Skyscapes

 

The light of East Lothian changes so often through a day. Landscapes, cloudscapes are fleeting images that can last only a few seconds. Starting in the spring of 2001, I was invited by a neighbour, Kate Edmunds, to use her shed to paint. On seeing her shed I noticed that it looked onto The River Forth and had a splendid view of Fife. Recently I had moved to Cockenzie with my family from London and one of the attractions was the amazing cloudscapes that happens most days. From stunning sunsets to murky fogs all has a presence and beauty. So I begun to try and capture these cloudscapes.

The first were crude and lack skilled and knowledge of why the sky was this way. But as the sketches piled up what became clear was I had a found a subject that I could investigate that allowed me to use my interest in oil painting, composition and form.

After years of study I now have began to understand the awesome view from 96a High Street, Cockenzie. But it is only a beginning. Trying to capture the many colours, tones, hues in this ever-changing view is journey where the more you look the more you see.

I exhibited a series of 24 paintings in October 2005 in The David Young Gallery, Edinburgh.

Since then I have continued to paint the ever changing sky.

Almost all paintings are in personal collections, but also in the new St Columba's Hospice, Edinburgh.