Mid Town Brae, Poolewe. Scotland

Mid Town Brae. Poolewe. Scotland.

Sold these four prints to one person.
To see more go to www.chrisgauntartist.co.uk

Ben Loyal. Scotland.

Blue Moon

Guarding the path. Magnificent Oak tree.

Golden Rudd

Sold these two prints.  One is of Rudd a beautiful freshwater fish.

The other was inspired by a fete in St. Ambroix in France which I chanced upon when on the Gerry Active cycling trip in 2011.

Body to die for




Gerry Active Hero

This man  started body building at the age of 87 and now at 93 aims to pull the young ( 70 years old ) girls on the beach.He is an inspiration to Gerry Actives everywhere. So guys if you don't want to lose it you know what to do! To read the full story go to this BBC link.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/health-20048675



 

Not Ernest Hemingway!

My latest portrait painting.

Can you tell me who this well known man is?

Some of you should know!

Boris Johnson for President

Since the very successful London Olympics the already high profile of London Mayor Boris Johnson has soared even higher than his own ego.

His name is increasingly mentioned as a future Prime minister. Everybody loves his jokes, his optimism, his charisma, his charm and his political incorrectness.

He is a breath of fresh air in a world of dull politicians and doom and gloom. No wonder Conservative leaders are worried as his appeal crosses party political lines.

However there is no need to worry for behind the cultivated buffoonery there is a razor sharp mind and a gigantic ambition. Did you know Boris was born in New York and therefore why should he not leap frog Downing Street and run for President of the United States of America?

Are you a fan of Boris?

Heather and Birches in Moonlight.

Final painting of this scene. Acrylic on Canvas
50cm x 40cm

Bluebell Wood

This painting was started in May and I have just completed it. I sat in this lovely bluebell wood only half a mile from a very busy Hawkshead in The English Lake District. I was completely alone for the entire painting session.

It is mixed media. Watercolour and acrylic and the size is 40cm x 30cm

The Wild Bunch.

My acrylic painting of wild Camargue horses stampeding through water. size 40cm x 30cm

Available to buy from The Picture Framers Gallery in Forres.

Rivers in Flood. Spate of Sales too.

Flooded Meadow

 The rivers here in Scotland have been in spate after the worst storm for 30 years.

I have had a spate of sales too! I sold two framed prints which were on display in The Basil Harbour Cafe, Nairn. One large print of Black Rock Cottage, Glencoe and one standard size print of Flooded Meadow.
From The Picture Framers Gallery in Forres a large original of Flooded Meadow 2 was sold.

Also three prints on line. Eilean Donan Castle 1 and Eilean Donan Castle 2 and Black Rock Cottage again.

In reality most artists like myself do not make much money from art but it is nice to think some people like your work enough to buy it.

Eilean Donan Castle 1

Eilean Donan Castle2

Black Rock Cottage. Glencoe

Scottish Cycle Tour

The Team T Shirts

 As always when we get together for a cycle ride things don't go as smoothly as we would wish!

Roger had to drop out at the last moment and the other three travelled up to Scotland at the precise moment the worst September storm for thirty years struck Great Britain. John left Norwich on the 25th but couldn't get to Edinburgh by the usual route due to flooding and was diverted to Birmingham, then Crewe where after a long wait he got the sleeper train from London. Finally arriving on the 26th! Peter and Terry both had delays and route changes but did make it in one extremely long day.
Terry came with 5 T Shirts printed with the slogan ' The Gerry Active Tour of Scotland 2012 ' So off we went proudly wearing our T Shirts. The first day was a forty mile ride to Aviemore and stopping for lunch at Grantown on Spey we had a request to join our club by a fellow diner. We had to turn him down as he was far too young and looked exceedingly fit! Not that we are ageist or anything like that!
Yes the T Shirts were real ice breakers. We were asked questions by a South African man in Aviemore and a lady in Nairn both of whom were connected with promoting cycling. The second day was another forty mile day to Craigellachie, a splendid ride along and above the river Spey. The next leg took us past The Glenfiddic Distillery where three Gerry Active members took a tasting tour, emerging one hour later considerably fortified and looking less geriatric. All in all we had quite good weather and enjoyed six days cycling and great camaraderie.

