 Time to go home (nearly) This is the last week of the art portfolio course with Bridge House Art in Ullapool. All ten of us on the course are busy finishing off artworks, cropping and curating in readiness for the end of course exhibition, which opens with a Private View this Saturday, 24th February. Thereafter it is open daily 10am till 4pm, from Sunday 25th February until Sunday 3rd March. I feel very fortunate to have had this opportunity to develop my art practice. Learning how to work in a real studio setting has been a wonderful experience; it has stretched me in ways I could not have imagined. Being able to set aside the time to focus on being creative has been fantastic. Our tutors, Eleanor White and Kittie Jones, are excellent at keeping us on track, with a finely balanced mixture of firmness, good humour and huge helpings of support and encouragement. I'm very much looking forward to being home again. I'll be hanging some of my new work in the cafe gallery after I've had a wee break to recover.  I've really enjoyed experimenting with acrylic paint and printmaking during the second term of the course. Below are a few examples of some of this new work. A selection of my small acrylic/mixed media works and print assemblies will be on show at the exhibition. Bridge Cottage Art Cafe
The cafe and gallery continue to go from strength to strength, in the capable hands of Ailsa and Iain. We're getting wonderful feedback from locals and visitors alike, which is very welcome and keeps them going when things get hectic! We'll be taking a break in March, so will be closed from Thursday 14th March until Sunday 17th March inclusive. The cafe will reopen on Friday 22nd March, with our new spring opening hours : Friday - Tuesday, 10am - 4pm. Looking forward to seeing you there sometime soon! all the best Jennifer
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 Luskentyre beach on Harris I hope this finds you well and enjoying some summery weather. It was unusually hot here for a few weeks recently, but now the normal school holiday weather has resumed, with wind and rain. The garden is flourishing now that it's been watered and everywhere is looking very green. I enjoyed ten days' holiday (actually, our honeymoon) on Lewis and Harris in May; it was great to explore different landscapes and beaches. Plenty photographs were taken and a few sketches made.
New market I'm delighted to say that I'm now taking part in Ullapool Local Artisan Market. This event takes place fortnightly (approximately) on Mondays in Ullapool Village Hall, from 10am - 4pm. There's a great selection of local arts and crafts to browse and buy. I'll be there on Mondays 7th & 21st August and 4th & 18th September. You can also still find me at Poolewe Tuesday market every week, Torridon Thursday Craft Market on alternate Thursdays and Gairloch Thursday Market when I'm not in Torridon! All dates are available on my website or on each market's Facebook page.
I'm still enjoying linoprinting and have had many lovely comments about the results at the local markets - thank you! I mainly print onto sketchbooks and notebooks, but I've also started mounting prints on paper. The puffin is a recent, popular addition and the three fishes design has become a favourite. New Designs I've been taking more photographs recently, rather than painting. The result is some new mug, coaster and card designs, entitled 'Lewis Blues'. Two of the new mugs are shown below.
Members' Exhibition at An Talla Solais in Ullapool
I've submitted some work - photography this time, for a change, for the annual Members' Show at An Talla Solais in Ullapool. Here's hoping it's accepted!
Thank you so much for your continued support, it is greatly appreciated. all the best Jennifer  I hope this finds you well and enjoying some more spring-like weather. It was warm here for a while and all the leaves started appearing on the trees, at last. That lovely fresh, light green that only lasts a short while. It has turned chilly again, so work in the garden is on hold. PoetryI signed up to NaPoWriMo (National Poetry Writing Month) this year – actually to something called Escapril, organised by a lovely poet in Aberdeen. The aim was to write a poem, based on a provided prompt, every day all through April. Only two days to go and I’m happy to say I’ve produced something every day so far! I’m one of those people who works better when given ‘homework’, so I’ve enjoyed the challenge. It also reminds me just how much I Iove playing with words. Here’s my effort from Day 4. The prompt was ‘attention’. PAYING ATTENTION there are days when every blade of grass every stalk and stem every lichen smothered rock demands, commands your attention when every raindrop that hasn’t reached the ground is found in the leafy crevice of a lupin there are days when from nowhere sudden primroses appear daffodils dance in drifts of yellowness when buds burst into leaf a sheaf of green where all was grey when you step aside, avoid the furry caterpillar on the path Local markets
The local markets are now in full swing and I’m enjoying being back at them. It’s good to see familiar faces and to catch up. And having conversations about creativity is always a joy! I’m now stocking some larger sizes of sketchbooks (I’ve got my eye on them for my upcoming holiday on Lewis and Harris) and I enjoy hearing what people plan to do with them. A couple of new linoprint designs have appeared recently – a small puffin and a larger heron.  ExhibitionsI’m happy to have a couple of small pieces of work in the newly opened spring exhibition at Loch Torridon Community Centre gallery. ‘Seaweed 1’ and ‘Seaweed 2’ are gelli prints. It’s a medium I’ve not used very much, but which is great fun! A recent conversation with someone at Poolewe market reminded me of it. That’s how it goes. The Carron Pottery gallery now has a few of my artworks on display. They’re also now fully restocked with my linoprinted sketchbooks and a selection of my small originals. Later in the year, on Saturday 1st July, I’ll be at the Gairloch Gathering, in the field beside Sands campsite. Fingers crossed for a fine day! It was a grand day out last year.
