I was very pleased to read the review (above) of the RSA Open today in the Times, which mentions ‘Cockenzie Power Station, 26th September 2015’.
Many thanks to Giles Sutherland (Author and Art Critic, Times Scotland) for mentioning my work in this review
The RSA Open is free entry and continues until February, there’s a lot to see and some great paintings and sculpture, I highly recommend you drop in.
One of today’s paintings, veering more abstract, I may add some subtle pen and ink lines suggesting branches or ferns. It slightly reminds me of the background of an Arthur Rackham illustration, minus fairies/elves etc.
Also a series of even smaller snowscapes – the shrinking snowscapes!..
They range from 3.5 inches square to just 3 inches – here’s one below at 3×3 with ten pence next to it so you get an idea of size. The light was fading fast as I photographed them so they’re a little fuzzy but it gives the idea..
I have Christmas gifts in mind with these smaller ones, but also they’re handy as studies for larger paintings. I’ll be selling a few this Saturday at a fair in Portobello, I hope the locals like them!
More snowscapes today. I’m leaning towards Edinburgh snowscenes – the contrast between white snow and the shapes of buildings. I might paint an interior view from a window looking out on to snow…
‘Cockenzie Power Station, 26th September 2015’. Mixed media on 17×11″ wood panel
Well, what a lovely surprise! I’ve been accepted for the RSA Open Exhibition for ‘Cockenzie Power Station’, above.
I’m delighted, and surprised because I’ve been shortlisted for the SSA (Society of Scottish Artists) exhibition a couple of times, and was also shortlisted for the RSA, so didn’t expect to be accepted for that. The preview night on the 27th November is my Birthday – what a nice present!
Here’s info and website…
Website: Royal Scottish Academy Open Exhibition 2015
The RSA Open Exhibition has a long history of celebrating the best of contemporary practice. After having been part of the RSA Annual Exhibition for over 180 years, it now enjoys its own slot in the RSA Calendar. Drawing from artists across the whole of Scotland and beyond, this exhibition showcases around 400 works annually and features a wide range of small and medium sized works (max. 80cm in any direction) selected through open submission including paintings, drawings, sculptures, prints and photographs.
Please note that this year the RSA Open Exhibition will be spread over two floors in the RSA Upper and Lower Galleries. It will share the upper galleries with the ESSA exhibitions (Exhibiting Societies of Scottish Artists) and will be open throughout the duration of those shows.
Free Entry
Today’s paintings – the painting from yesterday developed into a view of Edinburgh from snowy Salisbury Crags. At least I think that’s what it shows, I’m not sure it’s quite there yet. I don’t want too much detail though, or it’ll end up looking like a Chrsitmas card – maybe that’s not a bad thing!
Also some small works on 4×4″ wood blocks. I experimented with gesso and salt then put them in the oven which created a nice crackle effect…
I’ll work on these more tomorrow, but I’m quite pleased with the small one of odd coloured buildings. It’s of the 16th century Dutch colony buildings in Leith. If you wander in amongst the modern buildings you come across this interesting architecture here and there – a Dutch tower with yellow stucco walls and a teal blue tower with a silver dome – very pretty.
The Edinburgh snowscape also has a sprinkling of salt/glaze which makes the city look glittery in certain lights. I’ll have a think about that tomorrow in the daylight, the painting’s bigger than it looks here – 22.5×10.5 inches, a slightly odd size which suggested a panorama.
It got dark outside today with a sudden rainstorm at 2:30pm and the light didn’t really recover – the down side of painting in winter, but I’m really enjoying this series so far, and look forward to seeing them in the exhibition space which has white walls and wooden roof beams. I’m going to light candles and serve mulled wine on Thursday 10th December. More info here – Snowscapes
A couple of paintings in progress.
The square one on the right is a snowscene where I’ve gone a bit Auerbach (in terms of impasto anyway!), the other is a work I started which wasn’t working, so I messed it up a bit, and I can now see it will make an excellent composition of a winter squall from the edge of snowy Salisbury Crags (on the right looking down onto Edinburgh – I won’t add too much detail but definite suggestion of rooftops, castle outline etc).
These paintings are for my upcoming exhibition – Snowscapes, which will be at Gayfield Creative Spaces on the 8th, 9th and 10th December from 12 noon to 8pm daily. (mulled wine on Thursday from 6 to 7!)
All info here – Snowscapes
I’m happy to announce an upcoming three-day winter exhibition – Snowscapes – featuring winter landscapes on wood.
