I’ve been trying to paint Ben Alligin for ages, my Dad’s Dad is from the the base of this mountain so I guess it has a fair but of significance to me. I’ve been up it twice, it is a dark and rugged hill, the gash in it was apparently carved out by the swipe of the devils tail. It has two names, Eag Dhubh na h-Eigheachd (black gash of the wailing) or Leum na Caillich (Jump of the Old Woman); pretty heavy stuff, not a nice place for an old woman to go jumping. It’s this gully which has always been the hardest part of it to paint, portraying 3 dimensions in such a shadowy way is a challenge. I must get better at my mixing values, my love of subtle blackness is well documented, it’s an on going progress. I will try again, the clouds on this work well I think.

This canvas was pulled out of a crumpled pile when we had to reorganise our studio due to the council rates going up and we had to build more units to rent. The canvas was left behind by an unknown artist who had discarded it unceremoniously in a dark crevice… This painting is cheap because the canvas is pretty shonky, though 100% functional. It’s survived this long… Canvas has been repaired and is ready to hang, the price reflects it’s abused condition.

A chance to own a large oil painting at 1/10th of the price.

This is quite a large painting but can be crated and posted at the buyers expense.