heads  around Loch Oich . It's a good route especially if the weather is bad- enough hills to add interest but mainly on good trails so it is not technically demanding . This time of year the beech trees look amazing and at the highest points there are tremendous views down the Great Glen.
So far no running today instead I've been finishing some watercolour paintings, one a mountain scene , the other of an oak tree overhanging the canal near Beeleigh in Essex. Beeleigh is a magical place an oasis  of calm a refuge from the roads and housing estates that are now sprawling out of Maldon. There is the beautiful house built on the remains of the abbey,the Grange where Landseer once stayed, a scattering of cottages and the tidal river that joins the canal . If one is lucky a sparkle of turquoise will indicate a kingfisher- surely one of the most exquisitely beautiful British birds. Following the canal to Ulting leads to the quaint old church which in medieval times was the site of an important Christian Shrine.Whenever I go to see my parents I run to Beeleigh at the earliest opportunity . It never changes and probably has barely changed since the canal was dug in the 19th century-

Canal near Beeleigh

Mountain sunset

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.