In the early part of an artist’s career, we are always wondering what should we paint, so we choose the topics that inspire us. I just love snow scenes, but then as a trained gardener, I find plenty attractive flowers to paint, and now with a plot on an allotment site there is plenty ramshackle sheds and fences, water butts and crops to paint. As a Scotsman I love painting our lochs and mountains, so I do numerous trips to Glencoe and Isle of Skye and bring back photos to work from.Then as a Dundonian I find plenty places to capture on canvas all around the town. However once we decide on a topic we need to show it in a variety of views. Thus I have painted 14 Cape Gooseberries, about 15 views around Loch Ard, 20 orchids, 20 Dundee paintings and half a dozen Forfar Lochs, and well over 100 snow scenes.

The Forfar Loch below is still on show in the Winter Exhibition with Dundee Art Society in Roseangle Gallery, but ends tomorrow Saturday 10th December. The two latest views of Arthurs Plot are now on show in my studio.

20221204 125708 Festive art in my studio

Christmas Exhibitions in Dundee

As we head towards the festive season, we artists join in Christmas Exhibitions, so if you get the chance, please drop into them, and see some brilliant new art from Dundee's artists. There is a charity exhibition for Cancer Research in the Vision Building, 20 Greenmarket from 25 to 27 November, open 10am till 8pm, but finishes at 4pm on Sunday then Dundee Art Society is holding their winter exhibition in their Roseangle Gallery from 3rd to 10th December.Open from 11am to 4pm.

Lady in Red visits Dundee

Lady in Red visits Dundee

 

I was born in Dundee, but moved south for 30 odd years following my horticultural career before returning to my home city as an artist. We are constantly seeking new ideas to paint and there are so many interesting places in and around Dundee that a new project of showing the best of my home town on canvas was born. The link for all these paintings was my Lady in Red as she went for walks in the town center, under the River Tay rail bridge, did some shopping, relaxed in the City Square and at McManus Gallery then ended the evening with a social night out. Other paintings of my Lady in Red is as the artist model in the studio, but still dressed in red.

Lady in Red at McManus Gallery

Lady in Red in the Rain

Lady in Red visits Ann Summers

Lady in Red in town center

Lady in Red Relaxing in City Square

Lady in Red has a Night Out

Evening art class in Dundee

The Autumn Art Class is starting on Monday 26th September 2022 at 7pm in John's studio in Dundee. New students of any age and artistic ability welcome. Students paintings can be seen on the internet on John's art class page.

Spring Flowers and Scottish paintings

Art classes in Dundee

John is starting a new ten week session of art classes in his Dundee Studio starting 2nd May. Classes run from 7 to 9 pm with a break at 8pm for tea a biscuit and a blether. Please get in touch if you wish to enroll. Check out my website art class page

for more information.

Spring Flowers

As we are now in April the garden flowers start with Camellias, daffodils, Anemone blanda and the first early tulips Scarlet Baby and Red Emperor. In another two weeks the garden will be a mass of tulips so please pop in to see the display opened up with Scotlands Garden Scheme

Looking for summer flowers

While waiting for winter to arrive I got on with several winter landscape paintings, but all from memory as there has been no snow anywhere near Dundee. However since we seem to be having another mild winter, (apart from several storms) I thought I would change ideas, so a summer scene on an allotment plot up at City Road Allotments, An Old Shed, was put on canvas size 36 x 24 inches.

Winter landscape paintings

Life can be hard for an artist that just loves to paint snow scenes and winter landscapes. We are in mid January, half way thru winter and there's nae sna. So to get motivated I pulled out a few older snow scenes and hung them up in the studio. Two of them are in ornate gold frames and the Templeton Old Railway Line got a fair bit of repainting to add warmth and strength to the colours. Now I can get on with the next winter landscape painting on a box canvas showing Alyth Den.

A Sunny January Day

Brilliant day today. Sun came out all day, and you could feel the heat, so had a day in the garden and allotment. January is the best time to prune the grape vines both outdoors and under glass. Cut back all shoots to one or two buds. The first crocus and aconite came into flower, and a red rose looked great in the sun. Seems no-one told him it was winter. Plenty fresh veg up at allotment including kale, leeks, sprouts, cabbage, swedes and Swiss chard. Pruned rasps, brambles and saskatoons and took wood up to skip for shredding. Some idiot lacking basic gardening knowledge dumped about twenty huge pots of compost. so I got two wheelbarrow loads for my compost heap. Anna has been busy in kitchen cooking baby beet and the last pumpkin which got sliced and roasted.

Art Classes in Dundee Winter session

The winter session of art classes in Dundee starts Monday 17th January 2022 at 7pm in my Studio. This session lasts for 12 weeks ending just before Easter. a few places still available so enrol now. Contact John to book a place.Classes run for two hours with a coffee break at 8pm. All subjects and media chosen by students with guidance from John.

Back to work after the festive holidays

Christmas and New Year have gone and its back to the day job at the easel. As we make an early start to the new year the paint brush has been very busy so I have several new works to show plus a few other older paintings that have been moderised with added colour. However we have had a few cold but sunny days so I spent some time in the garden transplanting shrubs, spring flowers and repairing fences blown down in the storms.