 It's been a while. I hope this finds you well and enjoying some summery weather, wherever you may be. Here in the highlands, the heather is in full bloom, the sheep have been shorn and they've been cutting and baling silage in the glen this week. The campsites are still busy - the Scottish schools are back, but not those from further afield, so there are plenty of visitors around. We've had a busy time at the cafe and are looking forward to winding down a wee bit in the coming months. We're taking a week's break in mid-September, but before that happens, there's this to look forward to - Art Week 2025 Organised by the wonderful team at An Talla Solais in Ullapool, this is the second year it has happened and we're delighted to be part of it this time, with a joint exhibition of our work. Most open studios and exhibitions are in and around Ullapool, however there are several other participants in Gairloch and surrounding areas, which will be well worth visiting! An Talla Solais Members' ShowI have again submitted work to the annual Members’ Show. which opens on Saturday 30th August and runs until 23rd October. Throughout Art Week, the exhibition will be open 10am - 5pm. Outwith these dates, it will be open Wed - Sun 10am -1.30pm and then 2pm - 5pm. An Talla Solais is located on Market Street in Ullapool, next door to the village hall.  'Distant Isles #9', one of the paintings submitted to the An Talla Solais Members' Show New poetry collectionI recently self-published a second collection of poetry, my first having come out last year. This one contains twenty pieces relating to mortality. Over the years, many people I have known have died and I find writing poems helps me to come to terms with the loss of them. They range from words of gratitude to my parents, to raging despair over how others deal with death, to regret over things not said or done. 2026 calendarsI suddenly realised we are nearly into September, so have been gathering my thoughts about a calendar for next year. Sadly, the company I used to rely on for the postcard-style calendars seems to have disappeared into the ether. So, I have been searching for an alternative. It looks like next year’s offering will be a desktop calendar - I’ve ordered some samples and will be posting updates on social media when they arrive. Decisions have been made about images, however. I’m often happiest with work I produce in my (many) sketchbooks, so have drawn (ha!) on them as a source of material for next year’s calendar. Below are a few of the final selection. Taking a breakLast but not least, we’re taking a break at the cafe in September -
will be closed from Monday 15th - Thursday 25th Reopening on Friday 26th September. Thereafter we’ll be open again Thursday - Sunday 9am - 4pm until further notice. In the meantime, and for those not in the area, many items are available to purchase from my online shop. As always, many thanks for your interest in my work, it’s greatly appreciated. all the best Jennifer x
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 'Distant Isles I'. Delighted to see this original painting off to a new home last week. Hello, I hope this finds you safe and well. At long last it feels as if some sort of normailty is resuming. I'm so enjoying being at Poolewe Tuesday Market every week. And a trip to Torridon every two weeks to take part in the market there is a joy as well. Having conversations with people, untrammeled by masks, is great! Linoprinting news
Last month I completed a commission - printing a set of notebooks destined to be gifts. The cover design was of Schiehallion, a famous Munro in Perthshire. It was a new direction for me, and fun to do. It has prompted me to look more closely at the mountains nearby - watch this space for further developments! Another new linoprint design is the croft house (image above, printed on a sketchbook). Market days I continue to have a stall at Poolewe Tuesday market and will be there every week until the end of October, except Tuesday 16th August. You can also find me at Torridon Thursday market, twice a month at Loch Torridon Community Centre Hall, in Torridon. The next one is on Thursday 14th July, 10am-3pm. In the meantime, if you're not in Wester Ross, a selection of items is always available in my website shop. Also on the Photo4me and Redbubble websites.
Many thanks for your continued interest in my work.
all the best Jennifer  I hope this finds you safe and well. Happy New Year! I know it's a little late in the day to be sending such greetings, but I feel as if I am stepping rather tentatively into 2022. This time last year we were in lockdown once more and it's quite hard to believe we are now free to be out and about and that everything is opening up again. I find myself blinking in the rare glimpses of winter sunshine, as if coming out hibernation, starting to believe that it really is possible to move forward again.  Delighted to say that I donated £55 to the World Wide Fund for Nature, from all the Christmas card sales at the end of last year! Many thanks to everyone who bought cards - much appreciated. I received a lot of positive feedback about the designs, which is encouraging me to explore other avenues along similar lines. Watch this space...
I've been updating my website shop - a continuous task, like painting the Forth Rail Bridge, which never ends, but is nonetheless very satisfying. I've added a range of items back in, including some original linoprints.  Back in the studio The winter skies here can be very dramatic and are an endless source of inspiration. The trick is to have everything ready to go - paper stretched onto boards, paints, water and brushes organised. Sounds simple, doesn't it? Of course, in real life that's not how it goes - I've finally got back into the studio to do some painting - above is a work in progress. Or maybe it's finished? I've been adding islands into my seascapes recently - decision, decisions!
