Above, Sanna Bay 2. Ardnamurchan. Oil on 47×47 inch canvas. Rose Strang 2022. One of four works still available at The Resipole Gallery (please contact the gallery for queries).
Thank you to the buyers who bought the following paintings, I hope they bring pleasure for many years to come! This has absolutely been one of my favourite series to paint, created while I was up north in Ardnamurchan with my partner Adam in May this year, it was such a beautiful time…
Sold. ‘Pine Trees, Silver Walk. Ardnamurchan. Oil on 47×47 inch canvas. Rose Strang 2022
Sold. ‘Tioram, Silver Walk. Ardnamurchan’. Oil on 31×31″ canvas. Rose Strang 2022
Sold. ‘Silver Walk. Ardnamurchan. Oil on 34×24″ wood. Rose Strang 2022
The following paintings are still available from the Resipole, please contact the gallery with any queries. Thank you – Resipole Gallery
‘Sand Dunes, Sanna Bay. Ardnamurchan’. Oil on 31×31″ canvas. Rose Strang 2022
‘Birches, Silver Walk. Ardnamurchan’. Oil on 31×31″ canvas. Rose Strang 2022
‘Sanna Bay 2. Ardnamurchan’. Oil on 47×47 inch canvas. Rose Strang 2022
‘Sanna Bay, Ardnamurchan. Oil on 34 by 24″ wood. Rose Strang 2022
And for those who might not have seen it yet, our arrangement of a beautiful song first created by songwriter Donald McColl (from Acharacle, Ardnamurchan) in the 1970s. The video features wonderful footage of Ardamurchan from our trip there this year, and some paintings in progress.
The new Summer Exhibition group show at the Limetree Gallery, Bristol launches on Friday 15th July and continues until August 31st. (Preview Thursday 14th July 6:30 to 8:30pm.
The Limetree link above shows all paintings on exhibition including beautiful work by Peter Wileman FROI RSMA FRSA, David Smith RSW and Lucy McKie ROI
The two works I’m featuring in the exhibition …
‘Primroses, Ardnamurchan’. Oil on 19.5×19.5 canvas. Rose Strang 2022
Sold. ‘Sanna Bay, May. Ardnamurchan’. Oil on 19.5×19.5 inch canvas. Rose Strang 2022
Above: Sanna Bay, May. Ardnamurchan. Oil on 19.5 by 19.5 inch canvas. Rose Strang 2022. Below Primroses. Ardnamurchan. Oil on 19.5×19.5″ canvas. Rose Strang 2022
They take inspiration from my recent trip to Ardnamurchan where I created a series of works for Coast – a two-artist exhibition at the Resipole Gallery in Ardnamurchan (link Here)
It’s interesting that these two new paintings look more distilled and dreamlike than the rest of the series, which must be to do with them being created later, not immediately following my trip there. The one subject I hadn’t painted was the beautiful primroses that decorate the banks of the Silver Walk near Castle Tioram. I love the way they emerge from dark crevices in May, looking so delicate and fresh – beautiful wild flowers that grow abundantly on the west coast.
Donald McColl sang about the landscape of Ardnamurchan (and primroses!) in his beautiful song ‘Nach Falbh thu air and Turas Leam?’, and here’s our arrangement of the song again, featuring footage of Ardnamurchan and some of the painting process …
(Exhibition of the two paintings above from 15th July to 31st August at the Limetree Gallery Bristol.)
Above, chatting to people at the opening of ‘Coast’, at The Resipole Gallery a few days ago. The exhibition features paintings by myself, painter Jim Wright and ceramics artist Helen Michie, until 22nd July.
This has a been a very special year for many reasons – I’ve loved painting this series of Ardnamurchan for the Resipole and felt fully immersed in the season of May and June there, exploring the Silver Walk near Castle Tioram and the stunning coast at Sanna Bay.
As mentioned in a previous post, I created a video featuring our new arrangement of a song about Ardnamurchan, originally written by songwriter Donald McColl, so I was delighted when the project featured in an artcle in the National, here it is! –
The exhibition launch on Sunday 12th was a pleasure to attend. It’s a four-hour drive to Ardnamurchan but worth every minute for what turned out to be a very enjoyable meeting with the other artists, Jim Wright and Helen Michie, as well as gallery owner Andrew Sinclair and gallery manager Kerrie Robinson.
