Tag Archives: rose strang art

50 Paintings of Eigg Series: No. 3

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Eigg Series. No 3. Acrylic, ink and salt on 5x5 inch wood

Eigg Series. No 3. Acrylic, ink and salt on 5×5 inch wood (Sold)

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Sometimes life seems to move too fast. It’s difficult to be present and I feel inadequate; too distracted and impulsive to be in the moment the way I want to be. It brings the character of Ricky Fitts to mind (or writer, Alan Ball) in the film ‘American Beauty’:

‘It was one of those days when it’s a minute away from snowing and there’s this electricity in the air, you can almost hear it. Right? And this bag was just dancing with me. Like a little kid begging me to play with it. For fifteen minutes. That’s the day I realized that there was this entire life behind things, and this incredibly benevolent force that wanted me to know there was no reason to be afraid, ever. Video’s a poor excuse, I know. But it helps me remember… I need to remember… Sometimes there’s so much beauty in the world, I feel like I can’t take it, and my heart is just going to cave in.’

Sanskrit philosophers wrote about presence thousands of years ago, but I like the immediacy of Alan Ball’s take on it – a plastic bag in the wind, which brings us into the here and now, and our anxiety producing world of rapid change and competition.

Below is a short video I took of waves from the Mallaig-Eigg ferry, accompanied by music from my friend Atzi Muramatsu, who moved from Japan to the UK some years ago. When I first heard this piece I was reminded of the rhythm of boats, waves, and the anticipation of journeys.

 

More music by Atzi here https://soundcloud.com/atzi-1

Website: http://www.atzi.co.uk/

50 Paintings of Eigg Series: No 2

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Eigg Series No. 2. Acrylic, ink and varnish on 5x5 inch wood

Eigg Series No. 2. Acrylic, ink, sand and varnish on 5×5 inch wood. (Sold)

Detail

Detail

A slightly more playful version of waves in Laig Bay today. What I like about painting on wood is the layering and texture it allows, so there are various layers here, built up and scraped back, then some varnish and fine-grained sand from Laig Bay for texture. I think I’m also beginning to capture something of my emotional response to Laig Bay.

This was another somewhat rainy day, bad for tourists but good for painting! It all adds to atmosphere and these lovely miniature waterfalls on the rocks..

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We began to explore The Singing Sands Bay (Camus Sgiotaig in Gaelic – if there are any Gaelic speakers here, do feel free to offer any translations in comments below). Thus named for its fine quartz sands which sing when dry, but as it was rainy they were subdued (and I’m told it’s more akin to squeaking than singing!). More fascinating were the mysteriously sculpted rocks and small caves which served as shelter from the rain

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These sandstone rocks are the oldest on Eigg, about 200 million years old. They were inter cut with lava flows and intrusions which baked and hardened the sandstone, making it almost indestructible. The lava has crumbled and the sandstone remains – sculpted by lava and waves over millions of years.

These were also a mystery..

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Map showing Laig Bay and Singing Sands Bay

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In the next few days I’ll be heading inland to the landscape and people of Cleadale (behind Laig Bay and the Singing Sands) with its beautifully ominous cliffs of ancient crumbling lava.

50 Paintings of Eigg Series: No. 1

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Eigg Series. No 1. Acrylic and ink on 5x5 inch wood

Eigg Series. No 1. Acrylic and ink on 5×5 inch wood (Sold)

wave detail

wave detail

 

Welcome to the first of 50 paintings. (I’ll be posting a painting every day until the 29th of May)

Today’s painting is a view of the mountains of Rum from the shore at Laig Bay

Last week’s heavy weather extended all the way North and most of Eigg and the mountains of Rum were obscured in mist. Then in the evening when we arrived at Cuagach Bothy in Laig Bay, Askival, Hallival, Ainshval and Sgurr Nan Gillian emerged high up in the cloudy sky. (I love those epic-sounding names). It comes as something of a shock to me when mountains emerge from the mist, appearing higher up in the sky than expected after dwelling in the lowlands of Edinburgh!

I walked down to the vast stretch of Laig Bay’s silver-sanded beach and watched wave after wave approaching, the bay is so long that they appear to move in slow motion, each wave appearing sculpted, like bottle green glass.

This being the first in a series of 50 it’s a little tentatively painted, so I’m glad I have 50 paintings ahead of me, and two years to paint and tell the story of an island whose inhabitants work together to care for for the beauty of their environment. I won’t just be sharing a painting each day, I’ll introduce island dwellers, artists, musicians, writers, the island’s culture, history, geology, environment, and the story from past to present.

Here’s Cuagach bothy, basic but nonetheless idyllic!

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Eigg, with red dot showing Laig Bay

Eigg

 

 

 

50 Paintings in 50 Days

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Starting on the 10th April and ending on Saturday the 29th of May I’ll be creating a small painting of Eigg Island every day…

50 paintings in 50 days!

Some will be impressionistic, some more abstract. They’ll each be 5×5 inches (£45 each) and proceeds from the paintings will go towards a two year project which celebrates the landscape and community of Eigg.

To be included on the mailing list, simply email me at rose.strang@gmail.com with the title: ‘Small Eigg Paintings’ and each day I’ll email you the painting of the day.

You’re not obliged to buy, but I think it’ll be fun to view a new painting each day. If you do decide to buy I’ll post the painting out to you within a week.

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The two year Eigg project will celebrate the beautiful landscape of Eigg, its creative culture and community.

It begins with a trip to Eigg starting this Saturday the 5th of April, when I’ll be staying in a bothy with this beautiful and inspiring view of the mountains of Rum Island…

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Part of the aim of this project is to tell the story of the Island of Eigg; From the struggle of the island’s inhabitants throughout Scotland’s changing history (and its near decimation as a community in past decades) to a celebration of its landscape and recent inspirational success as a community-bought island, which relies solely on renewable sources of fuel.

It ‘s a real inspiration in terms of caring for the environment

The resulting exhibitions for 2014 and 2015 in Edinburgh include Gallery Ten, The Whitespace Gallery and The Scottish Storytelling Centre where I’ll be exhibiting a range of paintings. The second and third exhibitions will include live performance with related art and archival images of Eigg, past and present.