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One thing that I think we’ve all learned from the recent lockdown is that the world changed overnight. I have been selling my art online through Etsy, through my own social media sites, and, just before lockdown I was in the process of setting up another online outlet, however. I live in a wee village, with a small postoffice and I didn’t want to risk having something for sale and then not being able to post it if it sold.

Then someone told me about Imagekind (click on the bolded name to go to my shop there)

I must say I was really impressed. I love the way that you can see how the prints would look in a variety of frames and settings and examine the paintings in close-up too

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I have been selling prints on Fine Art America for quite a long time but had become frustrated with them for various reasons and had removed most of my images. They seem to have had a bit of a revamp since I used them last though, including the new option of images for Instagram

So I’m planning to upload some of my favourite images over the next week or so

Here in the Highlands we have been very lucky and, things go well and there are no outbreaks things may well be opening up so I have applied to sell with ArtGallery. They are an online sales platform who are a sister company to SAA (society of all artists) where I’ve been a member for several years. Joining was only finalised this afternoon so I haven’t uploaded any art images yet, but watch this space!

If you want to have a chat, say hello or share your experiences, please contact me here on my website or click on one of my social media places below xx

Instagram   Facebook   Twitter   Etsy   Pinterest

Imagekind and Fine Art America 

When I gave up full time employment several years ago I had no idea whether I could make any sort of income from my art. Living where I do, in the remote Scottish Highlands, there aren’t exactly huge numbers of galleries or art collectors and opportunities can be hard to come by, so I decided to go online.

A good suite of social media and a simple website, which I have developed in the past few years, has allowed me to connect with all kinds of interesting people, galleries and collaborations and has also enabled me to sell thousands of pounds worth of art.

My latest collaboration is with the innovative and rather wonderful West Highland College to deliver two online courses, something I’m really excited about. The first course starts on Tuesday 30th June (click on the link on the picture below to go directly to their event page on FB) or click BEST – Business Enterprise Solutions and Training. to book on their website: The college have been really helpful and supportive and I’ve worked with them to keep the cost of the courses really low to make them as accessible as possible. I’m really keen to help and support other artists in any way I can and West Highland College has a lot of experience in delivering a great selection of online courses so this seemed like a really great way to do that.

The course will be online for three consectutive weeks and I’ll share some hints and tips and things that I have learned as I set up my business. This will include how to find an online audience among millions of art lovers, how to connect, promote and sell your art and some of the benefits and pitfalls that you may come across along the way.

I live and work in rural Scotland, West Highland College has several campuses, but the great thing about online courses is that anyone interested in taking the course can be based anywhere where they have a decent internet link so please do feel free to share with anyone who you think might be interested.

I’ve had some huge benefits from sharing and selling my art online, including meeting some wonderful fellow artists. It’s been vital to my business to be able to reach a wider audience and I think this will become even more vital thanks to the effects of the pandemic. Who knows how things might change and how galleries and other venues might be affected, art, however, has been selling during the lockdown and I firmly believe that the virtual world will continue to be important in the weeks and months to come. If you are interested in the course but have a question or want to know more, then you can contact me here or connect via social media on any of the links below or comment at the end of this post.

Instagram   Facebook   Twitter   Etsy   Pinterest

Just in case you were wondering, my second course is an Introduction to Botanical Art which will start in July, and which can also be booked on the same link BEST – Business Enterprise Solutions and Training, but more about that very soon.

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I logged in today with the aim of doing a blog update and realised that I haven’t posted since early April. I feel like I have been in a sort of stasis for the last few months and I know I’m not alone in that.

When lockdown happened back in March, I had a very busy year planned, workshops and exhibitions, open studios and several local events. But none of them happened. However, I had poured so much creative energy into the preparation, painting, planning, website design, working with my friend Aileen on leaflets and diaries, sourcing materials and promoting it all. Then when all at once everything stopped, dead, with such little warning, all of our plans stopped too.

