‘Pittenweem 3’. Mixed media on 8×8″ wood panel
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‘Pittenweem 1’. Mixed media on 8×8″ wood panel
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‘Pittenweem 2’. Mixed media on 8×8″ wood panel
Detail
Today’s paintings of Pittenweem Harbour on the East Coast of Fife.
These are for the upcoming exhibition – Harbour, which launches on the 3rd June at Freespace Gallery in Edinburgh.
All details Here
Harbour – launches on Friday 3rd June at the Freespace Gallery,
‘Pittenweem 3’. Mixed media on 8×8″ wood panel
Edinburgh. (address below)
The exhibition features a series of works on wood (created this year) and takes inspiration from Scotland’s iconic east coast harbours such as Cove Bay, Seacliff, North Berwick, Elie, Crail and Pittenweem.
The exhibition will also help raise awareness and funds in aid of the Scottish Wildlife Trust with 10% of sales going towards the Living Seas project which aims to assist with the recovery of Scotland’s marine life and ensure future marine activity is carried out in a sustainable and environmental manner
Harbour runs from 4th to 30th June (launch/preview- Friday 3rd June 6 – 8pm) at the Freespace Gallery in Edinburgh (7 Easter Road, EH7 5PU) – a space for artists to show their work for free and a meeting place for cultural exchange and ideas related to Scotland and beyond.
Facebook Event page Here
Join us for a glass of wine on preview night – Friday 3rd June from 6 – 8pm
‘Rockpool, Daisy Island (North Berwick)’. Mixed media on 8×8″ wood panel
‘Berwick Law from Daisy Island’. Acrylic on 8×8″ wood panel
‘Bass Rock and Waves. Acrylic on 8×8″ wood panel
Three finished works of the Bass Rock for the Greens and Blues gallery in North Berwick.
I had to create the obligatory Bass Rock painting, not that it’s a chore since I love the shape of the Bass Rock, but when I’m at the beach it’s the rock pools I find fascinating.
Daisy island is a tidal island so you can walk across to it at low tide, though it’s also a bird sanctuary so sometimes it’s restricted. What I wanted to capture here is the way it feels like a safe haven, even the grass is incredibly springy and soft, you can throw yourself on it without injury should that wish arise. When I was a kid I practiced somersaults and cartwheels there, and to this day I partake in a forward and backward somersault when I visit. I also find it easy to meditate there.
The lichen on these gnarly basaltic vocanic rocks is acid yellow (I used cadmium yellow straight from the tube) and in autumn the rock pool reflections have an incredible clear gold clarity. Really enjoyed painting these today!
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
‘Cockenzie Power Station, 26th September 2015’. Mixed media on 17×11″ wood panel
‘Watchers (Cockenzie)’. Mixed media on 17×11″ wood panel
These are the two finished works in response to Cockenzie Power Station which was demolished at 12 noon on the 26th of September this year.
It was a coal fired power station launched in 1967, run by the nationalised Scottish electricity board then by privatised Scottish Power, classed as inefficient in 2013 then decomissioned.
People lined the east coast shores on the 26th to watch it come down, and luckily I got a call from a friend who was driving out there. I knew it would be a good photo opportunity but only decided to paint it later.
Watching my video afterwards, I realised I’d captured the sound of waves, as I was just a few feet away from the shore, and I liked the way the sounds of explosion along with ‘oohs’ and ‘aah’s from the crowd faded into peaceful, lapping waves.
This is my video of the event…
The towers, reflected in the water, then vanished, seemed like seismographic recorders. The waves like time-markers or markers of disruption, lapsing into peaceful silence. I wanted to reflect these ideas, and played around with effects on a wood panel until it felt right. I liked the way the reflection of the towers began to resemble a seismograph, which is why I made the towers appear less real, more like graph needles or markers of time.
Lastly here are a few photos of people watching on the shore or from the sea..
I’m playing around with this painting in an experimental way, somewhere in the process I’ll maybe wipe out the whole thing and start again. I quite like the layered look and texture this gives to a finished painting, and it echoes the themes I’m exploring of impermanency, which is a shorthand for concepts I’m exploring instinctively rather than intellectually at the moment. I’ll know when the mood feels right.