Coming up
The lovely Gairloch Museum is reopening for the season next week, on Thursday 10th February. I'll be along to check on my cards and sketchbook stock in the gift shop. I'm looking forward to taking part in Poolewe Tuesday Market again this year - from the end of March until the end of October, all being well. I'm hoping to be there most weeks - I'll let you know dates as soon as I know. It's also looking likely that I'll be exhibiting some artwork at Inverewe this year (I was to have had an exhibition in the cafe there in 2020, which of course did not happen). It will be great to see art exhibitions happening there again. You can find out more on the Galleries @ Inverewe website. Many thanks for your continued interest in my work. Wishing you peace, health and joy in 2022. Jennifer  I hope this finds you safe and well and bearing up under whatever restrictions are in place in your part of the world. The season is over for Poolewe Tuesday Market – it was wonderful to be part of it for the first time this year. We went out with a bang, with all the stallholders dressed up for Halloween for the last event. We are looking forward to having not one, but two Christmas markets – on Friday 27th November (4-8pm) and Saturday 28th November (10am -2pm) in Poolewe Village Hall. I will be there on the Friday evening. 2021 calendar This year’s (or should I say next year’s) calendar features photographs taken over the past twelve months, on the west coast of Scotland. As before, it is a slimline calendar, with each image printed on the back for use as a postcard. Below are some of the images in the calendar. It's now available to purchase in my online shop.
 Exhibition I am very happy to have a couple of paintings (including the one shown above, "Fair, Moderate or Good") in the newly opened online - for the first time ever - Members’ Show at An Talla Solais. This is a lovely exhibition of the work of 66 member artists. The upside of it being online this year is that you can all enjoy browsing it too! Enjoy. Cabinet, the lovely gift shop adjacent to An Talla Solais gallery in Ullapool, has now reopened. It is open Tuesday-Saturday, 10am-1pm and 2pm-5pm. They are currently stocking a selected range of my greetings cards, mugs, coasters and keyrings.
Notebooks As promised, and by popular request, I now have a selection of lined notebooks available. There are two sizes – A5 and A6, and all have original linoprints on the front cover. They come in a range of colours – all available from my website shop. There is also still a range of A5 sketchbooks available there and small square ones too.  Local News
Last but by no means least, there has been much excitement locally, as the news emerged that the fabulous Gairloch Museum, which moved into its new premises and reopened last summer, was one of the winners of the UK-wide Museum of the Year award. One of the other winners was Aberdeen Art Gallery. I'm delighted to be connected to both these wonderful places - the art gallery shop in Aberdeen stocks some of my Shipping Forecast mugs and coasters, and I have cards and sketchbooks in the Gairloch Museum shop. In celebration, I gave the museum here a little linoprint of the Rubh Re Foghorn, which now has pride of place at the front of the building (the actual foghorn, not my print!). Happy to say they liked it so much they are now stocking greetings cards bearing this design in their lovely gift shop. They also have lighthouse design ones there too. Thank you so much for your interest in my work, it is greatly appreciated. I have really enjoyed meeting people face to face (socially distanced and wearing masks, of course) at the Poolewe Tuesday markets this year and receiving very positive feedback about my work. Stay safe and well all the best Jennifer Find Out More  Latest NewsI don't need to to tell you we are facing difficult times just now. I hope this finds you and your loved ones well and adapting to whatever circumstances you find yourself in. In my last newsletter, I was sharing news of being part of Poolewe Tuesday Market, stocking some of my products in Cabinet at the lovely An Talla Solais Gallery in Ullapool and an exhibition of my paintings at Inverewe Garden. You can see the paintings I planned to exhibit (and more), in the gallery pages of my website. More recently, I had provided cards and sketchbooks to the shop at Gairloch Museum. None of these things is happening now, for obvious reasons. Sketchbooks and linoprintingOne of the upsides of being creative is that I never seem to find it hard to find something to do. Recently, I've been doing more linoprinting. I like the fact that I can get quite quick results. I keep things simple, which helps. Most of the printing has been of marine themed designs onto sketchbooks - gorgeous colours from Pink Pig - resulting in customised items, all with a unique, hand printed design on them. There are two sizes - little 4x4 inch ones, with good quality cartridge paper, and A5 size ones, with heavy duty watercolour paper. Yes, they're available to purchase on my website.  Short StoriesI'm planning to share some more of my short stories here on my blog in the coming weeks; there's no point them sitting in a drawer for ever! I'll be posting the ones from my two self-published short story collections; some of them have been broadcast on the fabulous Two Lochs Radio station already, and some more will hopefully be shared on air there in the future. In the meantime, as always, my artwork, photography and a wide range of products are available via :  Making thingsI highly recommend doing something creative during these trying times - draw, paint, write, play music. Plant seeds, and look forward to watching them grow. That's what I was doing yesterday. Or learn a language - I discovered the wonderful App, Duolingo and have been learning a bit of Gaelic, as well as brushing up on my French and German and getting going with Spanish. It's a great way to learn, very encouraging and good fun. Or make soup. Making soup is one of my go-to things when it all gets a bit too much. It feels like a time for recalibration, in so many ways.
Wishing you all the very best - thank you for your interest in my work, it is greatly appreciated. Jennifer x See my Pebbles on the Beach Facebook page for regular posts and updates. |
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