New year, new projects

This year has brought an exciting new project which will be taking me on a number of drawing trips around Dumfries and Galloway, an area I've often travelled through but never before had the pleasure to stop and explore. So far I've travelled most of the length of the Solway coastline, pausing to draw subjects along the way ranging from the Barnacle Geese at Caerlaverock to the Mull of Galloway lighthouse.

 Also recently completed are two new sets of linocuts based on some wildlife drawing made in the autumn.

 

 

 

Plunge

A recent collagraph I've been working on after spending many happy hours watching the cormorants and gannets diving off Waternish Point on Skye earlier this year. This is a working proof yet to be editioned but I think its just about ready to go. I really love those rich, velvety blacks full of texture which collagraph can achieve.

And some fresh inspiration from a recent trip into the Cairngorms just in time for the first serious snowfall of the year. The walk up was eerily misty but once in the bowl of the corrie it suddenly began to lift, revealing spectacular black rocky outcrops and snow filled gullies.

Sea Campion and Gulls

Another new linocut fresh off the press, Sea Campion are one of my favourite flowers clinging to tiny scraps of turf in among the rocks at the bottom of my parents croft on Skye. The delicate white petals and subtle veins somehow withstand the battering they receive from the elements and always seem to have a tangle of twines, interesting flotsam and jetsam intertwining with their roots.

Christmas Exhibitions

I thought this was a suitably wintry picture to accompany a selection of other works in linocut and painting at the Frames Christmas Exhibition (13th November - 30th January)  http://www.framesgallery.co.uk/exhibitions/

There will also be a a couple of my linocuts on show at the House for an Art Lover Christmas Exhibition (24th November - 18th January) http://www.houseforanartlover.co.uk/

Further north I have recently sent a selection of new linocuts  to Gallery 48 in Cromarty http://www.gallery48.scot/index.asp and will also be bringing some of my most recent works to the Castle Gallery in Inverness later this month http://www.castlegallery.co.uk/ 

Scottish Natural Heritage Exhibition

A selection of work ranging across paintings, drawings and prints is currently on display at SNH Battleby and open to the public. To avoid disappointment please telephone in advance to ensure your visit doesn't coincide with any large conferences which may make viewing difficult.
 https://www.facebook.com/ScottishNaturalHeritage

Directional Signage NHS England

The last few weeks have seen my linocut tools being put through their paces cutting a set of images for a refurbished health centre in Nottinghamshire. Each scene is based on a site of local interest and has a key colour relating to the wayfinding signage. The prints have just been sent off for scanning and will be reproduced at several metres width to fill entire sections of wall. I'm looking forward to seeing the finished result!

Puhoi Organic Milk Packaging

This summer I was asked to do some work for a design agency in New Zealand to be used on packaging for an organic milk and artisan cheese company near Auckland City. They were very keen to use artwork that evoked craft and tradition but also had a contemporary feel and would work well in a variety of soft, vintage style colours. It turned out linocut was just what was needed.

And the lovely vintage company van being kitted out with its new livery.

To see more examples visit: https://www.facebook.com/PuhoiValley/info?tab=overview