Blue Beyond

Awe And Wonder

We have been amazed and overwhelmed by the success of the Shoreline exhibition, which opened on 1st June. We sold twenty paintings in the first half hour – with thirty paintings being sold by the end of the 
first day. Visitors to the gallery have been thrilled to
 see the work and there has been lots of folk playing ‘guess the artist’!!! It's been encouraging to see folk buying work and taking a genuine interest in the project we are supporting. Sales have continued strongly - and we have now sold forty-eight paintings. Check the website to see which pieces 
are still available.

Life’s A Beach

We had a couple of media friends from Northumberland visiting and working on the island last week. The object was to get some stunning photographs of Tiree to beautify the community website. The weather was kind – the seaweed was right!!! We got some spectacular shots of some of the less well known beaches and coastlines – the island won a new convert – and we had a great time catching up with news and discussing the relative merits of knitted woollen swimming trunks!!! 

New Arrival

Yes – Joshua Harry has arrived and is the latest, and cuddliest, addition to the family. Weighing in at 8lbs 10oz he arrived on Tuesday and is the delight of his proud parents. He is responding well to all the loving care he is receiving and will soon be smiling, bouncing and blurting.

Open Season

Another summer season has started. Visitors have been arriving by the boat load and making the most of the open and deserted beaches. The weather seems unsure of the season at times, and keeps throwing various combinations at us in the hope of getting it right eventually. A favourite expression ‘all four seasons in a day’ has been overheard in all the places that people congregate. We have been busy in the gallery – lots of weather refugees – and the season has started in a very positive way.

The gallery has been painted, the floors have been oiled and there’s work on the walls. As usual, these preparations were all last minute and rather rushed – leaving us making firm resolutions to do better next year!!! We have met lots of first time visitors to the island who have been blown away by the natural beauty and the sense of peace.

The Shoreline exhibition opened in a flurry of activity – and has been popular with visitors. Sales have gone well. To see the work which artists donated click here.

Most folk expect that the poor exchange rate, the financial and emotional cost of flying and the cheaper ferry charges will lead to a busy season on Tiree. All the signs are positive – even the seaweed predicts that we are going to have glorious weather!!! We’ll see….

Floating

I’ve been experimenting with a new expression of the landscape and seascape here on the island. Inspired by the colour and texture of this vivid frontier of land, sea and sky, I have been trying a new style of painting using heavy texture and layers of paint. I finished the first piece of work today – it’s called Floating.

I’m trying to convey the fluid, flowing and organic nature of the landscape and follow in the ‘plastic’ footsteps of César Manrique.

Struwwelpeter

The thought of cutting firewood sparked (sorry) another series of memories – of a time long gone but still remembered with warmth (sorry again) and affection.

As a young slip of a lad I played in various folk groups. We did gigs in all the major folk clubs in Newcastle and Durham and, on one occasion, the Edinburgh Folk Festival. The band personnel changed from time to time but was always drawn from the same group of friends.

We spent a lot of time together, and the band almost became a second family to us. It wasn’t all playing and travelling – we had lots of weekends away with time to enjoy the wonderful landscape of Northumberland and the borders. Most of our music was based on the tales and legends of the region – and this helped us to soak in the place and the atmosphere.

We often spent time in an old hunting lodge, in a remote site, overlooking the small market town of Rothbury. One of the chores was collecting and cutting firewood. An old photograph from that time shows me with struwwelpeter hair and a very small size in wranglers -  obviously we weren’t cutting wood!!!

This is a photo of Chantry – with Noel Johnson and Neville Williams – taken in 1975 at Pike House near Rothbury.

Joshua Waving

Just returned from our brief visit to Northumberland – lots to see and do – and we are now really focused on getting things ready for the gallery and the new season. 

We had time to visit family and friends – and even met ‘the bump’ – our soon to be born grandson - Joshua Harry Pattison. Technology is often blamed for lots of problems in everyday life – but to be able to monitor the progress of a baby as it grows is amazing. I hope this scan is not the cause of embarrassment later in life!!!

Turn Again

We often talk about out time on Lanzarote and I still feel the benefit of those relaxing weeks walking on the beach, reading, painting and soaking in the wonderful views. Just like enjoying a forbidden fruit – something out of time and out of place – which feels slightly like playing ‘hooky’ but is delicious and doubly enjoyable.

It’s good we can carry these moments of re-creation with us – and enjoy them over and over again. A bit like the double benefit of cutting firewood and chopping sticks, you get warmth from the activity, and from the wood when you burn it.

 So I’m enjoying the warmth of Lanzarote all over again.

Ready, Steady ...

We've got a dull and windy day on Tiree – the ferry has been cancelled and it seems like winter has returned. Our trip to the mainland to collect supplies, frames and other essentials is now on hold until we see what happens with the weather tomorrow.

We now have a ‘pet day’ at home. A day given back to us unexpectedly to do with as we wish. My first thought was eating chocolate by a lovely warm stove – but in reality we will probably spend it preparing for the forthcoming season in the gallery.

I’ve been potting for a few days, using a new clay, which has been wonderful, and I’m looking forward to the first raku firing of the season – when the weather improves!!! I’m also in pre-painting mode, priming boards and collecting ideas.

Inevitably, my mind has gone back to our holiday on Lanzarote, and I’ve been looking through the sketchbook for inspiration. Its good to see the colours of summer in the work I did in January. I wonder if anyone would notice if I sold my Lanzarote work in the gallery!!!

Plastic Oeuvre

I’ve been reflecting on our recent visit to Lanzarote. In particular, I have been thinking a great deal about the paintings of César Manrique which we saw in his former home at Tahiche. The building is now converted into the César Manrique Foundation, and houses, in addition to his paintings, examples of his ceramic work, designs for sculptures and installations, architecutural drawings and preliminary drawings. In everything we saw, there was a strong, clear and inescapable inter-relationship between the natural environment of the island and his work. Several times the phrase ‘plastic oeuvre’ was used to describe the fluid, flowing and organic nature of his paintings and sculpture.

His expression of landscape was amazing – and I am now a huge admirer of this man and his work. I have returned humbled but inspired.

I can only hope that I am at the beginning of my own ‘plastic oeuvre’ based on the stunning landscape of Tiree.