Orkney Exhibition - Loft Gallery, South Ronaldsay

Arctic Terns: watercolour, 27"x22"

Almost there! I seem to have spent the whole of 2012 working on exhibition pieces or commissions - a far cry from the intended project which was supposed to be targeted towards my new book; landscape and plein air work only . . . ah well.

Oystercatchers & Curlew; conte & watercolour, 30"x22"

The show in the States opened a couple of weeks ago and seems to be fairly well received. I’m really disappointed I couldn’t scrape the time and/or funds together to make the trip over the water, but next time, maybe.

So –next up is slightly closer to home. When I was asked late last year to exhibit at The Loft Gallery in St Margaret’s Hope this summer, I was delighted to accept. I have only shown in this intimate and delightful upstairs gallery once before, and it was a thoroughly pleasurable experience. It was also an excellent opportunity to have a few glasses with old friends (we used to live just a couple of miles from the village). Some may say that preparing artwork for two One-man shows in as many months is an ambitious target, but I find the pressure of looming deadlines quite exhilarating and I think the work I’ve produced over the past couple of months is at least equal to the best of my efforts from previous years. Better than most, perhaps.  

Eiders; watercolour, 27"x22"

The show opens this Friday evening at 7pm, so if anyone is in the locale and would like to drop in for a glass and a chat about the work, please feel free to pop in.

Pee-wit!: conte & watercolour, 30"x22"

The rest of the working year will be spent in painting work for a joint exhibition at The Wildfowl and Wetlands Trust, Slimbridge in September, a few pieces for the FAME project with some really wonderful artists all contributing work for this most important seabird conservation project. The artists involved are:

Jane Smith http://janesmithwildlifeart.blogspot.co.uk/ Katrina van Grouw http://www.unfeatheredbird.com/Bruce Pearson http://www.brucepearson.net/Rhian Field http://www.rhianfield-art.co.uk/Sandy Grant http://gis.uk.com/artists.php/98/sandy+grant Howard Towll http://www.howardtowll.com/ Ruth Carruthers http://quiksilver.co.uk/en/women/news/20120706164152NEWS906614962623/india+bourne+interview+for+qsw.html

Eider & Arctic Terns; watercolour, 27"x22"  

Finally I will draw a line under the exhibiting year with preparation for the SWLA (Society of Wildlife Artists) Annual Exhibition at the Mall Galleries, London.  I can then turn my attentions to the slightly pressing issue of building my studio.  And then next year, I’ll be devoting my time to landscapes and plein air work only . . . maybe.

Painting, Drawing, Painting

Spring Willow Warbler; watercolour, 22"x15"

Everything has gone off to the States now so I can concentrate on the next couple of upcoming shows, starting with The Loft Gallery, St. Margaret’s Hope (Orkney) which is scheduled for the last week in July.  I expect to be making a range of work for this One-man show, including a few large charcoal pieces and some ‘Sharpie’ paintings. 

Tangled Love: watercolour, 28"x23"

Working in different media I think helps me to keep my ideas fresh and maintains my interest.  But it does sometimes pose the question of ‘signature’ work; from time to time I’ve heard visitors to the gallery remark on the disparate nature of the work on show and I recognise that it may not always be apparent that they all come from the same hand.  But I enjoy the change . . . so, I’ve recently been making efforts to try and bring several ways of working together.  I’m drawing directly onto paper with an umber conte pastel and simultaneously painting with watercolour.  This, I think, retains a certain freshness to the painting and also starts to bring together the drawing apparent in the charcoals and Sharpies with the colour I use in my paintings.  It’s not really a diversion, but again, maybe just another way of making an image. 

Lapwing in Marsh Marigolds: conte and watercolour, 30"x22" 

 

Ringed Plovers in Tangles: conte and watercolour, 30"x22"

Wrens and Butterbur: conte and watercolour, 30"x22"

Wings Over The Atlantic (and other stories)

Common (Mew) Gulls - acrylics on canvas, 24"x18"

The past several weeks have been hectic, mainly due to my commitment to painting 20 new pieces for my show in Maine which opens mid-June.  Well this collection was finished, packed and shipped today and I can now take a break from show-painting and turn to a couple of commissions for the next few days . . . then it’s back to thinking about work for the up-coming exhibition in The Loft Gallery, St. Margaret’s Hope which is scheduled for July.  Here are a few of the completed works which are currently winging their way across the Atlantic;

Seal Siesta; Common (Harbour) Seals, Arctic Skua and Common Eiders - 30"x22" watercolour

Early Splash: Guillemots - acrylics on canvas, 24"x18"