At the beginning I really did try to carry on as normal. I did a couple of paintings, regularly updated my social media, read blogs, did short courses and tried to sketch every day, but then I just…didn’t do anything art wise, for weeks and weeks

I am really lucky, I know that. I have a slightly shabby, quirky but comfortable roof over my head and, although my income took a considerable hit, I’ve been okay. I have a garden, I live in a beautiful place and the weather has been mostly pretty good. I am not a key worker. I haven’t had to juggle work and family, my children are all grown up. I have a fantastic local shop, (a big shout out to Emma, Hector and their wonderful staff) which has delivered our food and a great community which has watched out for us all

Maybe that’s why I felt I had no reason to complain, no right to feel down or sad, when so many people are so much worse off than me. Yet there have been times when I have cried, been listless and felt as if I had no energy at all and certainly none for art.

I don’t think I was blocked. That’s happened to me before and this, this ennoi, feels nothing like that experience. Instead it has been like a time out of time. I’m sure that a lot of people who are much better writers than me will describe their experiences far more eloquently than I have here, but I wanted to share my thoughts and feelings, now that I’ve realised how long it’s been since I posted last.

Many of us have found our world changed beyond all recognition whilst some have experienced minimal changes, each one of us unique and yet so similar in many ways. Things we took for granted disappeared, almost over night and maybe, just maybe, nothing will be the same as it was. I make no value judgements about that, because no-one yet knows what those differences will be. Some people will undoubtably suffer, the world economy has taken a huge hit, but maybe some good will come of this, I do hope so. How this will affect artists we have yet to find out. In time perhaps we will find that fewer people will buy art, but maybe we will need art and beauty and kindness more than ever.

I have spent a lot of time over the last few months in my garden, as can be seen by my photos on social media and here on my website. Many of us might have been in stasis, Nature was not. I think that much of my creativity has been focussed in my garden. In growing and tending young plants, sowing seed, watering and weeding. Being in a garden can be so meditative. I know that at times I have just popped out for an hour to find that I have somehow lost several hours just being outside. I have had to focus inwards more than I have done for a long while. I think that this close focus is beginning to emerge in my art.

Recently I’ve been back in the studio again and drawing and sketching outside too (see the sketches below). Looking more closely at how things grow, at the way they change and develop and trying to capture the intricacy of petal and leaf structure, colour and stem.

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Things might be beginning to open up again now too. I do have some possible things coming up soon, so maybe more about that in the next wee while, but I’m trying to take things more carefully, to not do too much and find myself overwhelmed. Stopping the world for a while has left a lot of arty things unresolved for me personally and I don’t know where I am going with this yet. It’s a work in progress.

As I’ve had a little more time on my hands, I’ve also decided (at long last) to set up an email list as I’ve had a few people ask. So if you’re interested in getting more frequent updates from me and the occasional wee treat or special offer then you can contact me here

This post has been far more wordy than anything I would normally write, but I might even manage another post in a day or two. Meanwhile, be safe, look after yourselves and I do hope that my art helps to make your day a little brighter.

Today was meant to be my first exhibition of the year. A joint one with my friend Aileen Grant and I at Attadale Gardens. Instead, I did some painting and took delivery of some courgette and lupin plants (thanks to Donald of Loch Duich plants).

Back in January 2017, Aileen and I joined an art group based at Inverewe Gardens. We returned frequently over the next few months and visiting inspired me to undertake a Certificate in Botanic Art with Royal Botanic Garden Edinburgh and to then go on to exhibit an Inverewe in July last year. I have also been lucky enough to be able to sketch and paint regularly Attadale and earlier this year, Aileen and I met with Joanna Macpherson to plan a whole series of events that we would run jointly with Attadale including workshops (read more about them at Lochcarron Arts). Unfortunately events have overtaken us and we’ve had to cancel a workshop and the exhibition itself, though we do still have things planned for later this year, all being well.

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But that first visit was the start of a series of events which were life-changing. We returned several times and I spent a lot of time sketching at Attadale too. and it was that which inspired me to further study. After doing the botanic course I felt much more confident in combining my two loves, art and gardening and I have spent a lot of time over the past year or so looking more carefully at plants and at gardens generally and incorporating them into my art.

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I have been a landscape painter for many years and I am particularly fascinated with the Highland landscape, which is in many ways more artificial than a garden and much more harsh. Yet people do live here and gardens grow profusely, in the temporate climate, at least they do after windbreaks have been planted and soil enriched.