On the subject of impermanency, I’ve noticed in the past few years is that less people are buying paintings, this is echoed by the chats I’ve had with artists and gallery owners recently, so I know it’s not just down to my paintings as such! With working tax credit cuts coming up at the start of 2016 a lot of artists are facing tough times ahead. Unless they’re famous, most artists have a part-time job to supplement their income, which is on average about £8,000 £10,000 per year. Apparently the minimum wage will rise to £9. Don’t spend it all at once folks!
Artists are obviously just one small group facing difficulties, and I share the anger of millions in the UK just now, at the increasingly grim implications for everyone on a low income, unemployed, struggling families, pensioners whose fuel allowance is about to be cut, people with illnesses or disabilities or young people struggling to envisage a hopeful future where they might fulfil their potential.
Out of interest though, this article compares other country’s attitude to the arts – http://www.theguardian.com/culture-professionals-network/2015/jan/12/artists-low-income-international-issues
And here’s a report on the survey about UK artist income carried out by DACS http://www.dacs.org.uk/latest-news/artist-salary-research?category=For+Artists&title=N
I’ve been lucky enough to get the odd curatorial job in the arts and health field in the past, but let’s face it the NHS won’t be splurging on arts projects in the coming years. I’m not complaining on a personal level, I don’t have kids or huge responsibilities, I’m just adjusting to the current economic fantasy as presented by the tory government, more fantastical by far than my paintings, less permanent than Cockenzie Power Station given it stood there so long, the point being that things change, and there’s always hope.
I’m left to ponder in bemusement at those people who believe tory spin about being frugal with the economy, as though it’s comparable to a household budget. God knows I’m no expert on economy, my seven or so years of education (which I paid for with loans and by working as a flower picker and part-time cleaner lest anyone assumes I’m a pampered arty type!) was in the arts, but I can at least understand the concept that investing nothing, and taking more and more, not just from those on benefits, but from ordinary working people, means people spend less.
How many houses, services, clothes, or paintings, for example, can a super rich person buy?! We know that 40% of the UK are on some form of benefits now, so it doesn’t take a genius to work out that what’s left of the business owning middle classes, not to mention those facing cuts in public services will be really feeling it soon. Bye bye arts career, not that I’d ever stop painting…
In the meantime, if you’ve read this so far, you might welcome some tranquility in the form of a few works by some of my favourite painters, I’ve been gazing on some of these today, most inspiring..
Starting to experiment with the Cockenzie paintings, marking into wet gesso/marble dust. I’m going to wait for this to dry and scratch into dry paint then scrape back some of the edges. I’m really enjoying the subtle greys and minimal work, so I’m going to keep these very simple.
I’m also working on a River Tweed painting for my mum’s upcoming birthday. Again scratching into paint, this time green/black to white below, though at this stage I’m just marking it out. The figures, which are a bit vague at the moment, are my niece and her friends swimming; this was just after they’d all finished their exams and were in relaxed celebratory mood! This painting will take a lot more work – lots of detail and layers of varnish to get the lovely deep reflections on water…
I’m just laying down the base colour on these 17×11 inch wood panels for two new paintings I’m creating, inspired by the moody seascapes and atmosphere of the east coast. I watched Cockenzie Power station being demolished last weekend and I wanted to express ideas of change and impermanency.
The dark background is because I’ll be layering over subtle mid-grey tones mixed with gesso and marble dust, then scratching through the top layer to create forms and lines. At least, that’s the plan! Things always change in process.
These should be finished by the end of next week, then I’ll be submitting them for the RSA in Edinburgh
‘Hawk, River Tweed 3’. Mixed media on 40×40″ wood panel
Today’s painting – ‘the largest version of ‘Hawk, River Tweed’.
I decided to video the process of painting this one (link below) and was looking for suitable music to accompany it, so I was delighted when a friend, Jane Gardner, offered one of her own compositions for piano. It’s called ‘Oceans’, and it really adds drama and interest to the video. Thanks Jane!
Below are all works that will be included in this Friday’s exhibition (details here)
The Green Woods Free
Preview Evening: Friday 17th July, 7 – 9pm (including live cello performance by composer/cellist Atzi Muramatsu)
Whitespace@25 Howe Street, Edinburgh, EH3 6TF
Exhibition continues until 23rd July (open every day 10am to 5pm)
Rose Strang Artworks 