Neighbourly Discussion, Razors and Puffins - Sharpie and wash

Eiders Off South End, Stromness - watercolour 30"x22"

A Difference Of Opinion - Sharpie and wash

Late Light, Skuas - acrylic on canvas, 24"x18"

Golden Brown - Golden Plover and Brown Hare (Scratching Curlew) - Sharpie and wash

Meanwhile I was delighted to learn that my submission “20 Years Left; The Extinction of British Arctic Skua” was shortlisted for the prestigious (and valuable) ‘David Shepherd Wildlife Artist of the Year Award’ and has been sent to Yorkshire for forwarding on to the exhibition at The Mall Galleries, London.  This is an important piece for me and depicts a lone skua in pursuit of two arctic terns.

The skua is a klepto-parasite and relies on its ability to harass terns and kittiwakes into releasing their catch of sandeel.  Over the past decade or so, sandeel stocks around the Northern Isles have diminished to such an extent that the terns and subsequently the skuas have barely raised a fledged chick in over 10 years.  This piece attempts to describe the plight of both species; the terns are only carrying a 50% catch (actually quite a decent return in a recent context) and, even if the skua succeeds this time, the chances are the next bird it chases will not have any food – a waste of its own energy and a failure in its quest for nourishment for any offspring it may have.

I wanted to render the piece in monochrome as a statement about the bleakness of the situation as well as the harshness of the environment against which the scene is being played.

I’ve also just taken a few days doing bird surveys for a local environmental consultancy which will get me out and about a bit.  Makes certain I won’t be getting too bored any time soon . . . and it should get me close to a few birds . . . occasionally.

Spluttering Into Action; A Late Start to the Blogging Year

I had big plans for 2012; I was going to spend at least 50% of my time working in the field (especially on plein air landscapes) whilst also writing the majority of my new book which has been fermenting for three years now. Hmmm – the best laid plans and all that . . .

Instead I committed myself to three major exhibitions and far more illustration work than I usually take on which leaves me, almost a quarter of the year passed, with a couple of colour pieces from the field, four interpretation panels completed and a handful of ‘finished’ paintings prepared in readiness for the first of my exhibitions.

Ringed Plover at the Broch of Gurness; Fieldstudy

"What's That?"; Puffin, Studio Piece

I will be showing 20 new paintings at the Audubon Society’s‘Project Puffin’ seabird centre, Maine, US from June til October 2012. Preparing the first few pieces has given me the opportunity to trawl a few of my recent sketchbooks (including work completed on my Swona trip last year). No doubt that seaducks will also feature strongly in the show and this painting of loafing eiders represents a re-visiting of a piece which I completed last year.

"On The Edge"; Puffin on Swona, Studio Piece

"Three Eiders"; Studio Piece

More to follow . . .

New Work On Show; Wildscape Gallery, Stromness

I’ll be hanging a new exhibition of work at Wildscape Gallery, Stromness this week. We’ll officially open on Saturday 26th with mulled wine and discounts on original work so that should be an entertaining day. We’re also launching a new set of prints then – perfect timing for Christmas! There will be 30 paintings; here are some of them which will be on show:

The preceding evening is the Private View of the Pier Arts Centre’s Christmas exhibition – I have two pieces in the show this year. Looking forward to a glass of vino and a wander round an eclectic mix of work.

Finally, following a hectic weekend which entailed taking the overnight ferry from Orkney to Aberdeen, train to Inverkeithing and car to Crossgates where I inspected and subsequently collected our new (old) campervan – drove it around Edinburgh and south to North Berwick whence I collected the unsold paintings from the Seabird Centre then crashed out at darling sister’s place. 04:30 start and a fab drive through the awesome Highlands to arrive at Scrabster just before 11am in glorious weather. Boat across to Stromness was silky smooth and the short 17 mile drive from there to home in Evie rounded off a tiring but ultimately successful weekend.

The new mobile studio/Sal's runabout

So – now the sun is shining and I have an hour spare, I’m off out to try out my new Swarovski ATM80HD. Mmmmmmm – report later.

"Up-High; Young Peregrine" watercolour

on show at Wildscape Gallery, Stromness from 26th November

SOCIETY OF WILDLIFE ARTISTS ANNUAL EXHIBITION

Life does have its ups and downs, doesn’t it?! We’re all struggling under the pressure of tightening-belts as the global fiscal squeeze grips. There’s no doubt that when faced with the problems of paying bills and feeding the family, luxuries have to drop down the priority list. Unfortunately for us who work in the art world, that is only too evident. If the choice is food or art, inevitably art will lose out – that’s a fact. So for me, relying almost entirely on my work as an artist, the past couple of years have been particularly trying and the constant effort to survive is a challenge indeed. But we’re still hanging in there. In fact, if I can take the financial aspect out of the equation then I’ve never been more confident about the direction my work is heading. After many years of peering through mud, my vision is starting to clear and I’m now addressing my work with a purposefulness which had been only fleeting in the past.

