Do pet owners look like the pets they own? There are two paintings in this show by Alice McMurrough that would seem to point this way.

The show is an exhibition at the Open Eye Gallery (show now closed) of works by Alice McMurrough and Neil MacDonald, husband and wife. I've admired their work separately so it was great to see a roomful of the two side by side (they're married, something I didn't know).

Both are a bit surreal and dreamlike. McMurrough being more heavily infused with the surreal end of the dream spectrum. Quite odd with both human and human-like animals often taking part on her stage. Macdonald is a bit more restrained and paints the Scottish landscape, not necessarily using a straight-edge for buildings. I like both artists a lot. I am sure they both get tired of being described as "quirky".

Right: Moon Shadows, St Clemet's, Rodel, Neil Macdonald, oil, 38x44.cm

Right: Together as One, Alice McMurrough, oil, 30x30cm

The show closed on November 16th but you can see the paintings and read more at the gallery site.

The Mall Galleries are hosting the 2024 exhibition of the Royal Institute of Oil Painters. A big selection of some great painting, big and small. I am always inspired by work I see here. If you can, a visit is best: you can't beat seeing a painting in real life. But online is good enough for me. I love big mixed shows like this.

Right: Coffee Followed by Beer by Rob Burton, oil, 23x17cm [link]

I like the "painterly" aspect to this. Really captures the dark and warm atmosphere.

Right: Unravelling by Felicity Starr, oil, 18x13cm [link]

Some beautiful works, some very small. This painting is a case in point and shows that even the most mundane subjects can be worth capturing in paint.

Many more pictures at the Mall Galleries web site.

I went to the Edinburgh Art Fair 2024 at the O2 Academy a couple of weeks ago. I've been for the past few years and went on a Friday to skip crowds at the weekend. It was certainly quiet, perhaps quieter than I expected.

The usual mix of good and mediocre ... and some bad. All a personal opinion of course: I go to this sort of thing because I love looking at art, particularly paintings. But I am always surprised (but shouldn't be by now) what sort of terrible stuff some people like. Then again, art can be all sorts of things to different people and many times it is just "home decoration" - like a mirror or a house plant. It's good if the sofa colour compliments the abstract painting. There's nothing wrong with that and, in fact, I occasionally paint something with a view to wanting a particular mood or atmosphere on my wall.

Kirsten Mirrey had a booth. I love her oil painting, seeing her work at the Abbeymount Studios open day a few months ago. Amongst many works, she had a very large (and just finished) oil painting up on the wall: a deer in the highlands. She seems to be doing very well (and that's not a surprise).

Right: Freedom. An oil painting by Kirsten Mirrey (from her web site).

I have made a new web site to show art work I have created :

https://art.sherringham.net

This is the first time I have done any "mobile" friendly web site work: mobile first. So I have also tried to familiarise myself with CSS features like flexbox layout etc. It has all been a learning experience. The Javascript "lightbox" is something I've taken from elsewhere (see below). I am now painfully aware of how unfriendly my main blog is to mobile and, at some point, I might have to try and fix this.

In the meantime, please check out the new site.

WARNING: The art site includes a "lightbox" (using lightbox2 but this does not work well on mobile devices. I may completely remove the lightbox, or try and replace with something else. More work needing done!

I've been trying my hand at linocut printing, perhaps the easiest sort to do at home. I've been wanting to try printing for a long time. There's no need for a course of training or in-person instruction: just have a go. It's quite easy to get something on paper quickly (even if just basic shapes) and it is cheap to get going as well. YouTube is full of instructional videos.

Right: My fourth lino print, and my first done in more than one colour.

I've now done about five prints, including a couple in multiple colours, one of which you can see to the right.

The colour prints are created using the reduction method: the first (usually lightest) colour is rolled and printed, then you cut out a little more lino where you want to keep this colour. Then roll the next colour and print again. Things can go wrong ... but so far not in a ruinous way!

In the picture below you can see the three stages of the three colour print "owl2": firstly turquoise (right-most), then, going right to left, the second colour blue added and then black to complete. The lino block is shown above the prints alongside the cutting tool I used.

Like any creative endeavour, practice is what gets you better. Right now I'm back to an oil painting but linocut printing is great fun. The focus of carving the block feels a little like a form of meditation. Time passes quickly.

