Remember the post about 'Preparation' back in October? I told you I'd let you see the end results when I got the chance to use my prepared sheets of sugar paper. I've recently had the chance to do some fabulous life drawing and - although I'm still rusty after too many years' dormancy - I've been really enjoying having a free hand and experimenting with quick drawings interspersed with longer ones. Here are some of the results:

Woman Seated

That last one is my favourite (although it wasn't done last). It captures the essence of the woman, seated, and I used only five brush strokes to achieve it. I'm not entirely sure it's finished yet, as a picture, but I'm happy with the drips that have helped to 'ground' it.

There was a spotty, splashed piece of paper I used too, during a life drawing session, which is still on my easel and needs more work before 'the world' sees it.

I make no apology for being 'fast and loose' when it comes to this type of drawing!

Current Exhibition

It seems mad but already my exhibition of work in the window at Stonehaven Library has been on display for a week and a half. It is due to be on show for the whole of December and passers-by can pop in to the library and buy one of the paintings on the spot. They don't have to wait for the exhibition to finish before they can take it home with them, so the paintings make ideal presents. "An original painting will tranform a room - a house!- and will be an investment," say the television experts.

Speaking of television, the local Scottish ITV station phoned me yesterday and asked me for some info to put on their 'local' website so I've sent them some and await its display. I'll show you a link when they've done it.

For those who can't walk past (without a 500+ mile journey...) here is a photo of how it looks, reflections and all. My friend Mary Milne helped me hang it and we had a good laugh at the difficulties but we weren't drunk, honest - it was just impossible to get the levels straight, even using velcro tabs.

Contact me if you'd like to buy one and can't get to the library! mrs.bern.ross@googlemail.com

Artist's Statement and More

The Freehand Line - A Statement

My ambition is to paint each masterpiece with a swift, confident and pure, freehand line applied with a brush or fingers. 

Colour, tone, texture, mood and ambience will have all been created beforehand - and not necessarily deliberately. The challenge comes with trusting my freehand and the fact that I love painting and cannot stop. The experiments go on and on: only the constraints of time, space, and the want of further materials hold me back.

Another day, my needs are different; but always, always - the resulting image can be what the viewer sees it to be. No representation within the image is paramount or even intended.

This is an unfinished piece called 'Speeding', painted with acrylics and ink with fingers and credit cards. It awaits more work with 'the freehand line' (though of course it's all freehand anyway). 

Our SABAB exhibition in Montrose has been postponed until next March when the snow is likely to have melted and we'll all be able to transport our work and ourselves to the venue safely. Suddenly we have a little bit more time to paint!

Wild, wonderful sea...

Something a bit different: here's a short video for you to watch. A slice of the life that inspires me.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=89wZzPdixDs&list=UL_EfcdeDrnS8&shuffle=123&playnext=1
I happened to have my camera when the sea was wild and wonderful, the sky threatening to snow again (or send thunder and lightning and hail), and yet the waves continued relentlessly, noisily and surprisingly reassuringly.

After leaving the boardwalk and going on my way through the slushy streets, it snowed again and then came down in heavy sleet like balls of polystyrene before the clouds moved over to reveal blue sky and sunshine again.

Never ending work

What do I do all the time? This week I've been writing and sending press releases to the newspapers about my forthcoming exhibitions; creating a new oil painting called 'Of Childhood and Inspiration' - nearly finished that. I've been tidying up a few other paintings where I noticed the colours were not right or the edges needed neatening; I've printed some cards that I designed over the last few weeks; I've planned the layout of my solo exhibition in the local library window and typed the list of works with prices for that.

Choppy Seas Triptych

It took me ages to get these three pictures close enough in colour etc (including the fixtures at the right level at the back!) to make them a triptych but I'm pleased with them now.

I'll remember the other stuff I've been doing (oh, preparing the work for the Montrose exhibition of course!), just as soon as I finish on this laptop, but that's life. No doubt I'll be back soon. When I have time!

Let you in to a Secret

I've been painting a picture today which I think I'll call 'Sunset Song Landscape' because it's an impression of Lewis Grassic Gibbon's house in the Howe o' the Mearns, an area I love to travel through: and remember the prose in the novel Sunset Song.