I have been working in a variety of different styles and mediums. I make the initial sketches in situe where I can, in pastel and charcoal, trying to capture the way that the plants grow, the plants they grow alongside, the conditions that suit them. I take careful measurements and then, back in the studio I do a more careful and detailed drawing or painting. Until now, I have been lucky enough to work in the glorious gardens mentioned above and I will continue to work on these sketches, drawings and photographs to make work, which I will hopefully be able to share at an exhibition, later this year. In the meantime I thought I would share the images with you anyway.

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But for now, my own garden is beginning to grow. I am spending time sowing plants, bringing on seedlings and sketching and drawing at home.

And I’ll continue on with my latest work, based on my own garden and the view from the decking at the top.

In another world today would have been my first open studio of the year, instead, I checked on my seedlings, did some housework and an online Yoga class with my lovely tutor, Sarah. As everyone knows this situation is unprecedented and we are having to learn to live our lives in another way.

I am very lucky in so many ways, I have a comfortable home, a decent sized garden, in which to grow vegetables and flowers and where I can sit and a wonderful view. I can still use my studio, I am blessed in so many ways.

But, 2020 was a year in which I made many plans. I was going to be tutoring a number of classes, with my friend Aileen, with West Highland College and here, in my home studio, all of the ones from the first half of the year are now cancelled, with the early summer ones possibly going to be cancelled or postponed too. We’ve also cancelled the exhibition which was due to take place at Attadale Gardens next week. But their opening has been postponed too.

However, it has been hard to get back to work, it has been difficult to feel creative and so much of the advice I have read is telling us not to, (not unless we are key workers that is), which is why I have taken so long to update my blog. I closed my Etsy shop and didn’t launch my ArtFinder page as I had planned, but getting back to work in the studio just hasn’t really happened yet. I’ve done a bit of sketching and I’ve decided on my next project, now I have to just do that.

I will update again soon. I will try to get into the studio. But for now, in these strange and exceptional times, I, like many others I’m sure, am just taking each day as it comes.

Meanwhile, instead of holding an open studio today as I had planned, I did a wee phone video instead.

So often in painting life I have an idea that I just have to paint, or I set myself a goal, such as an upcoming exhibition or a project like my recent 30 days of paintings, which I uploaded to my Etsy shop in November last year and sometimes I get inspirations that I just have to work on. But my latest piece was commissioned.

Commissions can very challenging for an artist, as one is trying to create something which is someone else’s vision or memory, it can feel like a huge responsibility . I’ve done a lot of commissions in the past and I always enjoy the challenge, but this particular painting was, and will continue to be a favourite.

Firstly it was based on a recent sketch I did of the Five Sisters of Kintail, a stunningly beautiful range of mountains in the Western Highlands of Scotland.

This sketch was done at the viewpoint on the Auchtertyre Brae, looking towards Kintail. The lady who commissioned the painting liked the sketch because it reminded her of fond memories she had of walking in these mountains, so she contacted me and we discussed me doing a painting for her.

Firstly though, I decided to go and do some more sketching and take some photos to help me make sure that my painting was accurate. The weather on my second visit was less kind than the day I did the first sketch, but I waited for a while and the skies cleared just long enough for me to do a couple more sketches and take some photos (I know it looks like it was a lovely sunny day, and it was…for about 20 minutes!)

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Next we had a conversation about canvas size and composition. We wanted to keep some of the immediacy and energy of the first sketch while making the mountains themselves the focus of the painting.

Then, canvas and composition decided, I began to paint.

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I really enjoyed painting this one. The composition came together quite quickly, without too many issues. Because I had done so much preparation work I found that the paint seemed to flow and that I did manage to get both the detail and the energy that I aimed for into the painting.

Some last minute touches and then I had to step away. I always let a painting sit for a day or two before I know its finished, then I added a highlight or two and then it was done. The finished piece is quite large, 100cms x 50, it is acrylic on deepedged canvas and I painted the edges black so it was ready to hang

The lady who’d commissioned the painting was delighted with it and it has now headed off to a lovely new home.

It was a wonderful experience, a painting I loved doing and a satisfied customer. This is why I feel so blessed to be able to work as an artist.

I’ve spent the last few weeks doing all the preparation work for my new project with my friend and fellow artist Aileen Grant. We set up Lochcarron Arts as a very informal partnership so that we could work together to hold some exhibitions and maybe run some workshops together. We spent some time over the past couple of months planning and meeting up with some lovely people to organise some exhibitions and some workshops.