Got the T Shirt

Birches in Blue

This picture was inspired by a stand of birch trees with heather in full bloom in the foreground.

Of course this rendering which is unfinished has no relation to the reality. However that is what I am exploring at the moment. I start with an idea and then the painting takes on a direction of it's own. I do very little to control the direction.

Any suggestions on finishing touches to this painting will be welcomed. You may of course suggest it is not worth spending more time on!

Blue Chicken Flys

Blue Cockerel

Some success this week with my paintings. First, Picture This Gallery in Inverness sold a mounted print of my Blue Cockerel and then The Nicholson Building Gallery in Forres sold one of my original paintings entitled Woodland Track in Autumn. Unfortunately I didn't do any prints or photos of this one so cannot show it here.

There are still four originals left in my Blue Chicken Series.

Geese Arrive and Swallows Leave.

As the swallows leave us on their long journey south, autumn arrives. With the winter beginning in the Arctic, the insistent melodic honking of geese mark their arrival here in Findhorn Bay. Vast skeins fill the sky in impressive V formations as they flight in from the north.
I am always moved by these annual migrations and connect to the feeling of restlessness. Something in me also experiences a primordial instinct to leave and go south or somewhere else. It is always strongest as summer ends and autumn begins. We may think of ourselves as modern and progressive but there is something in our ancestral genes which calls to us. I wonder if anybody reading this has similar feelings at this time of the year?

A Trio of Prints Sold

I was pleased to have a flurry of prints sales during the last week. Strangely they are all paintings of Scotland and one went to the USA.

They are Black Rock Cottage, Glencoe. Eilean Donan Castle near Skye and Plockton also near Skye.

Other paintings of Scotland can be viewed on my web site. www.chrisgauntartist.co.uk

Mamils. Middle Aged Men in Lycra ( A Modern Mid Life Crisis )

I have just read this rather amusing article on the BBC News Website. It seems after the success of Bradley Wiggins, Mark Cavendish and Chris Hoy middle aged men are forgoing the mid life crisis BMW sports car or Harley-Davidson motor bike and are buying state of the art bicycles and expensive lycra clothing. As you can see I have managed to avoid lycra when cycling in France and in any case I am beyond a mid life crisis! Do read this article.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/magazine-10965608

 

Swallows

Here is another poem of mine inspired by the change of season, by the sadness of farewells. In this case by the departure of swallows and the amazing fact of their huge journey south. Such small creatures to undertake this enormous and dangerous voyage. What power is calling them? It is also a reminder to obey our intuition and not be fearful.

Swallows

The swallows are sitting on the line;

Their purpose here nearly over.

A pulse, a scent, something calling.

Tiny scraps, empowered;

To ride the wind southwards.

I hear their twittering restlessness.

Primordial longing;

Connecting me to the same fever.

What is it we seek with journeying?

Heed the calling to the source:

Or be fearful and die.

Loch an Eilein at the end of Summer.

This is a time of year when I get very reflective. There is something in the change of energy between summer and autumn which I am very sensitive to. It is a sad feeling but one that changes as the season changes. I notice that I am inspired to write poems during this time.

The Pause

That strange week when nature pauses;

The world falls silent.

Like the tide visits and leaves the shore.

Poignant reminder of time passing.

A dawning sense;

A memory remembered.

That strange week when nature pauses;

Foretelling the end of summer.

A melancholy stillness;

Empty of movement and sound.

Everything is waiting;

For Autumn to begin

Grey. A Buddhist Poem

This is one of my poems. It is expressing the Buddhist concept that life is one unceasing movement. Everything coming into being, fading away and reforming into something new..
According to Buddhist philosophy human unhappiness is compounded by trying to hold onto fixed circumstances. I am reminded of this when I feel melancholy as Summer turns to Autumn and I don't want to think of winter. It also is a reminder that everything is interdependent and independence is an illusion.
We cannot hold back anything or onto anything let alone the seasons. I need to remind myself of this and look forward to the next manifestation which will be beautifully different.

