Big skies, wildlife, plants, colours and views here often have me wondering where to begin. My response is to settle on what’s captivating right in front of me along with being open to opportunities as they arise.
Along the Valley towards Crossford
Not long after we moved here in 2018, an artist friend invited me to join her attending a workshop run by the artist Hazel Campbell in her studio near Castle Douglas, Dumfriesshire. Hazel was demonstrating in rich sepia and black inks with gouache on paper in this workshop – her work is beautiful and this was a real pleasure to explore familiar inks in a completely fresh way to me.
Our view towards the Clyde Valley
I spent two days discovering marks, lines and shapes that happened as I worked into dry and wet areas of my paper simplifying the landscape that surrounded me back in the Clyde Valley. Looking at these images a few years later reminds me to get out the inks and gouache again.
Over the River
Greens, golds and greys of the Clyde Valley
Exploring warm yellows for sunlight on hill tops
Most of these sketched paintings were clunky but there were parts that I liked. Some of them ended up cropped into concertina sketch books and I may post a video of these in future.
In the meantime, I will sign off with our tabby cat Josh on the greenhouse roof. He came with us from Staffordshire where we adopted him as a youngster from the local cat shelter. He soon settled in here.
On top of his world
Thanks for reading
Ronnie 🙂