The banner at the top of my blog at the moment (end of October 2023) is a detail from a photograph I took a couple of years ago on Bruntsfield Links, Edinburgh. The banner (cropped a little) :

This was a lovely sunny afternoon in September 2020. I used the photograph as a reference for a painting I completed late last year (November 2022). The painting came out fairly well I think. I've come to terms with how much green there is. I think. The painting :

Above: Sunny Afternoon at the Links, oil on canvas, 60x76cm

A detail from the painting :

In January last year, I posted a piece about a small study I had done of Arthur's Seat called The Seat by the Loch. I worried that the picture was a bit too saccharine. Maybe it was, but I decided I ignore any qualms and go all in on the "colour" : and so painted a larger version. This was done in July 2022 and I think it turned out okay. So, varnished, framed and hanging on a wall somewhere near me :

Above: View of St Anthony's Chapel and St Margaret's Loch, Oil on Linen, 60x80cm

This is a view of St Margaret's Loch and St Anthony's Chapel on Arthur's Seat, Edinburgh. I'd sometimes have lunch sitting up there with friends, and sharing the rocks opposite the chapel with some ravens chasing any crumbs falling their way. Better a raven than a gull.

I often take photographs of work in progress for my own interest and sometimes think to blog about it. So, in the interests of full disclosure, here is the first of a few occasional posts about paintings and the steps I used to create them.

Firstly, a picture of the sun coming up through trees in Inverleith Park, Edinburgh, with the New Town and castle in the distance. A beautiful golden sunrise on a cold day. I'm happy with the result.

A 50x60cm linen canvas, painting in oils.

On the left: Start with a toned canvas. I used a grid on the canvas to do an initial (basic) drawing in pencil, then used thin raw umber paint to block in a light under-painting. I sometimes use faster drying oil paints (e.g. Winsor and Newton Griffin) for an initial block in.

Right: Paint the graduated sky first (bright sun at left), then the graduated city and then foreground. The tree trunks in front of city are also painted in.

Left:Start the tree branches. I waited for the sky to be "dry".

Right:As I go along painting the branches, I adjust the branch colour to account for the sunlight passing through them. To finish the branches, I used a dry-brush technique (and a fan brush) to brush the finer branches at the end of the main branches.

The end result came out well I believe. It is now varnished and framed.

Fri, 22 Apr 2022

Black Haired Girl

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Above we can see my copy (on right) of Amedeo Modigliani's 1918 oil painting Black Hair (Young Dark Haired Girl Seated). I did this from a postcard (on left): the original oil painting is 92x60cm, mine is 25x30cm. I like the stylised, doll-like quality of his work. This piece seems very sympathetic to me.

This was also the first time I used a proportional divider tool to get the copy proportions correct. It worked well and is a little less time consuming than using a grid.

I bought the postcard at the Tate's Modigliani exhibition back in 2018. I wrote about the VR studio reproduction they put together.

Thu, 17 Feb 2022

The Pond and the City

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A small (8x10") oil study painting done a week ago. The source scene was from last year when the pond at Inverleith Park was mostly frozen. The swans sometimes seem to manage to keep an area clear of ice for themselves, but other birds are reduced to standing around on the ice looking a bit forlorn (if they hang around at all). Back when the pond had water.

Fri, 04 Feb 2022

Exuberant Colour

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As I posted a few days ago, Lorenzo Mattotti certainly knows how to paint exciting, energetic and colourful pictures. Also found in the book Altre forme lo distraevano continuamente are portraits of some colourful and fashionable women. A quirky set. For a change of pace to my usual practice, I thought I'd try copying one.

Below: On the left, a Mattotti and on the right my copy.

I decided to dig out my acrylic paints for a change as well. No solvent required (not that they are a big deal to me) and also fast drying. A curse sometimes, but at others a blessing. Small 18x13cm canvas boards.

I've now done four copies, each done quickly. I haven't got the likenesses right (portrait likeness is hard, and a skill I need more practice of) but they came out well I think. I'm happy and had a lot of fun doing them. That's the most important thing to me right now.

Further proof of how amazing and colourful pastels and pencil can be, jump over to the Mall Galleries for the Pastel Society 2022 exhibition. These shows are always a reminder to me that any medium can produce great art. Even a graphite pencil.
Below: Evening Pond, pastel, 46x35cm by Sheila Goodman

Wed, 19 Jan 2022

Seat By The Loch

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Above: View over St Margaret's Loch, Arthurs Seat, 8x10", oil, Jan 2022

Another small painting with a bit of orange in it. I'm worrying a little that the painting is a bit too "nice" now. Too colourful, too bright? Maybe one for the tourists. Or maybe just paint a really big version and go all in on the sweetness? I have another two similar paintings I should also dig up.