New stockistThanks to a chance conversation at Gairloch Thursday market, a selection of my products is now available to purchase from a new stockist. Gairloch Marine Wildlife Centre and Cruises, based on Pier Road at the harbour in Gairloch has my marine themed mugs, coasters, keyrings and cards. As always, many thanks for your continued interest in my work - it is greatly appreciated.
all the best Jennifer  I hope this finds you safe and well. At long last, it feels as though spring is in the air - there are wild violas in the garden, the larch is covered in bright green paintbrushes of fresh needles and there are primroses in the woods. Visitors have started arriving, places are opening up and it's time to move forward again. New Stockist - The Carron Pottery I'm delighted to say that I now have some of my work in stock at the lovely Carron Pottery, at Cam-allt by Strathcarron. I'm especially happy about this, given my long-standing links with Lochcarron. I spent most of my childhood holidays there, staying in my granny's house in Slumbay - the area is full of happy memories. The Pottery now has a selection of my greetings cards, linoprinted sketchbooks and notebooks and also some small original, mounted watercolours.  Torridon Thursday Market - fortnightly This week saw the first Torridon Thursday Craft and Food Market in Loch Torridon Community Centre Hall. I'm delighted to be taking part this year - I'll be there every two weeks with a selection of my original artwork and gifts. The next market will be on Thursday 28th April, 10am - 3pm. There is a lovely mixture of stallholders, all with a warm welcome. Poolewe Tuesday Market I'm happy to say that this market is up and running again (the first one was on 29th March). I'll be there every week until the end of the season, at the end of October. This year sees some lovely new stallholders joining in, as there is space for a few more folk again. It's always lovely to meet new people and catch up with folk. I look forward to seeing you there! It's on every Tuesday from 10am - 2.30pm.  The linoprinted sketchbooks and notebooks are proving to be very popular. I now have a wider range of sizes - from A6 size, plain cartridge paper, to 11 x 11 inch large square sketchbooks. Selected sizes are currently available from Gairloch Museum, Poolewe Tuesday Market, Torridon Thursday Market, Loch Torridon Community Centre Gallery, Carron Pottery, and The Button Bothy in Poolewe.  Exhibition at Inverewe Garden, Poolewe
I'm happy to be part of a mixed exhibition at Inverewe Garden: Opened on Friday 15th April In Osgood's Cafe - at the top of the main car park. On show until further notice. Many thanks for your continued interest in my work. all the best 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.  Pebbles on the Beach has moved... Since the summer, I have been based near Gairloch on the northwest coast of Scotland. I am happy to say that this is where you will find me for the foreseeable future. The move is opening up new opportunities, as well as giving me the chance to strengthen existing connections. I am looking forward to the next chapter.  Exhibitions I currently have paintings (all from The Shipping Forecast series) in two exhibitions - the "Out there in Torridon" exhibition at the Loch Torridon Community Centre Gallery, and the Members' Show at An Talla Solais in Ullapool (my first time exhibiting there, delighted to be taking part!). Opening times : Torridon - Mon, Wed & Friday, 11am - 3pm. Ullapool - Open every day 11am - 1.30pm and 2-4pm, until 22 December. I am delighted to say that I will be exhibiting at Inverewe Garden in 2020 - more news about this soon. Christmas Fairs I'm taking part in two events in the coming weeks - firstly -
I will have a selection of my products at the fairs - shown above are Shipping Forecast calendars, mugs, coasters, small original linoprints (new designs), customised sketchbooks (watercolour paper) and small original watercolours. As always, thank you so much for your interest in my work, it is greatly appreciated.
