One year on..... shocking!!!

I was shocked and ashamed to find i hadn't written any blogs for a year!!   Such a long time, so I will have NO followers at all now and start from scratch...WELL...that will do me good and teach me a lesson!

So much has changed!  The inspiring short trip to Iona fuelled my love of Scottish scenery and i have continued to paint Iona and get my work back into the top Scottish galleries again.  Sales are naurally slow but a lot of patience - I am learning a lot of that lately!..... and hard work will prevail!

Our lovely house is on the market as we plan to downsize, stay in Scotland a bit longer, and get outselves 'straight' for our retirmenet...in fact my first pension payment is due in the bank account this very week!!

Please join this blog and watch my new phase in life, making the paint talk.  the new book is out and will keep the Pastels alive, but I am also pursuing my oils this year, as well as pastures new.  Fewer workshops now, none at home, but the challenges are great, and good for the soul - just need a buyer for the house!!

Here is the house, as we try to sell it...the garden is looking fantastic!   And one of the recent Iona paintings, this one featuring soon in Artists & Illustrators Magazine.
Preparing for my 2nd USA trip this weekend - off to teach at Hudson River Valley Workshops, followed by Bainbridge Island Seattle, then Dakota Pastels Mt Vernon WA, before flying back to Atlanta to see my son and fiancee, and celebrate 40th Wedding Anniversary with Malcolm!!  Yep - that's me slowing down!!

Just a quick visit!

This July, I took my mother on a surprise birthday visit to Iona, just for an overnight stay, as she had not been there for years and it means a lot to her with her church connections.  I didn't plan much painting as we would be travelling around on the journey there and back, but as I had special permission to take the car on the island, I did thankfully take my Heilman Pastel box and a few boards...phew i AM glad i did!
Apart from the inspiration for taking lots of photos to paint from later, the ability to be able to do quick plein-air sketching was invaluable, and the sketches quickly grew into full scale paintings as soon as I returned home to the studio
Here are a few paintings completed since that overnight journey, and there's still quite a few in the 'pipeline' of my brain, churning away and just waiting for the chance to seize the moment!!
So - moral of the story?....... always be prepared!  Even the slightest, quickest, scribbliest offering can be used in the artist's brain to create something wonderful, and memorable, and hopefully sellable too!

A long gap of creativity

It's been a long gap since writing on this blog but my writing skills have been focused entirely on the new pastel book which will be released next March 2014
However it has made me realise that, once 'the engines get going, it is difficult to stop!'
As a tutor, there are always things to say, point to make, demo's to show, and this blog makes use of this, hopefully without turning into verbal d......a!
I've just had a week of getting back to painting, and delighted to see that, just like riding the proverbial bike, the inspirations are flowing again and my head is full of ideas for painting, including a few more book ideas too!
My workshops in UK next year will be different & exciting.  Instead of being in my studio, I am claiming my space back, and transferring the workshops to the Duchally Country Club nearby where we will have more space, different inspirations, and fewer dates available.  There will also be a residential painting week, which follows a 3-night Scottish Highland trip, offering the ultimate chance to sketch outdoors in the Highlands, then paint in a lovely studio back in Perthshire at Duchally, with further day trips around the locations of central Scotland
Keep in touch with our new plans - there are more - including an exciting vist from Tony Allain to teach a 3-day Pastel Workshop, full of imagination & inspiration
It has done me good to have this 'different' year, putting art to paper for sharing...I hope you will all enjoy the outcome, and the new creativity I have to offer for 2014!

January themes of Amish

SHAME ON ME!    The blog seems to end up last on the list as I update FB pages first with new work.  however this site gives me a chance to mention my 'theme' for January, which was about starting and finishing some of the wonderful Amish themes I've had brewing in my mind since being in PA last year.  It is an area I love, as it's so fertile, green, rustic and peaceful, and you can feel the pace of life slowing right down, especially when you take the route we took, from NY then to NJ then into PA...I could feel the tensions slipping away, the nearer we got to Millheim!

So here are the first two paintings from my new Amish Collection.  There will be more USA themes this year, as I am delighted to say I have been invited to have an exhibition of my work at the Elements Gallery near Denver COlorado, while I am teaching at Terry Ludwig's Studio in November...what a thrill.  So watch out for red rocks and rugged scenery coming up next!!  We are nearly into February, and I am just cranking up the gears!!

