Well I’ve been out in the garage seeking some peace and came up with this painting. It’s the first large scale picture I’ve done in along time. It’s 1 metre high, acrylic on paper mounted on an old cardboard box. It’s great fun doing something on this scale, it seems to promote a less precious aproach. (or maybe that’s just my state of mind?) Unfortunately all the white paint has cracked on it, due to the freezing weather we have at the moment, at first I was peeved over this but ended up quite liking it. So much so I never painted any eyeballs in as the cracked effect and empty eyes seems to add something. I plan to do a few more like this and build up a wee band for him to play in. He’s got a bit of a rockabilly look on the go so maybe wahboards and teddy boys??? on the other hand could put him with totally contrasting musicians, maybe a jazzer, a folkist and a techno head???
Monthly Archive for March, 2009
After an inspiring weekend of talks, films and art up at the mountain festival a fortnight ago, I was sifting through my brain trying to think of something that could get across the aesthetic of a specific mountain but yet portray some sense of its character and demeanor. As anyone who has been stuck on a hill in bad weather will know, the environment of magnificent vistas and ethereal landscape can quickly change into a violent, frightening and imposing place to be. There were some brilliant works of art on display at the mountain festival, of whom Jamie Hageman stood out the most. His pictures are so incredibly detailed and capture the visual impact of the hills brilliantly.
When I got back I did a few mountain pictures – nothing specific – I was trying to capture this sense of personality and charisma a mountain has and it struck me that the works although vibrant, colourfull and forward still had a distinct 2 dimensional quality that was stifiling the whole premis.
Now my pal Misha has a wee cnc machine in his workshop and we had been pondering what we could make with it that would be different. So it struck me coming down the a82 through glencoe, to construct 3d mountains that were abstract replicas of the mountains. This is experimental and there is no guarantee that this will capture the essence of mountain that I’ve been chasing but it will certainly be a cool bi-product of the thought process.
The idea is to use a laminate effect to create the form. The contours will be split into separate sheets of metal and then stacked up to create the 3 dimensional model. We have thought of many different avenues for embellishing the models to add a greater impression of the mountains demeanor, iuncluding paint, anodising, laser etching and lighting. We are going to start the project with an iconic mountain of Wester Ross, Suilven. Hopefully we will have the first model within the next couple of months so check back soon…
Check out what Misha has to say about @ redlightray.com.
Here’s one of the developments I did for the sinclair odyssey project. Here’s the blurb:
This Caithness project is an innovative year-long community arts programme offering several hundred young people the opportunity to extend their knowledge and appreciation of their local heritage. The project uses archaeological studies, the visual arts, story telling, poetry, historical re-enactment and street theatre in a series of events befitting Homecoming Year.
Gathering
An event for all the family which includes plenty to see, eat and do! See how people from the castle lived with performances and presentations by the Caithness Young Archaeologists. Many activities to try including archery and a stint in the stocks! Meet the present Earl of Caithness and take a tour of the recently excavated Castle!
Ceilidh at the Castle
Don’t miss out on Ceilidh at the Castle taking place shortly after The Medieval Fayre. Enjoy lights, fireworks, dancing and more against the spectacular setting of Sinclair Girnigoe Castle. To top this all off, Blazin’ Fiddles are set to headline this unmissable ceilidh.
Please visit the Lyth Arts Centre webpage at www.lytharts.org.uk or phone 01955641270 for more details.
I knew nothing about the castle at Girnigoe, and it is an imposing and amazing structure with a checkered and rich history, I just hope the caithness weather holds good for the events.
The brief was for an hyper modern logo, keeping away from the regressive medieval vibe often associated with ruined castles. The end logo was something maybe not as futuristic as the one I would of chosen, but hey ho, it reflects the look of the castle more accurately and is less abstract.
The family and I spent a classic long weekend up in Fort william, the mountain festival was on and it was a quality event. Hearing stories from some of the worlds most accomplished and deranged climbers was inspiring and in some cases disturbing. The way these guys can condense their whole existence down to a single decision or move is awesome. Dave McLeod who is billed as the worlds best all round climber was particularly interesting he seems like such a down to earth guy, hailing from Dumbarton his commitment to climbing is intense and just goes to show you don’t need to be from the mountains to become a world class mountaineer.
We managed a wee bit of mountaineering, or as much mountaineering as you can do with a 7 month and 2 year old and I managed to get out in the wind and pishing rain to drag my winter weary carcas round the world championship mountain bike course at Aonach mor. So it wasn’t all armchair awe.
The whole weekend reminded me how important the mountains and highlands are to me. It’s so easy particularly in winter to blame work and family commitments for not venturing out.
Any way my inspiration and mountain musings have manifested themselves in a couple of images (check the sketchbook page for more), hope you like them? I’ve always drawn mountains and I’m planning a few different takes on the 2d works represented here, so stay tuned …
So get out there and for christs sake take your plastic home with you!
Just set up a sketchbook page last night. Check it out, I’ll be updating it as and when I get new drawings done. Now where’s my pencil?
Spent all day with my head in the .css designing the new website for ormiston flutes. The site is going to be a good old style static html site, and to be honest I’ve quite enjoyed building something simple and succinct. It’s good to focus on the products and the craft behind them. I also designed the logo, although to be fair it is more a re-styling of an old drawing the ormistons had. I like to think of it as a plesiosaur rather than a human.
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