They did a fantastic job of presenting the exhibition, I think the colours, themes and mood of the works compliment each other beautifully …
It was lovely to hear the music of the McColl family (from a CD collection of pieces) played alongside our recent song arrangement, but especially enjoyable to hear live music from fellow exhibitor Jim Wright, who not only paints beautifully but also sings folk songs and plays guitar, all adding to the convivial atmosphere!
The best thing about this year though, is this! …
Adam and I got engaged! It’s a very special ring; the stone is taken from a rock I found on the Isle of Iona about thirty years ago. It’s from a rare seam of white marble streaked with green serpentine that’s found on the south coast of the island – the same stone was used for the alter of Iona Abbey.
Adam asked if he could take a small piece from my rock to use for the ring, which he’d designed and had cast in white gold. He polished up the rough cast ring, sawed the tiny piece off the rock, then buffed it down to fit, before sealing the stone in the encricling metal and giving the stone a final burnish.
To say I’m happy is an understatement. I think all those summery whites and greens in my Ardnamurchan paintings are saying something about the way I feel about it all … from the heart and soul.
‘Sanna Bay 2. Ardnamurchan. Oil on 47×47 inch canvas. Rose Strang 2022
Sold. ‘Silver Walk. Ardnamurchan. Oil on 34×24″ wood. Rose Strang 2022
Here it is at last! As mentioned in my previous blogs, I’ve been working with two talented musicians (my partner Adam Brewster and friend Donald Ferguson) and a translator (Ceit Langhorne) on a Scottish Gaelic song about beautiful Ardnamurchan.
It’s called ‘Nach Falbh thu air an Turas Leam’, which means ‘Won’t you go on a Journey with Me?’. Translation below the video. Hope you enjoy it!
The song was written by Donald McColl of Ardnamurchan (1901 – 1978) in 1975. It was re-recorded and arranged by Adam Brewster, Donald Ferguson and myself with kind permission of the McColl family and also thanks to the School of Scottish Studies, Edinburgh, where I first discovered the song. (Link Here – ‘Nach Falbh thu air an Turas Leam’ )
Without the help of Scottish translator and singer Ceit Langhorne there’s absolutely no way I could have sang the song – it was quite the learning curve, but so rewarding, and fun to work with Ceit!
It was wonderful to hear the sensitive and beautiful arrangement by Adam (harp) and Donald (guitar) taking shape. Adam also produced the song recording, which (despite my voice wavering here and there) sounds so lyrical.
Scottish Gaelic lyrics below, with English translation below each verse …
‘Nach Falbh thu air an Turas Leam.’
By Donald McColl- Ath Tharachail (1901-1977).
Translation and Transcription by Ceit Langhorne.
Sèist: Nach falbh thu air an turas leam
Gu Rubha Àird nam Murchan?
Far am bi na h-eòin cho basganta
A’ seinn sa bharraich uaine.
Nach falbh thu air an turas leam?
Chorus: Won’t you come with me on a journey
To the Point of Ardnamurchan
Where the birds so melodiously
Sing on the tops of the verdant birches
Won’t you come with me on a journey?
Bu mhiann leam a bhith nam fhòrichean
Air madainn òg-mhìos driùichdach
Na h- eòin air gleus sa chamhanaich
A’ seinn le blàs san ùr-choill’
Nach falbh thu air an turas leam?
I would greatly desire to be alone
On a dewy June morning early
The birds with their reeds tuned on the branches in the gloaming
Singing a song with a fresh voice in the blooming forest
Above – Sanna Bay 2. Ardnamurchan. Oil on 47×47″ canvas. Rose Strang 2022
A serendipitous painting today – I started sketching in the composition lightly in paint and decided I liked the tranquil simplicity of it. I might add a tiny bit of detail to the clump or rock and seaweed on the left but happily I think I’ve captured something of the luminous stillness of Sanna Bay.