Both Aileen and I sketch and paint outside a lot so we thought it would great to be able to share our experience of working en plein air, so we’ve arranged to run four workshops at the absolutely stunning Attadale Gardens and two workshops at the gorgeous Loch Torridon, based at the Loch Torridon Centre, there are three stunning mountains dominating the landscape: Beinn Alligin, Liathach and Beinn Eighe. For more information about this project or to book a place click here: Workshops

We also have several exhibitions planned too at Attadale, in the gorgeous wee gatehouse

And we’ll be holding another exhibition at the wee gallery at Eilean Iarmain – An Talla Dearg in October. If you’d like to find out more about our joint Exhibitions click on the link

Aileen and I have also planned to hold a series of Open Studios throughout the year, on the first Friday of every month. I’ll be posting more information about them via my social media pages (links below).

Planning and designing our workshops has been a lot of work and quite lot of fun too but working on the website was a whole other thing entirely. I have learned so much, but I think I was dreaming about links and blogs and uploading photos and info in the end. Fingers crossed though, everything seems to be working okay and you can find out more via the Lochcarron Arts page or even book a place on one of our workshops. So I’m now available to design websites *(I’m totally NOT available to design websites, though I have a lot of admiration for those who do!)

If you want to know more about the Lochcarron Arts projects or more about our open studios please do contact me to say hello.

I can’t believe that it’s the 15th of January already. I had planned to take a few days off after Christmas and then get right back to things, but then I ended up with the dreaded lurgy and am finally beginning to recover.

2019 was an amazingly busy year for me. I launched my Etsy shop with my #TwentyPaintings project, started to show my work with an Edinburgh gallery, The Stick Factory Completed a Certificate in Botanic Art with the Royal Botanic Garden Edinburgh, exhibited at Inverewe Gardens and at An Talla Dearg and had my first ever Open studio experience

However, although it was a challenge, it was huge fun too. I got to meet lots of lovely new people, made lots of art, went on an artistic journey – which isn’t over yet. Made some mistakes, learned new skills and…did I mention the art? That was definitely the best bit.

One of my biggest learning curves was beginning to sell online, via my Etsy shop a great way to showcase my more affordable art and be able to sell around the world. I’ve been in contact with some lovely people and learned all about how to package and post my work. Etsy though, is only really suitable for my more affordable art (everything in my shop is under £100. The art is fairly small and therefore easier to send. So it’s a wee but limited.

I started to investigate a way of selling my larger pieces. I did quite a bit of research and then applied to Artfinder, an online gallery space. I had to send a CV and some images and was really delighted when they accepted me. I’m currently in the process of uploading images and setting up my shop there. I’ll let you know how I get on!

Although it’s still quite early in the year I already have quite a few things planned for 2020 and I wanted to be able to be able to share and document that sonewhere, so I decided to upgrade my website. I spent 45 mins earlier having a really great online tutorial with Caimin from WordPress (thanks Caimin it was really helpful!) on how to improve my site. So this will be the last blog post on the old site, watch this space for the new upgraded version.

Meanwhile, I’ve been out and about sketching and drawing with my friend Aileen Grant and some other local fellow artists. Firstly in wild weather in Ullapool and then warm and cosy at the very welcoming Albatross Cafe

It was really good to have a break, but it’s really good to be getting back into the studio at last.

 

I’ve been meaning to hold an open studio for ages, but for various reasons never seemed to manage it until this weekend. I’ve been madly busy this Autumn, firstly with getting ready for my recent joint exhibition at an Talla Dearg which I discussed in 30 days of painting and making  Then getting ready for several craft events and the #30dayproject Thirty days of Etsy which I completed in November. However, I finally managed to give it a go this weekend.

I am very lucky to live in a hugely supportive village and lots of folk stopped by, despite so truly awful weather, to buy cards and art and to offer some great feedback, so it was a really good practice run.

I plan to hold at least one open studio a month from Spring onwards, so it was great to have such a successful first try welcoming people into my home studio. And I’ll hopefully manage to keep it tidier from now on, just in case I get more visitors.

 

So, if you do want to come and visit me in my studio sometime, when it isn’t officially open you’d be very welcome, but please do call ahead as I may not be at home. Or you can stop by when the sign is outside – if it ever dries off that is!

