Visitation(s)

I can't believe I just wrote one sentence in my previous blog post and then ran off.  How rude.  Today I am determined to write a proper blog.

Yesterday I took the day off from manning The Cabin to take a tour round some North East Open Studios venues.  I planned my route quite carefully, trying to take account of driving times and distances, and also to plan some refreshment stops.  I still took a snack box with me, of course, in case of emergencies or paucity of coffee shops.  When I got home at 7pm, the snack box was empty.  More due to my lack of good planning than anything else. 

I always underestimate travelling times and had also completely ignored the possibility that the northeast countryside would be at its most enticing on a sunny September afternoon.  My first stop was at a venue nearby, with many talented artists all exhibiting together.  I stopped to chat, making acquaintance, gleaning information about art classes and workshops.  It is always interesting to hear how others have arrived where they are today.  It would be lovely to meet up with some of these folk throughout the year, to continue these conversations.   I even bought something.  I may tell you later what it was.

Onwards to a village hall in the bowels of the country, to view paintings by a local art group.  A range of work was on view, along with some fascinating scupltures, based mainly on boulders sifted from farmers' fields.  This visit was followed by a hare northwards across the countryside to a wee place that I've only been to once before, to catch a friend's exhibition before closing.  She had just sold a painting, and had sold several in the past few days, so was feeling happy.  Luckily there was a tea shop next door with homebakes on offer and a very cheerful girl serving at the counter.  She was doing so in between giving loving "bosies" to a tiny person who I assumed was her nearly-new niece.

Between these visits I stopped several times, once backtracking completely and parking at the edge of a stubble field.  The sky was so entrancing, I'm surprised that no following vehicles reported me for erratic driving.  On a day made for dawdling, I seemed to encounter more than my fair share of impatient drivers, who drove right up my backside (not literally).  This meant that pulling over suddenly when I spotted a field or cloud or building that was of interest was completely impossible.  So, I stopped a few times, in safe places, and took photographs.  Here are a few of them.

 

 

My last port of call was to a little coastal village that I have not visited for a long time.  It is not so little any more.  Houses seemed to blanket the fringes of the place, which were now darkly solid.  I talked photography for a while at a venue which I had not planned to visit, then wandered to the harbour, camera in hand.  Again, the sky was full of movement and life.  Clouds, dark and grey and menacing on one side; fluffy and white and shining on the other.   Skeins of geese passed overhead more than once.  The boats in the harbour waited patiently for the tide to turn.  I turned and came home.

Participation

The time is now. It is Day 3 of North East Open Studios and things are quiet enough for me to write a wee bit here.
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Anticipation

I have been busy getting things ready.  It's amazing how long everything takes, especially when you've become unaccustomed to working to deadlines.  I ordered some greetings cards a week or so ago - they arrived the other day, so it was time to sit down and put them into little cellophane sleeves, to keep them nice and clean while potential customers riffle through them next week.  No, next week, that day after tomorrow!  That's when North East Open Studios starts.  In case I hadn't mentioned it before.  Here's a couple of my cards - both of watercolour paintings by yours truly.

 

 

The next thing to get done was to get rid of all the junk - sorry, artist's materials - from the cabin/shed in the back garden, which is our venue for the week.  Again, this has been quite a slow process, as I kept finding things that I didn't know I had, or things that I had thought were lost forever.  I seem to have quite a lot of paper.  I do have a bit of a thing for paper, or rather stationery.  I can never have too much of it.  I really should just use it all up, paint things or write things on it.  No need to buy any for a while, anyway. 

Preparation

I am in the throes of preparing for North East Open Studios, a fantastic event which is in its ninth year. It is a collective of artists, makers and craftspeople in the northeast of Scotland, who work together to promote their work by opening up their studios to all and sundry for nine days in September. The process also involves the production of a lovely wee catalogue, containing details of all 285 participants. This super publication is free (yes, Free!) and has been distributed far and wide in the past couple of weeks. Here's what it looks like, so you can keep your eyes peeled for copies lying around the place.

 

The bleeper is going on the cooker to say my spaghetti is cooked.... to be continued...

Country shows

I love going to country shows.  The people there are real people.  Real, grounded, earthy people who work the land.  They raise animals, plough fields and grow crops, out in all weathers.  I have sometimes thought I would like to live this kind of life, but I don't think I would have the stamina for the 4am rises to milk the cows or check on the sheep, or all the jobs I imagine a farmer must do. 

Attending a recent show forty miles out of Aberdeen, the place was heaving with folk out for the day.  Men in tweeds and flat caps leaned on shooting sticks and watched the hunting horses in the ring.  Little girls in jodhpurs and riding boots, neat pigtails tied with red ribbons, bobbed along on gleaming ponies.  In between munching on burgers and chips, or licking ice cream cones, of course.  There did not seem to be much else to eat other than burgers.  Luckily they were rather tasty ones. 

There were also some rather lovely vintage cars on show.

Autumn

 

No sooner did we have a glimpse of summer, than autumn put in an appearance. These jewel-like plums have been gradually swelling over the past couple of weeks, ably assisted by all the rain we've been having. Leaves on the geans have also started turning colour. It will soon be time to turn the clocks back!

The Small Things

This heart-shaped rubber band has been lying on the pavement just up the road from my house for about a week now. I kept seeing it and thought about taking a photo several times. Today I did, and here it is.
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