Onwards and Upwards

I have finally managed to find time to stop, sit down and take stock.  And update the blog, which I'm afraid I have neglected for a while.  My laptop suffered a bout of bloating and was on the go-slow for a while.  In fact it stubbornly refused to anything at all for a day or so.  This resulted in me going out and about "touting my wares", to put it crudely.  The result - some of my greetings cards are now with a new, local stockist (Jack Tierney Gallery) and stocks of cards have been replenished with another one (Buchanan's Bistro in Banchory). Connections have been renewed as well.  Some more prints were delivered to the lovely Pebble gift shop in Aberdeen that has some of my paintings on its walls.  And last but not least, I visited a gallery which has only been open a few months, the owner of which would like to see some of my work with a view to hanging it/stocking cards etc.  I'll keep the name of that one under wraps for now!

In the meantime, it's always good to visit exhibitions and learn about different artists and their techniques and styles.  My tutor at art class mentioned the artist Tom Shanks to me the other week.  I have seen his work in the past, and liked it. So, I investigated a bit more online and printed out a few images for reference/research purposes.  I loved the boldness of them, the string use of colour and line to give shape to the Highland landscapes he depicts.  Last week at art class, I had a go at painting in similar style, using sketches I made this summer for reference.  Above are the results.  I think I need to acquire a really large brush (think emulsion paint or wallpaper glue size) in order to be able to achieve really big dramatic skies.  Both these works are larger than what I have done before.   Plenty more work to be done, but I am enjoying this new, bolder direction.