When the Tenterfield Project was underway during my Foundation Year at Leith School of Art, the five distinctive windows styles of Tenterfield House were isolated and explored by way of individual prints. Now they are being refreshed. Texturised backdrops were made to highlight the windows whilst contextualising them. This way, it is easier to present them in an accepted format.

Pursuing the recycling, up cycling theme, I have used prints to make landscape collages. The prints were from a project in ECA where I was experimenting with lines and rhythms found in the beach landscape. The rest of the collage material is fabric, card and paper and paint. 2These are currently being auctioned off for ARC. 25 x 30 cm including mount.

Work is progressing well in the Cockenzie House studio on a series of paintings based on ploughed fields and the rhythms of the  East Lothian landscape. I think I have finished the first of these and am 'living' with it in the studio until I start work on the others. Sometimes as work on a series progresses, techniques arise in subsequent work that can be revisited on the first painting.

The second one is taking a while to organise but I now happier with the flow of lines. the colour may need tweaking but I don't want the series of four too similar in either composition or colouring.

I had a good rake through my materials in the shed at home and found lots of material to recycle into new pieces for either auctioning off for ARC or making into new bigger pieces for the Hangar Gallery/Cockenzie House shop.

A lot of material to re-use came from research and development work comprising intaglio print or other forms of printing. Their surfaces allow for play and I have been experimenting using embroidery thread. I have gone down this route before and like the fact that stitching in this way acts as highlights for certain aspects of a composition whilst adding colour and texture. It is hard not to get carried away however ...

This is a small print made during a project at ECA documenting the fading of a small pottery fragment. The detail of flowers, hatching and parallel lines all come from the decoration of the fragment. It is meant to evoke the sea shore and its link with the land.

I guess I can call myself that seeing as 'Edinburgh Landscape' found its way into a home in Virginia USA. I have to rave about PACK & SEND (Edinburgh East) and the help of Martin Hendron who bailed me out when the Post Office could not provide the service I had expected. 

I had packed it myself and added a letter detailing the story of the painting, the stimulus for it, where it had been exhibited etc and I waited rather apprehensively for news.  BUT an email came in on the expected day saying :

Good afternoon!
The painting arrived at 16:00 this afternoon, safe and sound! What a masterful packing job!

Thank you so much for all of your help, and I know it will bring us many years of joy. Truly a beautiful piece.

WHEW!