New Gallery ....new exposure?

Been contacted by Eliza The Gallery and put 10 paintings on to their website - let's hope they are as good as they say they are and can sell some work to their corporate clientele....definitely where the money seems to be at the moment.

I am SURE there are lots of office/ boardrooms with space on the walls for some of my BIG pieces..like this one!!  40 x 28"...can do bigger if need be!  This is 'Ice Flow Glencoe"   It's in Aberfeldy Gallery right now!

A ridiculous amount has passed since my last post which proves i have been neglecting this blog, but here are some Australian demos I did recently ( and sold!) during my Pastel Workshop Tour there...we travelled from Perth to Sydney, Hunter Valley, Brisbane, Gold Coast, Melbourne then Tasmania, and over 5 weeks saw some amazing places, met fascinating people and enjoyed some sunshine before heading home to Scottish winter...but we love it!

New Year resolution no.1...to write more on the blog, especially as it will keep you updated on what's being written simultaneously in the new book!!

Up up and away ....again!!

I cannot believe where the summer has gone...it is August already and I am packing the pastel box again in preparation for flying to USA today....  first to Christina Debarry's Studio in NJ, then to Millheim PA, then up to Hudson River Valley Workshops...  after this, fly out to COlorado to Terry Ludwig's Studio then finish at the PSA in NYC!   The Heilman Field Box will be well used by the time I get back and I will be ready to restock it with fresh stock...probably some new TL pastels while I am within grabbing distance of the factory!  Watch this space for some of the demos, or see my page on Facebook!

Venice beckons......

After a week of finishing off Scottish paintings for Summer Exhibitions, I can at last enjoy some new work from some of the millions of paintings ideas from my recent Venetian travel sketchbook.   The watercolour sketches inspire, and a series of nocturnal paintings are on the cards......  the first is the watercolour from the sketchbook, and the third is the gouache/pastel painting that's been painted from the sketch.  The middle one is the first of a series of 'nocturnal' paintings ..Venice Nights No 1!

Slowly getting there!

Some weeks the paintings fly off the easel and other weeks it feels like years!  Since getting back from So Carolina, there have been lots of interruptions to the flow of work, including workshops, visits & one large birthday celebration, so it has been a slow process!  However I have decided to go slower this year anyway and produce fewer but stronger pieces...hopefully to lead to more sales.  I'd like to spread my wings and exhibit in London, then some galleries in USA, so spread the word if any of you know of good galleries that may like my work!

A Southern Low Country experience USA style

Just finishing a great trip to USA with workshops in Pittsburgh and York PA, then a superb visit to the Palm Key resort at Ridgeland, near Beaufort South Carolina.  This is an award winning retreat set in wonderful wooded and marshland landscape, with a superb purpose built studio that any artist would crave for.  The 5 day workshop there covered pastels and any medium and the hosts, Judy and Emir Rigg organise everything from food to fabulous accommodation in pretty cottages surrounding the lake.  Delighted to say that this will again be the location for an annual visit for our first USA PAINTAWAY and we look forward to returning in April 2013 for another superb trip which will include visits to Beaufort, Savannah & Charleston, as well as private visits to plantations for superb painting locations.  Keep in touch for future details...this will be on the lines of 'Outdoor Sketching & Indoor Painting in the Low Country SC'

0Oo-la-la...the French Paintaway's a go-go

Deeee-lighted to say that we have our minimum numbers for our delicious French Paintaway week in June near Carcassone and the Canal du Midi.  I filmed here a couple of years ago for my latest dvd, and the landscapes are sublime....lavender, sunflower fields, canals, old farmhouses, windmills and much food & wine to satisfy the hungry pangs of artists....can't wait to go back.  Please come and join me!!   Details from info@shinafoot.co.uk

Spring Rush!

It's been one of those weeks when my back was against the wall, and I HAD TO get a good selection of work finished and ready for various Spring Exhibitions in galleries around Glasgow, Edinburgh, Easy Coast, West!

With more to follow. the gap in the middle for me is the month of March, as we prepare to travel to USA starting in Pittsburgh, PA, then York PA, then Palm Key S Carolina for workshops, and it will be the end of March before we are home.  ( by then I will have to get another good strong 12 paintings done for some May Exhibitions)  Life is certainly never dull - frustrating maybe but NEVER dull!  These 4 are all of the East Neuk of Fife, on the East Coast of Scotland...very rugged, picturesque & paintable fishing villages, like Crail, Anstruther & Pittenweem

Highland Flings!