Meanwhile I still have some of my cards, wee paintings and cards at Café Ceàrdach here in Lochcarron, I also have a selection of paintings and cards at Stick Factory in Edinburghand finally there are still lots of paintings from the #30dayproject at my Etsy Shop If you want to click on the link provided and go and have a look. If you  want to get in touch with a comment or question you can contact me at any of my social media sites (Just scroll down) to the images at the bootom of this page or via my website here

Thanks so much to everyone who has messaged me, supported me and bought my art this year and in the past. You are all amazing.

 

Thank you

 

I’m always striving to improve my skills, to be a better artist, so I’d wanted to do the #30daychallenge for a while. This is where an artist posts a painting a day, every day for 30 days. For some reason I decided it would be a good idea to do this in November. It’s a good choice in many ways. It’s a month with 30 days in it – makes remembering the number of painting that you’re on nice and easy.  I had no particular deadlines to worry about, my exhibitions were over for the year, and I’d decided to not take part in any craft fairs in 2019, but, well, then I got asked to do a fair or two and I said yes and suddenly things got very busy indeed.

 

 

So, as well as posting the art, which, in addition painting them, also included taking photos, (not easy in the low light of November in the Highlands) editing and uploading them, I was also busy making lots of things for local art fairs,

 

 

I am also working with West Highland College, UHI to deliver some creative course (more about that soon) the first workshop of which was on the 16th of November at their Auctertyre campus.

Therefore it was definitely more of a struggle than it might have otherwise been. However, despite the additional busyness, it was still a fantastically good experience.

 

 

I found that the thing about doing so many paintings is that it didn’t allow me to overthink things. That is a definite problem which I have. I tend to faff about and repaint things and then paintings can become overworked, colours can become muddy and then I can get very frustrated and disheartened. In addition, I had to trust that my skills were now good enough to manage to produce enough paintings to post on a daily basis. Of course, I like some more than others (more about my favourites later) but I there isn’t a single painting that I hate – those ones didn’t make it online at all.

 

 

I found that I was less precious about each individual painting. If things started to go wrong, I didn’t try to keep working on it, until I got more and more frustrated and ended up demoralised. I had a daily deadline, I had to do the work and then get it posted.

What I also discovered is that because I wasn’t overthinking it, because I wasn’t taking it too seriously the compositions seemed to come more easily, the brushstrokes seemed to flow and the colours seemed to stay brighter and cleaner.

 

 

I also found places that I hadn’t painted before – Applecross for example or the several paintings that I did on the East coast, places that I really hadn’t manage to get to before.

The funny thing is, that for every painting I did there are more ‘cooking away nicely’ in my brain. I have a list of places that I want to go back to and paint “en plein air” next year, and I’ll definitely share my adventures when I do go out and paint more.

I also decided to post all the paintings to my Etsy shop for several reasons. One is that I have a lot of folk who have followed me online and been hugely supportive and helpful, but they can’t come to my exhibitions, so I wanted to do something that they could view, along with everyone else. I posted small paintings to Etsy, so I could manage to make posting free as it’s easy to pop a small painting in an envelope and send it to anywhere in the world. And finally, I chose Etsy because it’s easy to share the page on all my social media platforms.

Over all I think I’m pretty happy with the collection. I like some more than others, though that’s not necessarily anything to do with the finished work (and it’s changed daily throughout the project anyway!). But, I think my three favourites are (in no particular order!)

 

A. Ben Wyvis from the road to Culbokie – I loved this one, because I lived on the East coast for the first ten years that I lived in the HIghlands. This mountain brings back such fond memories for me and I really liked the composition and the way the pallette came together so well and so easily. (This painting is now sold)

 

B. Streetlights, Lochcarron – this is a painting I have struggled to do over the years. I have tried on several occassions without success, but this time, because I didn’t have time to overthink, I found that everything just came together. For me this image evokes many memories. The streetlights go on in the evening, it reminds me of winter, of cosiness, of home.

 

C. On the shore, Applecross – this one sort of painted itself, it just seemed to flow. I’d had a lovely day in Applecross with friends and family and did sketches for several paintings that day, all of which I liked. But this one was the first of the three that I painted and because it seemed to come together quite easily it gave me a boost at the beginning of the #30dayproject.

Do you agree with my selection? Do you have a favourite? I’d love to hear from you, you can message me here or via Instagram Facebook and Twitter

 

Thanks for reading