All the best, Jennifer  "Occasional Rain" - original watercolour You are invited to my Solo Exhibition : 4-29 June at the Acorn Gallery in the Acorn Centre in Inverurie. The exhibition is open during cafe opening hours, so you can enjoy coffee and cake, or a light lunch during your visit! Open Tuesday - Thursday 10am - 3pm, Friday & Saturday, 10am - 4pm. The Acorn Centre is within Inverurie West Parish Church, on West High Street, Inverurie, AB51 3SA  "Fair, moderate or good". The main focus of the show is a collection of new "Shipping Forecast" paintings, continuing with the theme I started last year during North East Open Studios. This is a series of seascapes of various sizes, all with titles based on phrases from the the well known and loved Shipping Forecast, broadcast every day on Radio 4. There will also be a few paintings of Bennachie on show. I hope you enjoy the exhibition!
"Falling more slowly" "Occasionally high later"
 "Good, occasionally poor" 80cm x 22cm approx. February already! I hope this finds you settling in to 2019 and keeping warm in the recent wintry spell of weather. This year I have taken the plunge and signed up for "Dream Plan Do", a scheme run by the Design Trust to help artists and makers (all creatives in fact) make a success of their business. It centres around a journal/workbook which asks lots of questions; some easy to answer (not many!), some more difficult and some downright scary! There is also a Facebook group, where we can compare notes, organise to meet face to face and agree that we need to reduce the amount of time we spend on social media... So far, it has certainly made me think about what I am doing and why, and where I am heading. There may be some changes ahead, but all good ones, I hope. I will keep you posted. In the meantime, here are some exhibition dates for your diary - quite a long way ahead, but I guess it's good to be thinking about warm days ahead while we are still in February! I will be taking some work over to the west coast to be part of the new "The Living Land Sea Sky" exhibition at the Loch Torridon Centre, which will be on from 14th May - 31st August. Current (winter) opening hours are 11-3, Mon, Wed & Fri. Easter to October, open 10-4, Monday - Saturday. Delighted to say I'll be having a solo exhibition at the Acorn Centre in Inverurie. This will run from Monday 3rd June - Sat 29th June. Opening hours to be confirmed nearer the time. Next up is the annual Milltimber, Bieldside & Cults Festival Art Exhibition, which runs this year from 22-25 August (Thurs - Sun). At the Phoenix Centre, Newton Dee, Bieldside, in Aberdeen. And last but by no means least, I'm delighted to say that I will be showing my work as part of Art at the Phoenix at Newton Dee, for this year's North East Open Studios (NEOS).The dates for this year's event are Sat 14 - Mon 23 September. There will be ten artists and makers at the venue this time. As you probably know, I produced some more "Shipping Forecast" paintings back in October - now it's time to get them framed and ready to go out into the world! Images above and below show a couple of them. "Fair. Moderate or Good." 98cm x 24cm approx.
Thank you so much to everyone who took the time to come and visit the Phoenix Centre at Newton Dee during North East Open Studios last month (October already, how did that happen?!). It is always lovely to catch up with old friends and to meet new folk. Many interesting conversations were had, and the overwhelmingly positive feedback about my new work was very much appreciated. It turns out that lots of you are very fond of the colour blue! I often find myself listening more than talking, during NEOS, which suits me fine as I am more naturally a listener than a talker. And so it was that I came away enriched by Shipping Forecast related stories; the lady who had the "Sailing By" tune played at her seafaring father's funeral, the friend who came to hate geography lessons at school, because they were made to transcribe the shipping forecast as it was broadcast, and she could never keep up. Another visitor who lamented listening to the midnight broadcast, as it meant that, once again, she could not sleep. There were other stories too - an older gentleman who had been a cabin boy on a boat which sailed up and down the west coast of Scotland in the 1960's, who recognised the view of the Torridon mountains from Gairloch, in one of my paintings. He told me what his weekly wages were, and that beer in those days was 6d a pint (not that he was drinking it at 16, of course...). I love this sparking of memories which my work can produce; that recognition of a place, or a time, or a feeling. To me, that's one of the best parts of NEOS. A word that I heard many time during the week about my Shipping Forecast series of paintings was "atmospheric". I'll take that, thank you. Many thanks again to all who came to visit; your interest and support is greatly appreciated. In the meantime, if you would like to get hold of my cards or other items, please see my Stockists page for where you can find them. Some items are also available from my online Shop here on my website.  |
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