Nearly time for the annual Art Show at the St Andrew Blackadder Church in North Berwick High Street. Now in its 17th year this exhibition features the work of around 60 local artists and raises money for the Church Repair Fund and a selection of local charities. During the show tea and coffee along with homebaking is served - even I am baking! (a rare event, if I am honest). Opening hours 10am until 5pm on Good Friday and Sat 20th, and 1pm until 5pm on Easter Sunday. Note that the exhibition is not running on Easter Monday this year, but if you still need an art fix then pop down and see me in my beach hut studio!
All my paintings in the exhibition shown below.

It seems I have been a bit remiss with blog posts, so here are three updates in one. Daylight is of course restricted at this time of year which means that evening working is out of the question! However I have been working on some boats, a slightly different view of North Berwick from the harbour wall - which is destined for the St Andrew Blackadder art show at Easter, and a rather large collage of a spring woodland which if I am being completely honest I am finding rather hard going. Or at least I assume that's why I keep stopping working on it to concentrate on something else!

This week I have worked on aluminium panels for the first time - the surface is coated to accept whatever media you’re using. These two - Robin on a Frosty Twig (15 x 20cm) and Winter Lane (12.5cm square) are both acrylic. I enjoyed painting them and will be working on these aluminium panels again I think!

Been a bit under the weather lately - either two colds one after the other or the same one continually mutating - but a mild malady I find very good for enforced productivity...

'Winter Tree in a Field', A3 acrylic on canvas (title may need some work!) and
'Brimlad', acrylic 290 x 290mm (an Anglo Saxon girl's name meaning seaway, fact fans)

Actually there isn't much sign of it at all - an unseasonable 19 degrees here today - although we are firmly into autumnal territory foliage-wise. Nevertheless this week I have been fixated on snow and have painted these two acrylics on board 'Winter mist, low sun' and 'Winter Crow'. Both A3.

And what a summer it's been - weeks and weeks of warm sunny weather. I have been at my beach hut studio nearly every day, painting and meeting interesting people. Last week the Fringe by the Sea was in town too, so we were sharing our space with two Spiegeltents, interesting music and the daily tantalisation of wonderful cooking smells drifting over from the food court. I may have succumbed once or twice...
No hut today, or yesterday, as it has been rather damp. I have finally finished this painting 'Paragon & Design' and treated myself to a new tiny paintbrush (having ruined the old one!).
Next stop - the Edinburgh Macmillan Art Show at Bonhams in Edinburgh

The last ten days has seen a run of the best kind of late spring weather here in North Berwick - sunny, fairly warm and not too windy (which is rare!). I have been down at my beach hut studio every day (not today though as we seem to have reverted to a strong easterly wind which has sent the temperature right down) and, having brought down my easel and paints, I have been able to get on with some outdoor painting. This acrylic on canvas board was executed entirely outdoors, apart from the smaller tree on the right.

After doing a fair amount of drawing in coloured pencils since the start of the year, this week I felt inspired to try something completely different from my usual. Canvas board is not a surface I have used often and the chance to try out a new palette of colours on a new surface was quite exciting. Add in to the mix pens, sponges and cocktail sticks and there has been a fair amount of experimentation. Luckily I am very pleased with the result!

"Late Autumn Apricity", acrylic and pen on canvas board, 500 x 400mm

Finally, I think it's finished - although I may come back to it later for a little bit of tweaking! Not sure why it has taken me such a long time to complete this painting, to be honest. There must have been a lot of distractions. And quite a few learning processes along the way too, as this was a new painting surface for me, and I had never used gold leaf before - no doubt it would be quicker the next time. 50x50cm, acrylic and gold leaf on birch ply.

A combination of poor light and lots else to do has meant that this painting has been on the go for a quite a few days. Working in acrylics on a birch ply panel - a new surface for me - well sanded between coats of gesso as a primer. I've never really taken to canvas as a surface to work on as it is so 'bouncy', but I'm really enjoying working on this panel. Still looking up but moving on from chimney pots, this dome doesn't actually exist - it is a combination of several and some imagination!