My secret is ...

this is an experiment ... painted in gouache (watercolour) on canvas with my fingers, mainly, and...

... love it as I do, I shall probably wash it all off and use the canvas for something more permanent. :-(

Unless, of course, someone makes it worth my while not to! It is 16" x 20" and will need framing with glass to protect it. Offers over £40 by 20th November 2010 .... See my Affordable British Art Gallery where free delivery is included.

Painting as a Way Of Life

There's nothing odd about it really. I paint (or knit or sew or make something, anything) full time, i.e. everyday. So when it came to deciding what to do with the grimly dull kitchen wall, stripped of old wallpaper, patched with grey plaster and with no grand kitchen design units to adorn it... the obvious thing was to brighten it up with fresh blue sky and the calm sea view I've always wished we'd got in this house.

Difficult to photograph it properly but maybe you can see that it pushes the wall further away into the distance, which is rather effective.

Here is a close up of the bit where I want to dive in for a splash of cool sea water:

In my studio, meanwhile, I've been painting a bright and flowing abstract on the theme of 'hugging' and, this morning, I started an oil painting of a mountain view.

Preparation

When I'm ready to create something I want to dive in and DO it, so a pristine canvas is a temptation and usually the winner. However, I envy the pictures I see that other people have done which have involved a lot more work in advance of the final drawing or painting and often wish I stopped to think about the final effect before getting going.

Thinking about painting a mural on our kitchen wall (currently covered in nail-holes and unsightly patches) made me realise how important the starting surface is - especially as I began to think of ways to incorporate some of our kitchen wall's defects into the mural!

So - with the lack of time, ideas, and destinations for any saleable artwork at present - I am experimenting with surfaces, creating some interesting 'supports' (i.e.sheets of heavy paper) ready for drawing on.  Lovely and messy!

Let it Loose or Let it Die

I've been reading an article about creativity in older people, i.e. over fortyish, and it has been liberating and heartwarming. It is a time to 'explore our creative impulses and give the results to ourselves and our families, if not to others.'

Having been a creative thing all my life I happen to have found it hard to know what it's like NOT to want to make my own clothes and do my own everything. The surge I'm experiencing now is therefore almost ridiculous: I spoke to a fellow artist this morning who is probably ten years older than I and we exchanged curses on the dilemma of creating more than we can find homes for. I think she and I would give our large paintings away if it were not for the disservice it does to other professional artists; and we are professional if we do it (or think about it) full time and have done for years. The dilemma is finding space on our walls to display the work.

Here are two pieces I've created on paper, recently. To be able to show them 'in situ' is pretty impossible as they need framing and hanging on wall space which I haven't got; so I temporarily put 'Drunken Disorderly' (the line drawing) on a door for you to see the scale, and 'Sunnyfields' - a picture done with soft pastels - is propped up on a futon. Sorry about the presentation - how about giving one of them a proper home?

A Sneaky Peep

Here are just a few images from my studio as it's currently hung, although there are many more paintings on show in the hall and up the staircase as well as drawings, prints and pastel work in the browsing rack. I'm receiving lots of useful feedback and my principle of remaining 'unframed' is well-supported, generally liked and appreciated. I've gone into this in an article I've written and might publish it elsewhere - watch this space!

Studio open 10 - 4pm each day until Sunday 19th September...... Please come and view the work 'in the flesh' - the experience is well worth it.

Slowly Emerging

North East Open Studios has started and I'm open today! The sun is shining and visitors are beginning to find their way here, which is great. And instead of flitting from one thing to another in the house I have a good reason to stay in my room and work on some things that might otherwise get left in an undecided state. One of these in particular is a large oil painting of Dunnottar Castle (looking at it from the East).

I kept thinking it was finished but knew in my heart that it needs more work done on it to give it some greater depth. It's coming along... and perhaps when I see it on a photo on computer I shall have better ideas on how to give it those finishing touches, as is so often the way.