There’s no doubt that writing the book (Drawing & Painting Birds) helped to crystallize my own ideas and the process also brought me into personal contact with many of my heroes in the genre and their support and enthusiasm for my project instilled a greater confidence in what I was doing. Following the publication of the book I went with other artists on two field trips.

2011 is proving to be an important year for me and I have spend more time than usual in the company of fellow artists. The trip to the uninhabited island of Swona with fellow Orkney artists Sheena Graham-George, Diana Leslie, Dominique Cameron, Anne Bignall and Mark Scadding was the first artists field trip I’d been on. I loved every minute of the trip and the collective creativity was tangible – I filled a couple of sketchbooks whilst there and painted almost solidly for three subsequent weeks. I was then invited to join the Artists for Nature Foundation (ANF) on their visit to the Channel Island of Sark. Spending a week with some of the World’s foremost wildlife artists was both an honour and an incredibly daunting prospect. Above all, however, it was fascinating and instructional to be able to watch artists of the calibre of Harriet Mead, Rosanne Guille, Mike Warren, Carry Akroyd and Vadim Gorbatov as they worked on various aspects of the landscape and wildlife of the Island. Being with these people was truly inspirational and I was keen to bring some of their approach and professionalism to my own scribbling.

Up here in Orkney it’s the end of the tourist season and the visitors have stopped coming to the gallery (not that I was ever swamped by people, you understand). The past couple of years I have shut the shop from the end of October til sometime in the spring because it was costing more in electricity than I would take in meagre sales. This winter I’m going to spend more time in the gallery mainly because I don’t have a studio at the cottage so it will be interesting to see if I make any sales at all.

Waxwings & Keys

Ink and watercolour, 20"x16"

Scottish Seabird Centre Exhibition, Oct 14" - Nov 16th, 2011

Meanwhile the year’s work is culminating in two important exhibitions; a one-man show at the Scottish Seabird Centre, North Berwick and the Society of Wildlife Artists Annual Exhibition at the Mall Galleries. The Seabird Centre exhibition is seminal in that it is my first extensive one-man show outside of Orkney for over 20 years. Twenty-eight brand new paintings were made for the show.

The SWLA exhibition is also proving to be an important time for me. On the Preview day, Wednesday 26th October, I was awarded the BIRDWATCH / SWAROVSKI ARTIST OF THE YEAR AWARD, perhaps the ultimate prize in Birding Art in Britain. It seems like a long time since I was shortlisted for the SWAROVSKI Young European Bird Artist of the Year Award – back in 1991, at the SWLA. And now, exactly 20 years later, I feel I am at last coming of age as a painter. I was also elected as an Associate Member of the Society of Wildlife Artists by the SWLA committee on the same day. WOW!!!!!

Ups and Downs, eh? – What would life be without them . . .

North Haven Fair Isle; Light and Intermediate Phase Arctic Skuas

Charcoal, 34"x22"

Tim Wootton ASWLA – Birdwatch / Swarovski Artist of the Year, 2011

Orkney Seascapes

Eastern Promise is in the air! There’s been a steady constant flow of air from the continent bringing with it some rather special creatures. Most of these, however, have deemed to miss our wee block of land and decided that archipelagos further north are favourable – tsk, tsk! Islands in the west have also been soaking up species originating in America and all we seem to be getting is the wind! But once it dies away . . . well, no doubt the Isles will be littered with exotic birds. Birding in this weather is fairly pointless however, so until the wind abates I will have to concentrate on studio-based pursuits.


Several commissions are starting to take shape in my mind – a couple of which are almost purely landscape/seascape so I have been using the past few days to explore seascape s a theme. I must confess I have found the more distant approach both a challenge and a welcome distraction following the concentrated effort working on a bird-level for the Seabird Centre Exhibition (still on show until 17th November - http://www.seabird.org/home.asp ). I aim to work on seascapes for the next few weeks – the first of which are below:

"North Isles Summer"

oil on canvas, 24"x18"

(available from the Online Gallery)

"Whipping-Up; Looking Towards Skiba Geo"

oil on cavas, 20"x16"

(available from the Online Gallery)