Tennis

The Forest, oil on canvas, 40" x 60" 2009

Here's a new painting. Too busy getting stressed listening on the radio to Murray's match to write anything... 
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Much dust on the lens

Ricoh GRD II 1/160, f/6.3

When a horse snorts over your camera... Bad pony!

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Exhibition in Selkirk (not mine)

If in the Borders, you really should check out the new exhibition at The Forest Bookstore on Selkirk's Market Place: a series of complicated and exquisite prints by award winning artist Andrew Mackenzie (above) and, of course, while you're there you can buy some books from Scotland's best independent bookshop. There is an enticing focus on Hispanic writing at the moment; I'd recommend Javier Cercas' Soldiers of Salamis, a great novel.
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A plantation and some lurchers

Plantation, oil on canvas, 30" x 40" 2009

I wish I knew how to take a half decent photo of a very dark painting. This photo is pretty terrible, but you just about get an idea of the painting - a dark, dark plantation. I took a load of paintings to the Leith Framing Studio today where they will be expertly dealt with by my old pal Jamie Sutherland, who has been framing most of my pictures for many a year. Jamie has a beautiful blonde lurcher called Bailey in the workshop. Framers must have a thing about lurchers as Frames in Perth is watched over by an equally beautiful black one called Tony. 

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At it again

Yellow fields, Strathearn, oil on canvas, 40" x 60", 2009

I finally got some painting in today for the first time this week. I've been tied up with an assortment of impediments including a sickly child and an 'assessment' at the bank. The latter was to sort out a special account to help me meet the monstrous demands of the Inland Revenue, though the bank seemed more enthusiastic about trying to flog me house/car/life insurance and a credit card. Still, I got the new account, now I just need to earn something to put in it! Bring on the summer show at Flaubert, where the above painting will be taking a bow.
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Jolomo Winner

Hearty congratulations to Keith Salmon (above) who last night was announced as winner of the 2009 Jolomo Awards, a thoroughly deserved accolade for a very talented artist, and a nice guy. Congratulations also to runner-up Toby Cook and third equals Jack Frame and Alastair Strachan.  Commiserations to Roseanne Barr, Maurice Forsyth-Grant and, of course, me! 
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Monster tree eats wire and lives

Ricoh GRD II, 1/540, f. 3.5

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Pine Plantation

Plantation sketch, oil on paper, 18" x 13" 2009

This is a sketch looking out from a little pine plantation in the hills between Dunning and Path of Condie. I'm painting lots of trees at the moment, it's been a bit of a theme lately, along with the Sutherland stuff. I'm working on a large canvas of a similar view to that above.

Dunning is an interesting place with a 12th Century church, St. Serfs, which houses the famous Dupplin Cross, a remarkable ninth century Pictish monument. Forteviot, just down the road, was of course the 'capital' of the Picts. Dunning is also commendable for boasting three pubs and two shops, despite its meagre 1000 strong population. Forteviot has no pubs, but an interesting Arts and Crafts design. More curious history from the area can be found at Andrew Faraday Giles' wide ranging, always thrilling blog.

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Rape Fields

Three Rape Fields, oil on canvas, 10" x 12", 2009

It's that time of year when the hayfeverish start snuffling and sneezing all over the place, bemoaning their misfortune non stop. Most blame, or so I am told, should apparently be laid at the door of the oilseed rape plantations whose radioactive glow shouts out across the landscape right now. I know practically nothing about oil seed  rape, except that it used to be fit only for cattle cake or something, but now its oil is, officially, the new olive oil.  I do like it's crazy stand out showiness on the landscape; driving through Strathearn the other day, I pointed out a yellow field to Florence (almost three) and she responded: 'Maybe somebody's been painting that field.' Nice idea, and now somebody has indeed painted it.

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Sun and shade

The Bottom of my Garden, charcoal and pastel on card, 32" x 44", 2009

Sun, sun, sun... it's almost like being in Spain or Italy or suchlike. Except that there I would get bored of the endless weeks of blue sky and ennervating heat and wish for rain, whereas here, safe in the knowledge that rain and a returning chill are never far away, I just use the sun as an excuse to lurk in the shade and do crosswords. Today I did also do some work in the studio and some drawing al fresco at the bottom of my garden (above). 

Also today, the Jolomo awards exhibition came down in Edinburgh after its three day run. The PV on Thursday night was good, with plenty of people, some sales and then a fine culmination for my gang at La P'tite Folie on Randolph Place. The winners will be announced a week on Friday at a jazzy ceremony in Glasgow.

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Sutherland again

Lewisian Gneiss (Above Polin), oil on canvas, 40" x 60", 2009

Went to Edinburgh today to deposit paintings at the Lloyds building for this weekend's Jolomo Awards exhibition (see below) and am looking forward to seeing it all hung tomorrow. It's quite an unusual space for an exhibition so it'll be good to see how it all looks once it's up. There is a wide mix of styles amongst the seven shortlisted artists, from realism to total abstraction and, with each showing up to ten works, it should be a pretty diverse and surprising show.

The picture above is a new one; another Sutherland scene with the ancient (about two and a half billion years old) and tormented Lewisian rocks to the fore. 
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Barking

Ricoh GRD II  f/2.4, 1/20

I went up to the woods today to think about some plantation paintings. I like the shapes on this trunk. 

This week also sees the exhibition of shortlisted artists for the Lloyds TSB Jolomo Landscape Painting Awards in Edinburgh, which starts on Friday. I will be showing ten pictures alongside those of the six other artists on the shortlist.

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