I was always very impressed with the Christmas lights in Tarves. The scenic old square with illuminated trees was much better than most other small towns in the area. It still looks “Old Worldly”. I tried to include the shop and old phone box and added in the man and his dog as I often add a person or animal into a landscape. I intended the colour scheme to be an early morning scene, but the moon was cropped due the shape required for the calendar.
Christmas Break
The final meeting of the year will be on December 11th. This session will be shorter than normal as we will be decamping to the Golf Club at mid-day for Christmas Lunch.
Sadly, some members will be leaving at the end of the year. One has been a member for many years, others, just a few, but all have contributed greatly to the success of the group, both artistically, socially and organisationally, and we thank them for this. The first session next year is on January 8th when we are looking forward to welcoming some new members.
This painting is a tribute to the work of Canadian artist, Tom Thompson (1887 – 1917) who inspired the famous “Group of Seven” artists from Ontario. His depictions of forests, mountains and lakes show the beauty and remoteness of the Algonquin landscape and the wilderness beyond. The style of this painting resembles Cubism, where trees in bright autumn colours are painted in simple dabs, almost like stained glass. Thompson was a loner and spent many months living in lakeside cabins, fishing from his canoe, painting in solitude while developing his own, unique style. I hope my painting does it justice
This year we have returned to our pre-Covid venue at the Kirk Centre in Ellon for the exhibition. In addition to the groups own art work, several other local crafts people had their work for sale:- pottery, woodcraft, candles, jewellery and painting.
Visitors all seemed appreciative of what was on show, and the participants thoroughly enjoyed the two day event. A poll for the “Peoples Choice” revealed member, Brian Cranthern as a clear favourite for his imaginative paintings.
A scene from the Lake District. Every painting holds a special memory for me as my landscapes are places I have visited. Experiencing the atmosphere of the location is crucial to me. I paint with acrylics and enjoy the versatility of the medium. Colour, tone and texture are all important in my detailed work.
I saw the photograph which was the inspiration for this painting in a magazine. I was drawn to the soft, dreamlike hues and long shadows and it made me think of Michaelmas, that time of year when nature is slowing down and preparing for a new beginning in the spring. As D H Lawrence’s poem, Bavarian Gentians puts it so beautifully, “soft September, slow, sad Michaelmas”. Michaelmas, or the Christian Feast of St Michael ( the Archangel who wages war against evil) and All Angels, falls on September 29th in the western calendar and November 8th in easter traditions. At one time, Old Michaelmas was celebrated on October 10th. Following harvest, it marked the ending and new beginning of the farming calendar, it was the time when hirings took place, goose was eaten and this, as with several other customs, has been transferred to Christmas. In the Hebrides, a special bannock was baked in remembrance of absent friends and those who had died. On the Isle of Skye, a procession was held. One of the few flowers left at that time of year was the Michaelmas daisy, (a special favourite of mine), hence the rhyme, “The Michaelmas daisies among dead weeds bloom for St Michael’s valorous deeds”. With all this in mind, I enjoyed creating the misty atmosphere of this picture with thoughts of trees and all of nature resting through the long, dark winter ready to burst forth again in the spring. The path through the trees suggests an afternoon walk as the shadows are lengthening.
We have had an unusually warm summer, so our outings during the school holidays have been a great success. The trip to Cruden Bay was, dare I say it, too hot, but the lovely cafe has wonderfully inspiring seascapes. The weather wasn’t quite so kind the day of the Fyvie Castle outing, but it was another time for some socialising in beautiful surroundings, with a little bit of sketching thrown in. Our final visit, to the Van Gogh Experience at the Exhibition Centre was thoroughly enjoyed by a dozen or so members, setting us up for some inspirational ideas when sessions resume in two weeks time.
Members recently enjoyed an interesting demonstration from one of the group, on his very distinctive style of art. Working with a limited palette and using metallic paints, he creates intriguing and beautiful wildlife paintings.
We are now coming to the end of the sessions until after the summer holidays. This Thursday we will meet for a social lunch at the Buchan Hotel. During the holidays, we have visits planned to Cruden Bay and Fyvie Castle to enjoy some outdoor painting and sketching, and also a much anticipated trip to the Beyond Van Gogh Exhibition.
July Calendar
One of my many paintings of the Ythan Estuary. People have suggested that I am rather obsessive about painting the boat wreck, which I don’t deny. I paint from the scene in my mind, not by sitting with it in front of me, or from a photo. I am so familiar with this view that I am able to do this. I’ve tried to depict the day just before sunrise…. red sky in the morning … but thought I would break the calm by crashing the wave as it came ashore …. fisherman’s warning. Perhaps it’s the ambiguity and/or contrast of a situation that attracts me to this. I paint with acrylics; they dry quickly and, to my mind, give an intensity and richness of colour that I appreciate.