More Paintings: each needing the final touches

The black one in the centre is called 'Living Alone' and it's a technical nightmare to photograph it, although I quite like the effect it has produced here, and might use the (mistaken) light effects in the final painting. Actually it's all black with some subtly coloured glazes giving the shapes which you can probably see; and there are white broken lines and black glazed lines reaching down onto the hill where there's a line of reflection. Tucked in the distant hills is a collection of white buildings.

Age Will Not Weary

It's always difficult to know which pieces of my work, if any, I should submit to the local annual Art Club exhibition. This painting is iconic for the locality, depicting the War Memorial and its beautiful surroundings in an abstract/ stylised way. The seagull shape has the words of the English poet, Laurence Binyon (1869-1943) signed in silver along its wing and it flies under a silver sky. There is rain/snow/mist in the air and distant hikers heading for the Memorial. Anyone who has walked along the coastal path by Stonehaven will understand the painting although it doesn't literally depict a particular scene.

"Age will not weary, nor the years condemn..."

The painting is unframed (because the picture goes right around the edges), it's thick with texture, uninhibited in brushstrokes and unconventional compared to the neat specimens all around. But it's unfettered art and I'm grateful to the art club for giving me the chance to show it to a wide audience.

Two Paintings, very different

This week I've been working on two pictures, completely different from each other in style, genre and materials. Nothing new there, it's the way I like to do things.

The top picture is an abstract that reminds me of the view as I look across toward the east from one of the beautiful country roads around Marykirk or Edzell. It is painted in Heavy Body Acrylic paint and could've been influenced by the warm weather we've had recently; if we feel it warm here in the North East, I guess it's particularly sweltering on those yellow fields.

The beach scene is an oil painting and it isn't quite finished yet. The beach on the right needs to be toned-down a little. In complete contrast to the 'Sweltering Mearns' painting, this one conveys the joy of finding a quiet, fresh and sandy patch of beach that's dry and relatively warm, with a few rocks and foliage to use as a home base and picnic spot.

Let me know which one you prefer. I'll soon be displaying them on Affordable British Art

For Ever and Ever

This is one of my paintings on show at SABAB presents: Art@Cowden. It is painted in oil on an acrylic background and is 36 inches wide by 14 inches tall (92cms x 36cms) Its title is

'For Ever and Ever'

SABAB exhibition

When a gallery adds 50% to one's very reasonable and affordable prices, one wishes to own the right accomodation in the right place to be able to set up one's own...
South Aberdeenshire Abstracts is my answer. We are a group of 12 who paint (and sculpt) the kind of work that doesn't particularly sit comfortably beside neat representational pictures so we are holding dedicated exhibitions of our own. Our first major show opens on Saturday (sneak preview on Friday afternoon for those who can't do a weekend) at the fabulous Cowden Studio at Drumlithie, just a few miles south from Stonehaven.

And this is the view from the door.

Solo Exhibition

This morning Rod took me and 18 of my paintings to Balmedie where they are now hanging in a grand exhibition in their own right. It opens on Wednesday 5th May at 10am.

Here are some photos. The lighting isn't quite right yet but I'm pleased with the way the paintings look on the walls.

Preparing for a Solo

I've got a feel for the atmosphere... I've done the paperwork (I think), I've decided on which paintings to display, have sent off the list and I've made a poster that can be put around wherever it's possible to put posters...

I'm in the middle of making labels to attach to each painting so that they can be identified easily when I'm not with them. It will be interesting to let go of so many of  'my babies' all at once. And it will be hugely helpful in making space within my studio to focus on new work as well as being wonderful to see these favourites in the fabulous setting of the Tarts and Crafts Gallery & community cafe, which is so full of character and deserving of appreciative custom...

Good Friday

I've been quiet on here for a couple of weeks again but that's not due to laziness! Now that I'm the Publicity Officer for South Aberdeenshire Abstracts www.southaberdeenshireabstracts.org.uk/ I've been writing for them and sorting out images for their new website. I've also been been painting and doing some pastel work which I haven't yet photographed or finished; and I've created a few messes which may or may not come to fruition as masterpieces in an unspecified future.

Pictures in Situ

There's a problem with sending photos via Picasa, so I've uploaded these two photos to show them on here.

