Yesterdays planned walk was abandoned even before it began. A large sign was attached to the entrance of Cocklawfoot farm alerting walkers to the fact that lambing was in full progress and that they should avoid the area until May 10th. Understandable (it is the farmers livelihood after all ) but momentarily frustrating! Anyway we drove back and headed up by way of Hownam Grange farm where roaming permission was granted by the farmer there and headed up Hownam Law for a circular walk taking in Wideopen Hill and Gubbitlaw.
These opportunities to get out and walk whether it's here in the Borders, or further a field are really important. The benefits for the body and mind are many of course but the additional element I take away is (hopefully)subject matter for future ideas for painting.
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| Clouds everywhere you look |
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| Showers blowing through |
The forecast yesterday was fairly accurate although the passing showers were alarmingly more wintery than you'd expect!
Baltic is the only word to describe the temperature up there and it makes me wonder how those little lambs manage to survive at all.
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| Trial screen printing from last year working on the Sheep circle theme |
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Sheep circle screen print (map reference,sheep skeleton and sheepfold)
Screen printing opportunity at Edinburgh Print makers was kindly awarded through the Visual Arts Awards & funded by SBC and Creative Scotland. Liaison was through CABN.
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Local environmental artist
Kate Foster has been doing really interesting work about this landscape and her observations and thoughts have made me think more about my approach to my own work.
This along with the the limited access to the Cheviots yesterday and just thinking about the landscape in general made me think about just how
managed the landscape round this area is, walls, fences,new farm buildings and sign posts abound. Although you are in a rural, fairly wild and potentially inhospitable place the mark of human habitation runs deep.
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| Nice bit of hail thrown in for good measure! |
The notion of a sense of place with regard to my work is something I feel will have to have more significance in future. After all our experience of the landscape is a here and now phenomenon.
As an artist you can choose to represent what you wish, editing as you go. The weather is a constant and in some respects the more changeable it is, the better, for painting at least! So along with the weather I'll be continuing to seek out some
temporary constants to represent the here and now.
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| Light and shadow on the hills |
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| Snaking stone dike with sheep fold. |
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| More incoming showers |
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| Brighter skys...Eildon hills in the distance. |
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