I’ve never painted at this size (47 by 47 inches – about 4 by 4 feet) but it felt quite free-ing surprisingly. I have one more painting to complete at this larger size then all seven will be finished.
This series is for the Resipole Gallery in Ardnamurchan. The exhibition (a two-person exhibition with artist Jim Wright) launches on Sunday June 12th.
Yesterday I mentioned the song I’m learning by Donald McColl. His family have kindly granted permission for me to record the song and I’m now learning the Scottish Gaelic lyrics phonetically, with a lot of help from Ceit Langhorne who’s a Scottish Gaelic translator and singer who I first met on the isle of Eigg in 2014 at a ceilidh.
I remember asking Ceit if she knew any songs of the sea which she did, so I recorded it under a beautiful full moon on Eigg. Here’s my post from the time! –
Above – Birches, Silver Walk. Ardnamurchan. Oil on 31×31 inch canvas. Rose Strang 2022
Below – Tioram, Silver Walk. Ardnamurchan. Oil on 31×31 inch canvas. Rose Strang 2022
Two more paintings for the series of Ardnamurchan, which I’m creating for the Resipole Gallery. Exhibition launches 12th June this year. I’ll be travelling up from Edinburgh for the launch so if you’re planning to drop in I’ll be there to say hello!
I’m also working on recording a song, discovered in the the archives of the School of Scottish Studies. It’s by a singer and songwriter called Donald McColl and it’s about the flora and fauna of Ardnamurchan. I’ll be adding it to a video I’m also making about the series.
Above – Sanna Bay, Ardnamurchan. Oil on 34 by 24 inch wood. Rose Strang 2022.
Below – Sand Dunes, Sanna Bay. Ardnamurchan. Oil on 30 by 30 inch canvas. Rose Strang 2022
Two more paintings today. The subtle greens and whites of the sand and sea at Sanna Bay, and the dunes as you approach Sanna Bay with a beautiful early summer blue sky on the horizon.
These paintings are a new series for an exhibition at the Resipole Gallery launching 12th June this year.
Above – Silver Walk, Ardnamurchan. Oil on 34 by 24 inch wood. Rose Strang 2022.
This painting is the first in a series I’m creating for an exhibition which launches 12th June at the Resipole Gallery in Ardnamurchan. The show will feature work by myself and landscape artist Jim Wright.
It’s such a pleasure to create a series for the Resipole as it means I get the chance to travel up to Ardnamurchan for inspiration. It’s a beautuful part of Scotland, quite remote and unspoiled, though these days there are more visitors than when I first came, in 1992.
I was entranced by the ancient forest of birch and oak growing all the way down to the sea, and of course Castle Tioram, which featured in my Planet Narnia paintings inspired by the book Planet Narnia, and the cosmos as understood in the Medieval imagination.
I wrote about the forests of Ardnamurch in 2018, exploring the idea of a community of trees and the discovery by scientist Suzanne Simmard that trees ‘talk’ or communicate as an eco-system, through mycelium – a complex root system of fungus that sends ‘signals’ from tree to tree.
Wandering through the forests of Ardnamurchan, you really feel the alive-ness of the forests here, many of which have been left untouched for hundreds of years. In the case of Ariundel oak forest in east Ardnamurchan, thousands of years!
So in this new series, I’m tackling a subject I’ve long wanted to paint – the Silver Walk near Castle Tioram. We went there a couple of weeks ago in early May, a time at which the forest is at its most vibrant I think. It was shimmeringly beautiful, luminous in fresh green leaves and the seas reflecting cerulean blue skies. Sometimes when I’m in a place like this I feel almost overwhelmed – my mind, emotions and senses being flooded with luminous colour. It felt idyllic too that it was warm enough to sit there in a T-shirt and paint some sketches!
I think my painting above is a good start, I want to keep it loose and light in feel to express the feeling of Ardnamurchan in May.
I’ll be posting the paintings as they’re created every couple of days. In the meantime, here are a few photos of us in Ardnamurchan this May! ..
Ardnamurchan 2022 (photo Rose Strang
Ariundle woods, Ardnamurchan 2022 (photo Rose Strang)
Adam painting, Ardnamurchan 2022 (photo Rose Strang)
Rose Strang Artworks 