Rushed off my Easel

These last few weeks I've been too busy to keep up with the blog, not least because I'm currently designing a new website to show my work in a better light. 

Art is always a work in progress, really, which is why websites are appealing to creative people.

You can see my work in progress (i.e. making it a good website) at 

www.bern-ross.weebly.com

Although I'm still undecided about this painting: 

Urban Juxtaposition, 24" x 30"

... my confidence is growing because the feedback so far, from those who've seen it, has been that they love the picture and think I should pursue further ideas in that ilk.

This is a collage of photos from my Open Studio on 21st February which was a great success.

A Spot of Sunshine

I've started painting this because I need it on my wall somewhere. I love it already with the way it's drawing me in to its heat (white hot!) and throwing out a few ripples of molten sunshine.

Not far to go now with a few adjustments to the blending. I've painted it in oils: fabulously dense pigment.

I think we all need a spot of sun on our walls.

Sunshine and Open Studio

Photos on here have been sparse recently but too many grey days have not thwarted my creative endeavours, just changed the activities to suit the light. When painting, I use an ordinary high wattage, low energy (if that makes sense) light bulb plus a similar thing in a 'Daylight' bulb. The two together seem to make the right light.

I've created a focal point for the winter months and have started advertising a Special Open Studio event on Sunday 21st February, 10am - 6pm when people can drop in any time and see my work and hopefully buy something.

I've been preparing Giclee prints of some of my larger pictures so that they are smaller and can be framed in the conventional way to match customers' existing collections of pictures on their walls. I've got many pastel drawings/paintings (never know which to call them) and have even started doing some small canvas wall-plaques which are very lightweight and hang like a tapestry from a piece of bamboo.

Today we have brilliant sunshine, blue skies and blinding white snow underfoot, again! I might try taking some photos of my pictures but there could be too much light with glare and reflection. The challenges for an artist are never-ending.

Sketching ideas and resisting realism

I do love walking in the countryside and along the coast, and I take many photos along the way and sketch the feel of some of the places from memory and imagination afterwards - sometimes straight after, sometimes months afterwards. It's the feel of the place that is important in my paintings and I don't really want to create a pristine replica of what I saw and what everybody else can see (if only they'd walk too).

We were given a Digital Photo Frame for Christmas and it sits quietly in the lounge flicking through photos that are far more interesting than what's on telly. So here's an idea - and it can be adapted for use with an ordinary 'slide show' on a computer. Set the slides to change every ten seconds or maybe 15, whatever suits you, and sit with your smallest sketchpad and a soft pencil, making rapid drawings of the compositions that appeal to you or which most stand out.

If you have the slides on a continual repeat then you can return to any drawings that need a bit of a reminder about colour or composition. For the above painting (at the underpainting stage shown above) I had written notes on the drawing to remind myself of the sharp contrast between sky and trees, and the importance of the angles of the fence posts in the foreground.

You'll soon see the finished painting on Affordable British Art : I think it will be called 'Warm are the Still and Lucky Miles', after a poem by W.H Auden.

The rapid-fire drawings mean that you produce lots and it really loosens you up so that realism is outweighed by the feeling in the scene.

Skye Bridge, Expressionist Style

This picture gave me a lot of trouble and I have changed it now; but there are some elements that I have lost and which I need to restore! The trouble with having lots of ideas and working on them all at different times within a few days is that you begin to lose vision on the main aim in a piece of work. The focus in this one got lost (it looks better here than it does since I've worked on it) so now I know where I'm going with it and will hopefully put it right.
 

Life is Moving On

I've done several paintings and drawings since my last post but haven't had time to put them on the blog...

However, I've taken some photos and if - big IF - my computer machinery obliges then you'll soon see what I've been up to whilst the world outside froze.

Meanwhile, it would be most helpful if anyone reading this would click on the following link and sign a petition for an arts centre and green gardens in central Aberdeen, where rich businessmen with more money than artistic merit and sensitivity are bidding to build concrete money-making monstrosities that seem to take away all signs of greenery and mature trees. Please help! Online petition - Save the new Contemporary Art Centre in Union Terrace Gardens