Dates: Tuesday 8th, Wednesday 9th and Thursday 10th December
Times: 12 noon till 8pm all day
Venue: Gayfield Creative Spaces, 11 Gayfield Square, Edinburgh EH1 3NT
Facebook event page Snowscapes
Enquiries: rose.strang@gmail.com
Snowscapes features highly textured, semi-abstract winter landscapes on a variety of wood panels, blocks or found wood, from large to small. The exhibition space at Gayfield Creative Spaces reflects the wintry/woody theme perfectly, and the mood will be further enhanced by lashings of spiced, warm mulled wine, served by candle-light on Thursday the 10th December in the evening from 6 to 8pm!
Gayfield Creative Spaces..
After some fretting and decision-making, I’ve found the ideal space for my upcoming winter-themed exhibition, which I’ve decided to call Snowscapes
More details (map etc) to follow tomorrow, but this will be a two-day exhibition on the 8th and 9th December, open from 12 noon till 8pm both days.
The space above is Gallery II at Gayfield Creative Spaces in Edinburgh’s Gayfield Square.I dropped in today to take these photos, and I was enchanted by the light and gnarly wood beams, which will form a perfect backdrop for the winter series I’m working on.
This will include fifteen to twenty wintery subjects in semi-abstract highly textured style – monochrome winter birches, snow-laden trees and roof tops, I’m also going to paint wildlife – herons on icy ponds with their beaks tucked into their feathers and perhaps some snowgeese.
I find the colours and light of winter enchanting, and I have a wealth of mental imagery to draw on, also my love of Northern renaissance landscape art, and the quality of light captured by Dutch and Flemish artists of the 16th century.
I’m really looking forward to this series, and I think it’ll be popular as it will include paintings from as small as 3×3 inches up to 18×12.
To celebrate the wintery mood I’ll be serving my own home-made mulled wine on the 11th and 12th in the gallery between 6 and 7pm!
Yesterday I popped in to the Freespace Gallery which is in the Leith area of Edinburgh, to meet owners Kate and Terence and chat about my art prints for charity project (which benefits wildlife conservation charities by offering 25% of print sales to charities related to the landscape featured in the print).
Freespace was set up last year during the referendum as a place for people to meet, discuss ideas and show their art work. I dropped in once or twice and noticed they show work by local artists and photographers, so I though this would be a great place to display work.
Kate and Terence offered me a seat, freshly brewed coffee, and were most enthus
iastic about the project and my paintings. It’s great to be included in the Freespace Gallery, and lovely to meet gallery owners who take an interest in the work, so the interaction is not just focussed on business agreements! Also it’s just around the corner from where I live so it’ll be easy to drop by and see how things are going.
I was born in Leith, my dad’s side of the family have been here a few generations, and I remember that in my early teens I couldn’t wait to get out! At the age of 19 I moved to Greece, then subsequently lived and worked all around the UK – down south, up north and the Midlands. I loved living in all these places and made lifelong friends. Now, with a bit more experience of life and people, I find that Leith is my favourite part of Edinburgh, mostly because of its friendly community, which has always included different nationalities, mostly from India, China, Italy and Poland. If you walk down Leith you see the influence of these cultures in shops, restaurants, cafes and delis (the best known being world-famous Italian delicatessen Valvona and Crolla – I remember when I was a girl it seemed most exotic!)
Leith has always had an interesting arts community too, the Shore in particular is a popular area for artists, writers and musicians to live, partly because of its galleries, pubs, cafes and restaurants, but also it’s to do with the setting (it always reminds me of Amsterdam, and there was in fact a Dutch colony there a few hundred years ago, which you can see reflected in the architecture)
It’s great that Freespace continues to support local artists, writers and projects around Leith and Edinburgh in general. They also have a foodbank donation drop off point. I’d recommend you pop in to have a look around.
For more information on the art prints for charities and wildlife conservation trusts, click Here (you can buy the prints singly, or as a set).
If you’d told me I’d be enthusing about Leith back in my teens I’d have been bemused, but there you go! Here’s Leith’s ‘persevere’ motto (we had this on our school badges).
‘Winter Birch Trees’. Mixed media on 17×11″ wood
Today’s painting – a winter landscape on wood panel.
I experimented with this as I went along, adding marble dust for texture and lots of work with a palette knife. I’m quite happy with the colours, which are maybe veering a bit towards Bruegel-like with greenish tones in the sky, and touches of intense warmth here and there.
This painting will be the largest in a series I’m painting for a pre-Christmas show at the beginning of December (details tbc). I’ll be creating a series of 10 or so winter landscapes on wood.
On the subject of wintery colours I’ll leave you with Bruegel’s winter masterpiece – Hunters in the Snow (or The Homecoming). It’s the most popular art subject for Christmas cards for obvious reasons! The colours and composition are beautiful, but I also love the fact it gives a sense of ordinary life in the 16th century (though art historians have suggested it’s an idealised portrait even for its time). The hunters haven’t been successful, but you can see people playing on the ice, two women walking carefully on the edge…
Rose Strang Artworks 