Edinburgh is blessed with many beautiful views, a few can be found close to its own extinct volcano, Arthur's Seat. The picture above shows the view Eastwards over St Margaret's Loch near Holyrood, with the ruins of St Anthony's Chapel on the brow of the hill on the right.

Above: Photo from wikipedia, license : CC BY-SA 3.0

Although Arthur's Seat does not compare to the mountains of the Highlands, let alone the Alps, it is a very impressive and monumental place in Edinburgh. It has a grand scale when you walk around it's base or climb to it's summit. Make sure you dress properly though - especially decent walking or climbing boots.

Thu, 13 Jan 2022

A Cold and Frosty Morn

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Above: A Cold Morning Frost, 8x10", oil, Jan 2022

The new year has got off to a quiet start, as they often do. The pestilence is still hanging around unfortunately but this wave seems to be less pestilential than previous ones. Apparently, this version is much milder if caught, perhaps as bad as a case of the hiccups. Better safe than sorry though: no one wants to risk long hiccups.

I did the small painting shown above using a TV screenshot as a reference (a BBC nature program I think). That was the first of the year and I'm also getting to the end of my next one, hopefully completing it without disaster. I was looking at some of my old pieces I've stuck up on this blog, and see a few clunkers. Maybe I'll look back on this one and think the same? Anyway, here's to a year of few clunkers.

Mon, 27 Dec 2021

Field

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A bigger picture completed a few months ago. This is a 50x60cm oil painting in a decent frame. A very basic composition but it works well I think. Hopefully looks good on a wall.

Tue, 31 Aug 2021

Drawing In

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Above: Sunset over the Terrace, 10x8", oil, August 2021

The weather's been quite good up here so I have been spending more time outside than in the studio painting. But I can feel the days drawing in a bit now so that will change.

You have to be a bit careful with sunsets (or rises). I enjoy painting them but it is important to not end up with a something the wrong side of sickly sweet. Edinburgh's had some great colour in the sky on occasion; some would be hard to pass off as natural if not for a photograph. It may not pass as a decent painting though. This is a small work that might grow into a large one if the feeling comes over me. For now, maybe another small sunset!

Sat, 27 Jun 2020

Park in Summer

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Another slight one completed a while ago. An overwhelming sense of green-ness on a sunny day in the park. I am working on a bigger painting but very slowly. In Edinburgh, summer comes and goes ever few days.

Below: Inverleith Leaves (study), oil, 18x24cm, May 24th 2020

Wed, 10 Jun 2020

On The Beach

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A slight one but at least completed and presentable.

Below: Low Tide Near Cramond (study), oil, 8x10", May 19th 2020

Sat, 06 Jun 2020

Murky Water Sunny Tree

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Below: Backlit Leaves on Water of Leith (study), oil, 8x10", May 12th 2020

Thu, 04 Jun 2020

Near Cramond

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Above: Cramond Beach Tree (study), oil, 8x10", May 14th 2020

You don't see "100% Extra Free" boxes of blueberries in the supermarket now, which is a shame (although I had to struggle to get through them). On the other hand, summer is here. But the news is still bad. A never-ending supply as I've noticed before.

My posts have dropped off a bit and my artistic endeavour has also taken a hit. Such is life sometimes. I've had a lean period with my painting for two weeks really, with a so-so picture, preceded by a couple of abandoned works. It's not the end of the world and occasionally it's necessary to take a step back, wait and rebuild motivation. You can't force inspiration and there's no point worrying about it.

I still have quite a few paintings completed over the last few weeks to show, and even from last year. Maybe some not as worth the display. But I'll leave that judgement open for now.

Here's one I did a few weeks ago. I've spent a lot more time biking and walking, discovering some of Edinburgh's paths and parks. It's easy to forget Edinburgh is on the coast, with a northern as well as an eastern aspect. This picture is somewhere along the northern coast from Silverknowes to Cramond.

Wed, 13 May 2020

Cast Shadows

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Above: Queensferry and Learmonth Shadows, oil, 8x10", April 15 2020

I painted this a few weeks ago, the "hook" being the light through the large tree casting a great mosaic of a shadow on the road. Not a particularly complicated picture and it came out fairly well. Unlike some other paintings recently though. In fact, a week or so ago I was having a lot of trouble sitting down and getting anything done. Some days are like that, and it can definitely cast a bit of a depressing shadow itself. Very frustrating. Luckily, I managed to break the spell last week. Hopefully for a while.

© Alastair Sherringham 2023
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Still going after all these years.