GREY

 

A cold wind moves the grey pines

My heart whispers grey like the air

 

 

The illusion of independence vanishing

Crushed on the grey rocks of reality

The shattered dust of delusion
Reforming in glorious yellow

Human Contact

In Contrast to the previous post I spent the third week of August on holiday with my family at Wells next the Sea in Norfolk. It was a warm week so lots of swimming and fun and wonderful human contact with my son Julian, his partner Vicky and their three delightful children. Ben, Jayden and Isla.

 

Vines and Pines. Languedoc-Roussillon. France.

This is the last picture from my week painting with my brother. This view of Vines with Pine trees is in Acrylic held together with a blue underpainting.

Blue Chicken Series

Blue Cockerel and Hen

 My original colourful blue chicken pictures have been sold and seem to have struck a chord. Consequently I have painted four new paintings in the Blue Cockerels and Hens series. These are now mounted and framed in striking red frames which measure 40cm x 30cm.The size of each picture is 30cm x 20cm. There will also be prints available shortly. All will be uploaded on to my web site within the next week. www.chrisgauntartist.co.uk  or email me if you would like to buy one or more before then.They would look great in a kitchen, bathroom or children's bedroom.

Two Blue Cockerels

Two Blue Hens

Blue Cockerel

Exhibition at The Gallery, Elgin Library.13th to 24th August

Blue Chicken with tomatoes. Acrylic

These three pictures are my entries in The Moray Art Club exhibition at the gallery in Elgin Library. It is a big exhibition showing many artist's work and the standard is very high. The exhibition runs from the 13th to 24th August so if you are in Elgin do pop in. The three paintings are for sale.

Blue. Watercolour.

Avenue of Trees. Acrylic.

Art Studio

This is a view from the garden towards my brothers art studio. I enjoyed painting this one.

Bradley Wiggins and the Garden Shed

In a previous post ' What Men Need ' ( scroll down to popular posts ) I mentioned garden sheds as a refuge for men.
In a new twist we learn that Bradley Wiggins used his garden shed to maintain his peak fitness after crashing in the Tour de France 2011 and breaking his collar bone. Forced to retire, he returned home to his garden shed in Ecclestone, Lancashire. With his shoulder strapped up he put his bike on rollers and pedalled away in his shed!
The rest is history. He won this years Tour de France and a gold medal in the London Olympics.
So the message is clear men. Make that shed more than a place to store house overflows. Make it your special refuge to meditate, study or train and emerge refreshed to achieve new heights.

Avenue of Trees. Languedoc-Roussillon.France.

This is another painting from my time in France with my brother. This magnificent avenue of trees leads to a wine producing domaine and is rather typical of domaine entrances. This was my last attempt ( the previous two were awful ) and with some helpful suggestions from Tony I managed to pull this one together. It has been framed and is for sale. The painting is acrylic and is framed in a understated gold frame which measures 62cm x 48cm. It has a double mount in off white and the painting size is 44cm x 30cm. The price is £200.00. If interested please contact me. Thank you for looking.

Painting with Tony

This is my brother Tony about to start work. We were painting a field of vines and a row of pines.My effort is shown below. Tony's painting was so much better than mine, perhaps he will put it on his web site! Tony lives at Pinet in Languedoc-Roussillon, France so the strong light in the south of France was very different to the light at home in Scotland.

Tony about to start painting.

These vines and pines were the subject

Speed Loving Dog

The Gerry Active 2012 Tour de France Cycling team was overtaken by this motor cycling trio. Was it imagination, or is that a superior smile on this speed happy hot dog?
 It reminded me of the cartoon Dick Dastardly and Mutley. Anybody remember them?

The Gerry Active team are quite used to being overtaken, even by walkers! But this is the first time by a dog on a motorcycle!

The Gerry Active Tour de France 2012

Lourdes. Invalids visiting The Grotto

The Gerry Active Tour de France started at Saintes with a puncture. I notice my rear tyre had a puncture just before loading onto The Bike Bus. 24 hours later I was mending this while the other four loaded their bikes. We set off in the direction of Royan where we caught the ferry across The Girronde river to Le Verdon Sur Mer then on to Montelivet for our first camp site. Spent two days here recuperating from the long bus journey and first days ride.

