 Spring news from Pebbles on the BeachHello and welcome to the latest edition of my newsletter. I hope this finds you well and enjoying some spring sunshine! We are finally seeing signs of life here - the daffodils are out, primroses have made an appearance and my pots of tulips are making steady progress towards flowering. There is much birdsong in the mornings and great excitement locally about herring spawning in The Minch - including sightings of many gannets, porpoises and a few whales (humpback and minke), following the fish. I shall always be a zoologist at heart!
I find the winter skies here very inspiring - they are often dark and grey and full of rain, above a sea which can be steely grey or dark turquoise or indigo blue, depending on the light. Observing and absorbing these led me to paint a couple of short series of watercolours recently - 'Distant Isles' 5-11. and 'Winter Skies' 1-5. I don't think I'll ever tire of painting seascapes.
I've also been working more with mixed media recently - mainly acrylic paint with graphite, charcoal and pastels. And anything else that comes to hand, if I'm honest. Building up layers, scraping them back, watching to see what emerges. I tend to work on one large sheet of heavy duty paper, which I divide into a grid using masking tape, after the initial, random layer of paint has been applied. It's a method I developed during my time on the portfolio course last winter with Bridge House Art. The end result is a series of small, abstract works which I feel reflect my surroundings here in the coastal west Highlands of Scotland. A shoreline, a rocky coast, a rockpool, perhaps, suggest themselves.  One of the lochs in Laide Wood in recent spring sunshine It was National Poetry Day recently, so here's a poem It's an 'associations' poem, a form I learnt about during an online Creative Explorers workshop in early 2021. It's best read aloud. Each word connects with the next in some way - sometimes opposites, sometimes synonyms and sometimes in a more surprising or unusual way. Enjoy! Lily, valley, polish, boots lily, valley, polish, boots march, April, spring, newts pond, ponder, think, brain head, school, teach, train track, trace, pattern, dress child, toddler, sticky, mess Eton, posh, fish, trout fin, scales, weigh, out in, pub, beer, wine grapes, raisins, chocolate, mine coal, black, mourning, suit lily, valley, polish, boots I've written quite a few of these poems - several are included in my first poetry collection, which is available from the cafe gallery or from my website shop.  Bridge Cottage Art CafeIn the meantime, we're gearing up for the tourist season at Bridge Cottage Art Cafe. We've been open all winter and are grateful for the support of local customers, many of whom are now regulars, as well as those from further afield. Key info :
 Members' Shop reopens!
Last but not least, I'm delighted to say that the Members' Shop at An Talla Solais reopened today and it's stocking some of my work. Including small original artworks, greetings cards and linoprinted skethcbooks. It's situated at the entrance to the gallery on Market Street in Ullapool. Also opening today at An Talla Solais are two exhibitions, one by Susan Lorna Brown, entitled 'Search', the other 'Glacial Narratives : The Greenlandic Chapter'. Both are on until 4th May. The gallery is open Wed - Sun 10am - 1.30pm and 2pm - 5pm. I'll be visiting at some point! Many thanks for your continued interest in my work. all the best Jennifer
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 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 |
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