Wish me Luck, I'm Going In!

Gosh I've not blogged in an age... Time is speeding fast just now, I'm about to enter possibly my busiest patch ever - which is just fantastic, but also a little daunting! Ill tell you a little about what's been happening, and what's happening next...

Christmas with the family was lovely. A few weeks before I finished my last commission of 2011, this ruined croft house, which went down well as a surprise festive gift, I'm pleased to say!

'Wildreness Ruin, Strathmore' Mixed media on paper, 20 x 14" (commission, sold).

I also finished my last paintings of the year - an abstract inspired by the fairy lights I hung around my gilt hall mirror as part of my Christmas decorations, and a megalithic landscape featuring the stones at Glengorm, Mull.

'Fairy Lights and mirror' acrylic on canvas 16 x 20" (currently being exhibited in the Winter Gallery, An Talla Solais - available).

'Kissed by wind, stones, Glengorm, Mull' 16 x 20" acrylic on canvas (available).

As we moved into the new year, I managed to catch myself up with the work I started after visiting the Stoneworks Early Architecture project (see my blog post here), and finished these two pieces.

'Broch 2' acrylic on canvas,12 x 32" (available)

'Broch 1' mixed media on canvas, 20 x 20"

In mid-January I took a jaunt over to Ullapool to take up an exciting opportunity to exhibit in An Talla Solais' new 'Winter Gallery'. It's clever use of resources, which sees one of the boat trip booking booths that are normally found on the harbour front during the Summer pressed into seasonal use as an additional gallery space. I was interested to see how one could use the space to hang wall based work in an unusual way, and hung a selection of my colourful abstract works. 'Colour Makes Me Happy' is on until 19th February.

Another day, another abstract... I got an idea stuck in my head for a week or so after listening to the Laura Marling song 'Failure' quite a lot in the car, and had to exorcise it onto canvas. It's about those nuggets of pleasure, fulfillment, hope or happiness that can pepper a spell of depression or sadness...

'You'll Smile Again' 16 x 20" acrylic on canvas (available).

This one I just finished the other day (for something that's in the works in the next few months but isn't totaly conformed yet, so I won't tempt fate). It's a revisit to my Orkney work, taking paintings I did there (sheltering behind the back of the car from the wind and rain) at the Bay of Skaill (beside Skara Brae) and taking elements of the landscape / seascape of that area into abstract form.

'Bay of Skaill, Winter, Abstract' 20 x 20" mixed media on canvas.

February starts with a bang, with the first day of 28 drawings Later - a project encouraging people to draw every day for the month of February and post their work to Facebook. It's good practice and sounds like a lot of fun, so I am sharpening my pencils and getting out my ink in readiness.

The next thing on the calendar is a week painting trip to the Isle of Lewis to study the stones of the Callanish, and do some landscape work. I'm leaving the family at home and travelling with a friend for company, so it's a bit of a road trip - fingers crossed for no trouble with storms and cancelled ferries! The best work from this trip will be going to Inchmore Gallery, where I'm delighted to be exhibiting as part of the Spring Exhibition (more on that in a later post).