Then next day on to Le Porge where we spent two days holed up in a hotel due to extreme weather.This was definitely not supposed to happen, we could get this in England! The next day was not anticipated either! Miserable day, rain and lots of traffic as we negotiated the Archachon Basin towards Salle where we got thoroughly soaked pitching our tents. The next days were spent cycling to Bazas and Nerac and on the 14th the weather decided to agree with our dreams and it turned hot. We stayed at the lovely farm site near Nerac for two days enjoying the sun. The farm site had a swimming pool and restaurant and the owners were very nice. Then in scorching heat we cycled to Mirande where we again spent two nights. The next day the weather changed abruptly again and we continued to Lourdes via Tarbes. Just after arriving at Lourdes and the campsite we had a terrific thunderstorm. John and I were sitting with the rain dripping down our upturned hoods ( Can't remember where the other three were ) when a French family brought us some sandwiches and a bottle of wine. They must have thought we were too old to be camping in the rain and I must admit we were coming to that point of view ourselves. Anyway this kind act lifted our spirits. Poor John had gout and was talking of going home early. Lourdes is amazing, a mixture of tackiness and something genuine. Much to my surprise my cynical friends were impressed. I sat in the enormous church by myself for quite a long time and watched the procession of invalids being wheeled into the grotto by the nuns. Peter and the two Rogers left our tour here on the 21st June. John and I continued. My prayers for his gout were answered ( or was it that stuff from the pharmacy? ) and we caught the train to Toulous.


We planned to overnight in Toulous and then ride The Canal du Midi all the way to Agde. With this in mind we checked into a two star hotel close to the railway station only realizing when we ventured out for our evening meal at we were in what seemed to be a red light district. There was a ' Private Club ' just across the road with black girls hanging out of windows clearly looking for business! The canal du Midi is some 240 Kilometres long. The real Tour de France would have done it in one day but we didn't want to compete and it took us four days, not all of it on the canal as long sections were difficult to cycle with tree roots, rocks and uneven ground. We stayed at Castelnaudary where the site manager Karim spoke perfect English having worked at The Red Lion Hotel in Burnsall, Yorkshire. he was amazed that I knew it and I was amazed he knew Osmotherley where I had my business for ten years! Then to Carcassonne with it's amazing old city high above the new town, see photo below. That night I watched Spain beat France in the camp bar. Lots of glum French faces. Spain went on to win the European cup. Next day on to Pouzols Minervois ( off the canal ) and finally to Villneuve les Beziers almost at the end of the canal. Leaving the canal at Agde we cycled to Frontignan via Sete where we had a couple of days lazing by The Med.

Drum Band at Toulouse

We had unbroken sunshine since leaving Toulous so we enjoyed swimming very much. I left John here as he was due to return to England from Montpellier on the 1st July and cycled on to Pinet to stay with my brother Tony and his wife Erna. It was a strange tour this year and we all agreed in retrospect that all in all we prefered the mountains even though the cycling is much harder. The question is will we be strong enough to tackle them next year? Well if Bradley Wiggins can do it!

Canal du Midi.

The Old City. Carcassonne

Tour de France 2012. The Gerry Active Team.

The Gerry Active 2012 Tour de France starts on Tuesday. There will be five of us this year and as you can see from the photo of four previous participants, there will be no sprint finish!

This will be my fourth year with my good friends John, Peter, Roger and a friend of Roger's I have still to meet.

This is a fantastic retreat from the complexities of modern life and domestic responsibilities.Dropping the misery of the news and current events, information overload, computers, tweets, social networks and texts this is a great opportunity to open up to the big picture, what is important in life, reevaluate one's future direction etc. Less is definitely more! We have four weeks of gentle cycling and camping followed for me by another two weeks based at my brothers residence near Montpellier. Our route takes us from Saintes down the west coast and then to Lourdes where some catch the bus home. John and I then continue to Montpellier. We don't have a fixed route or itinerary and we may stumble across local fetes such as the one pictured in St. Ambroix last year. I am looking forward to it and no doubt after six weeks camping will look forward again to a comfortable bed!