Random mark making and tracing

Random marks made with a black graphite block (Derwent XL Graphite 6), imaged smudged, then selectively traced twice. Marks added with a fine black felt pen. Tracings then laid one over the other and repositioned.

Now cropped, top tracing repositioned and all turned through 90*.

Then cropped again and all turned through a further 180*. 

And it all came from this random sweep of the hand with a graphite block, a sheet of tracing paper and a black felt pen.    

Back home tomorrow ... and access to more art materials ... but with many lovely images of a Scottish autumn in the snow.

Stitching along a hedge

This is my current focused hand stitch piece - I always have one that I work on usually for relaxation in the evenings or on holiday (as now). It features a length of hedge near my home in Wiltshire. The colours across the whole piece represent the changing seasons.

This small section represents summer and the time of maximum growth.

This is proving surprisingly challenging. There is a need to maintain colour cohesion over the whole piece whilst at the same time staying true to the main theme of colour change.

Then there is the sense that growth climaxes through spring into early summer then diminishes towards winter when branches are largely bare. I’m finding this effect difficult to achieve whilst at the same time achieving a balanced piece overall.

So ... much may yet change. I’m keeping scissors and unpicker tool handy!

Monochrome hills

My last few posts have featured the beautiful landscape of Aberdeenshire. At times we have found a riot of autumnal colour; at others, a very early fall of snow that has muted the colours to near monochrome. As I’ve said before, we never come north here in winter so the latter has been a particular delight for us.

Today, the weather remains cold and there is still snow on the mountains and in the higher valleys of the Cairngorms. We went in search of this today up Gairnside to the north on a cloudy morning and found a great, cold emptiness that was beyond anything we’d expected. Under snow, the gently rounded mountains and moorland offered unique patterns and forms and their own particular sense of bleak remoteness that was beautiful but forbidding. It was easy to sense the battle for survival in the harsh conditions of winter.

We go home on Saturday to a very different landscape. In the densely populated south of England, even under snow, such forbidding remoteness is largely unknown. We are cosseted and live in a gentle landscape with neighbours close by and help easy to summon. When we hear that the snow gates on the A939 Cockbridge to Tomintoul are closed, we will understand more fully! 

Wild and wintery weather

The last two or three days have seen a blast of cold air from the arctic and the disappearance of those mild sunny days and lovely autumn colours of my last two posts.

There was a hint of this in Aberdeen on Friday. After a brief shopping trip, we headed to the sea front to drive along the esplanade as we like to do. Looking east as we drove all seemed relatively peaceful if cold.

Then we stopped, parked and got out of the car hoping to walk a little along the sea front. Before that, we turned to look west at the outline of the city only and were met by a sudden blast of ice cold wind and sleet and these dramatic clouds. 

Yesterday we drove inland along the Dee Valley, heading for Braemar and beyond. It was cold and sunny and there was a very slight suggestion of something icy on our lawn. We should have guessed what was in store for us. As we drove, the snow gradually increased until in some places it was covering the road and the trees were weighed down with it. 

By the time we reached Braemar, the temperature was 0*C and roads were slippery. While this is not cold by the standard of many places, for Scotland at the end of October, it is exceptional. We are never here in the winter so for us this was a rare and beautiful treat. The town looked enchanting. 

We then drove a little way out of town and towards the Devil’s Elbow (a pass over the mountains). This had been closed earlier in the day but was now open and allowed us to see the snow covered mountains from higher up. Again, it was beautiful.

I have always wanted to see this area that I love so much covered in snow so this has been a real treat. The most extraordinary thing about what we saw (perhaps not shown to best advantage in these photos) is the fact that so many of the trees were still in autumn leaf.  This gave the slightly eerie feeling of being in two seasons at once - and beautiful colour combinations, usually not seen.

Reflections on autumn

When walking in the grounds of Crathes Castle west of Aberdeen yesterday afternoon, we came upon   these lovely reflections. The lake was mirror calm and the sun was shining. What pleasure it was!

Here a couple of rogue branches imposing themselves on my photo seem to add depth and interest. 

And here, the mirror was so perfect it is hard to separate reflection from reality. 

At the end of our walk, we left the lake to walk through the scots pine and  yellowing silver birch trees and along the feeder stream to the car park. Even here, despite the drop in light levels, the reflections were intriguing and beautiful. 

We always enjoy this time of year in Scotland. The brilliance of the colours and the hint of the coming weather changes seem so much more intense. (We’re forecast 2C and sleet showers on Saturday morning).  

We know why we live most of the time in England but we also know why we come here for a few weeks every year. 

Autumn in Scotland

We’re up in Scotland for ten days enjoying the glorious autumn colours, as we usually are at the end of October for our last visit of the year. Today, we went to Crathes Castle near Banchory, a favourite haunt of ours. We walked in the grounds and visited the garden (more in another post) The colours at the property were wonderful as always.