This is always a good and a bad time. It's good because the work at the canvas you've been painting is done, and for a moment you can catch your breath, maybe stay in bed and sleep instead of stay up late painting, and wake up feeling rested.
Bad (but not really), the next canvas is already calling and you must clear your mind of one set of tools and concepts and move to filling it up with new ones. It's not really fair to call this a bad thing. It isn't really, if it was I wouldn't keep coming back. It's more like a deep breath before diving deep into another pool.
As you can tell by the pictures above, I've completed my work for the Moray Chamber of Commerce painting. This is a very important piece for me. It's my first statement of intent, if you like. Or, let's call it a really fancy business card. The painting will presented for auction at a Chamber organised Annual Business Awards Dinner. For an artist starting out, it's redundant to mention how important this exposure could be. Local businesses are potentially very important customers. Local Hotels, Cafe's, even Property Developers, right down to the other small businesses who might want to collaborate with me.
I chose this view for a number of reasons. It's got gorgeous light, movement, and colour. It also has a certain poignancy, given that it features the old Spey Bay Hotel, which lies demolished as the area is redeveloped. It struck a chord with me, as sometimes things that have endured for a seemingly long time, and have garnered a deep connection with an area, can and will subside in the face of time and progression. In a similar way to my last career, it can be taken for granted that it will always be there. I had been a little sad when I'd passed the old Hotel, and saw it's partial reduction to component stones and beams. It was a fairly pretty building and had a history worthy of note. But in order for somewhere to stay alive, change is inevitable. And so, I thought what better subject could there be.