Putting a marker down

I write this on a Tay grey sodden mid January morning, it is beautiful. An eerie quietness fills the spaces. I walked this morning, meandering along the deer paths of my local wood. Heavy air, the drip, drip, drip of the over burdened Scots Pines. Light gently persuading, biding it’s own time. The wood is small, but with such variety that it feels much larger. It has everything, even in winter, including those hopeful sight lines to the fallow fields beyond. Like the boundaries of the wood January marks the end of a year but the start of many things, including new hope, new ideas and new adventures.

I have added six paintings to my website which are now available. If you see anything that resonates please get in touch.

Old Friend • Oil on Board • 

The desire to do something better

“...if any artist can ever be happy, I suppose it’s the same with composers and writers and sculptors. One never really feels one’s done what one could have done- you always feel, I could have done better. And of course, if you ever really feel ‘I’ve done it’, you’d become complacent, and there’d be nothing left to aim for. And it’s just this desire to do something better all of the time that keeps me going on’ ”

— Sheila Fell

Simple

“I know a little more how much a simple thing like a snowfall can mean to a person.” — Sylvia Plath

Today I was asked inquisitively if this was finished. I replied ‘complete,’ As complete as I possibly could make a simple thing like the meaning of snowfall.

Quiet Sunday

Beginning, middle and end. It starts with a thought, a line, an idea takes seed. Inspired by each and everything encountered. Last night I watched a film, the imagery was truly magical, yesterday I had a conversation about pea green boats and magic carpets. Perhaps this makes my work not just about landscape, but more.

Whispering Moon

It always feels special when you see the moon. In the past I have avoided painting it. Perhaps I feel it is too big a subject. To most it is intangible, something to imagine but not touch. It is this intangibility that draws me in to the challenge to paint it today. ‘It has many faces’ they say and with that, many moods. Today it is secretive.

Winter. Riot of grey.

Fully embracing the subtle colour shifts of the subdued palette. Low light levels, I find, can help you focus on the colour that is there. And it is there, I feel (on occasion) the little light there is, is absorbed rather than reflected.

Losing Track

Deep winter. January is a time of reflection for many. Winter is deeply ingrained.

Oil on Board • 20x23cm • 2023