Tag Archives: window paintings

St Oran’s Chapel, day 3

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Above  – St Oran’s Chapel 2, Iona. Oil on 5×7″ wood. Rose Strang 2023

I’m hugely enjoying this self-motivated exploration of light and texture. As yet I’ve no idea where I’m likely to exhibit it. Today’s painting does remind me of the soft buttery light that flowed through the windows of St Oran’s Chapel on the 15th May this year.

I’d love to treat my walls to a coat of lime render (the plaster used to cover the walls of St Oran’s) but it’s a bit caustic I’m told, not ideal for domestic settings.

Here are the three window paintings so far ..

More tomorrow …

St Oran’s Chapel, day 2

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Above St Oran’s Chapel 1, Iona. Oil on 5×7″ wood. Rose Strang 2023

Working with a palette knife brought better results today. So this will officially be the first finished painting of this series!

Once I move on to canvas I’ll explore some dry brush work but the palette knife seems to suit the scale and texture of wood just now. I’m using a palette of white, lemon yellow, medium  yellow, ochre, cadmium red, crimson and black. I’ve been looking at the beautifully subtle work of Jan Mankes, but his technique was very painstaking – slow build up of layers in oils –  which doesn’t suit my style so much.

More tomorrow ..

New series – St Oran’s Chapel, Iona

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Above – painting in progress St Oran’s Chapel, Iona. July 2023. Rose Strang

A change of palette after a very busy few months. No doubt I’m drawn to these cool beiges and subtleties of light because life has been quite hectic.

There hasn’t been much time to paint, what with getting married in May and all! Then Adam and I spent a month editing our wedding video and creating music for it so we could share a video of our special day with family and friends (we decided we’d have a very low-key wedding, so it was just the two of us).

I kept thinking of the light during our wedding in St Oran’s Chapel – it couldn’t have been any more beautiful. Hence these first attempts at capturing the subtlety of light  and the way it plays on textured plaster. It’s quite a minimalist, and spiritual theme. St Oran’s Chapel is believed to be the oldest building on the Isle of Iona that’s still standing. It sits modestly in the grounds of Iona Abbey and it’s quite small. The acoustic is amazing.

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This series will develop onto larger pieces of wood and canvas, and might involve figurative painting too – a bit of a rarity in my work.

Being the visually oriented people we are, we wanted to find an excellent photographer for our wedding day so we were lucky to find Martin Venherm Martin Venherm Photography whose photos we’d admired when he’d been hired to shoot our friends’ wedding. He created images we absolutely love, and will enjoy looking at in the years to come! Here are a few of my favourites  …

Art during Lockdown

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Life goes on during lockdown!

At the moment I’m about to begin a private painting commission of North Berwick which I hugely look forward to. Deliveries are slow just now though so I’m awaiting new paints before I begin.

Exhibitions planned for this year will still go ahead virtually at least!

Here’s a list of current and upcoming exhibitions, also galleries showing my work on their websites.

EXHIBITIONS

2020

'Labyrinth'. Mixed media on 7.5 x 5.5. inch wood. Rose Strang, April 2020

‘Labyrinth’. Mixed media on 7.5 x 5.5. inch wood. Rose Strang, April 2020

March 19 – (end of lockdown?) Postcard From … Group exhibition. ‘Postcard From …’ was created as a response to Covid19, more than 80 artist members of the SSA (Society of Scottish Artists) are presenting their smaller works on this Facebook group page. All works £50 or less. Browse artworks on this link: Postcard From …

 

 

 

 

'Postcard From ... mY Livingroom. Covid19'. Mixed media on 3x3 inch wood block. Rose Strang 2019. £38

‘Postcard From my Livingroom’. Mixed media on 3×3 inch wood block. Rose Strang, March 2020. £38

May 20th to June 3rd. Postcard From … Projectroom2020. Created by Art North editor Ian McKay, Projectroom2020 is a response to Covid19 – comprising a virtual, multi-disciplinary gallery including several ‘floors’ and a cinema this virtual exhibition presents work by some of Scotland and Scandinavia’s most talented artists. Selected works from ‘Postcard From …’ will be on virtual exhibition in the cinema foyer from May 8th. In the meantime, have a browse on this link … Projectroom2020

 

 

GALLERIES

Covid19 means that offline exhibitions will be cancelled, however most galleries are continuing to show these online, read on for more information and links …

‘Dawn, Ardtoe’. Mixed media on 14×11″ wood panel. Rose Strang, 2019. £495

Limetree Gallery, Bristol. Search my artist’s page on the Limetree Gallery website on this link: Limetree, Rose Strang

 

 

 

 

‘Sanna Bay, dusk’. Mixed media on 14×11″ wood panel. Rose Strang, 2019. £550

Morningside Gallery, Edinburgh. Search my artist’s page on this link: Morningside Gallery, Rose Strang

 

 

 

 

‘Sanna Bay Sea’. Mixed media on 20×16″ wood board. Rose Strang 2019. £595

Resipole Gallery, Acharacle, Scotland. Resipole, Rose Strang

'Labyrinth'. Mixed media on 7.5 x 6.5 inches. Rose Strang, April 2020

Labyrinth

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Today’s painting – Labyrinth. Mixed media on 7.5 x 5.5 wood. Rose Strang 2020.

(side view) ‘Labyrinth’. Mixed media on 7.5 x 6.5 inches. Rose Strang, April 2020

This painting will feature as part of the up-coming exhibition on projectroom2020, set up by Art North (edited by Ian McKay) which goes live tonight at 7pm on this webpage: projectroom2020

I painted this as a response to the current situation. Whatever your thoughts about what’s caused it, how to deal with it, the lockdown and whether it’s being dealt with in the right way or not, there’s no doubt it’s pretty bewildering, hence the labyrinth from a window.

It’s a painting from a photo I took a few years ago from a window in Traquair House in the borders of Scotland. The labyrinth was actually extremely difficult to work out – it’s a strange experience – as I remember it – humbling for my friend and I, as we grew ever more exhausted and frustrated!

 

The view is tranquil though. Spring is here, we have quiet and solitude, less pollution and time to meditate on life. I don’t doubt how hard it is for most people to feel calm though – we don’t know what’s going to happen, for most of us the future financial situation is daunting. I can’t distill this experience just now, so this painting simply says something about my feelings at the moment.

This painting will feature as part of the up-coming exhibition on Project Room 2020 as part of  Postcard From …  a facebook group I set up to bring artists together during Covid19

Wishing everyone the very best of health and happiness!