A Flurry of Activity

Grab your winter woollies , this post may make you shiver !

"The Silence of Snow" Loch Duich Mixed Media Painting

Since writing my last blog post, I have been slightly obsessed with painting more snow.

As an artist who is normally so inspired by vivid colour and depth of tones, I'm quite surprised at how much I have really enjoyed painting in an almost monochromatic way.

This limited palette of soft muted greys and buffs have captivated me, with only the slightest whisper of blue.

Whilst painting out in the snow, I also took some photographs, and so have used this combination of source material to achieve these three paintings.

I love the way the texture of the paper gives a kind of crackled edge to the ink, mimicking the texture of the snow.

"Sweeping Snow Showers" Ratagan Youth Hostel Mixed Media Painting

"Frozen Shore" Ratagan Mixed Media Painting

The shore was covered in ice and there was a thin layer of it floating on top of the loch. I think this was due to the combination of low temperatures and it being so calm.

I went out on the loch along with my partner, who is a fisherman, to check his boat and so we rowed through the thin sheets of ice, breaking them up with our oars.

Icy Shore

Dodgy roads

After living here for almost 38 years now, I don't think I have ever seen snow so deep and speaking to some of the older locals of the village, they would agree.

Luckily, we had plenty of supplies in and we didn't need to drive anywhere.

Outside my studio window

These three new paintings, along with the two from my last blog are on my website now.

I think I have the snow out of my system now. It's all but disappeared, apart from a trace on the tops of the mountains.

Who knows what I'll paint next.

That's what makes life so exciting !

Until next time, thanks for reading,

All the best,

Helen