Trying to get a few Highland paintings 'flung together' before I go to US....there's a few galleries needing a changeover of work, so it's great to keep on my toes and produce new work!  Better too, to be refreshing work wherever it goes as one painting can sometimes sit for ages in one gallery, then get snapped up in the next - I live in hope!!!! Plus it's always exciting to get a new piece out and hope the public approve with their feet...and chequebooks!!

Amalfi IS a go-go!

Just heard this week that our Amalfi Paintaway in September is definitely on....a good group forming and it means I am returning to one of my favourite places...such drama, beauty & inspiration all in one tiny area!

Scotch Mists

Working on some new Scottish paintings for some of the galleries, and feel like doing a few dramatic Scottish scenes to capture the mists we love in this country.  So much more atmospheric than a bright sunny day, though we DO appreciate blue skies here as they are so few and far between!

The Big Sleep - Winter ends - Spring awaits

BIG apologies for not blogging for a while but I lost patience with the bullying tactics of having to load Google Chrome before I could open my blog again - what a cheek!  Be it known to all - I understand the basic computer skills I need to get by, but change the rules and you confuse me - easily!  January slipped by in a flurry of organising and rescheduling workshops for this year, and now some of the uS workshops will be scheduled later in the year ie August.  however the march US trip is ON and I will be teaching in Pittsburgh, York PA then Palm Key SC   Try and catch up with me if you can!!!  Spring is here, winter is slowly leaving us, and we are coming out of 'The Big Sleep'   Which coincidentally is the title of my painting!

MARCH 2012

 

Pittsburgh Pastel Group PA   - Gail Sorace - gsds@consolidated.net     March 12-14th 

 

York Art Association PA    -   Kay Koehler - klkstudio@yahoo.com       March  16-18th

 

Palm Key   SC                 - Michael Hargraves - michael-hargraves@nc.rr.com         March 21 - 25th

 

AUGUST 2012

 

Debarry Studio NJ    -       Christina Debarry PSA - debarrystudio@gmail.com    Aug 11-13th

 

Green Darke Gallery Millheim PA   -  Karl Leitzel  -greendrakeart@gmail.com    Aug 15 - 17th

 

Hudson River Valley Workshops NY -  Kim La Polla -  klapolla@artworkshops.com   Aug 18 - 21st

 

Terry Ludwig Workshops CO  -  

customerservice@terryludwig.com   Aug 23 - 26th

 

Pastel Society of America   -  PSA Office

psaoffice@pastelsocietyofamerica.org   Aug 28-29th 

Looking to sunshine in Italy in MAY!

Anyone feel like a painting experience with me in Italy this MAY?
May in Venice - 5 – 12th Details from www.shinafoot.co.uk
Discover the quiet corners of Venice, as well as the islands of the Lagoon..
This trip can be added to Cortona & travel advice available from Margaret
May in Cortona Tuscany - 12-19th Book with info@tuscanyintheframe.com
...
For anyone who wants inspiration to paint paint paint..... whether you even need tuition, or just ambience of great company!! Contact me on the web or email
Ciao amici!

Sorry for the Neglect!!

Well, I am humbly sorry to all who have been following the blog! Between internet connections being difficult to access over the last 3 months' travels, I have been a bad girl! But here are a few paintings just off the easel this week and off to various Xmas Shows this week...hopefully to cheer someone else's wall space!!!

Baking batches....working in themes...

I usually find if I have a bee in my bonnet about a certain theme to paint, ie Scottish landscapes, or Venetian cityscpaes, I do a 'set' of them at once. I find it helps to keep a unity through the work if it is going off together to an exhibition. My latest 'batch' are Little People ie children doing things on beaches. Maybe it is the summer theme that is catching on to me, but i am often inspired by what is around me at a particular time.... going to Venice, then Tuscany soon so watch out for the next 'batch'!

'Cuillin Orange'

The half way stage, and the final stage of what is now titled ' Cuillin Orange' Keeping it all as loose as possible now, as i build up layers of painterly marks...and running through my delicious box of 'Great American Artworks' pastels, which are fantastic...and of course, my own selection of colours!! See www.greatpastels.com I selected rows of basic colours as you would in tubes of paint, then added a row of lights, another of darks, then neutrals. The result...a box worth buying!!