Ian and painting........
Ian and Simone have lived in Wester Ross since September 1989 when they 'emigrated' from the English Lake District.
Ian Nelson
the reluctant artist | Initially Ian trained at Durham University in the Department of Architecture and practiced until 1986 as an Architect. He always had a strong urge to paint.
Maybe this can be said of many architects whose creative instinct becomes bogged down in minutiae like the hinges on classroom doors!
So he attended courses at the local College of Art at Middlesbrough It wasn't, however until after he moved to the Lake district having given up architecture and where he re-married that he finally had time to put paint on paper. Ian sometimes uses ink and guache in his paintings too, in order to achieve some of the strong colours and effects he desires |
As soon as he allowed his pictures to go on sale in the Lake District they sold. But Ian knew he wanted to paint the wonderfully dramatic landscapes that the scenery in Scotland offered rather than the very pretty and popular Lakeland views that there were already extensively covered by many well known Lakeland Artists...
One of the reasons therefore for moving to Wester Ross was to give Ian the opportunity to depict these landscapes. He soon found that his style worked well with the tremendous variety of weather conditions that prevail here! His architectural background allows his depiction of traditional croft houses in the landscape to be perfectly captured. Sadly the locals prefer modern housing and the traditional narrow croft house design does not extend very sympathetically nor is it too practical for modern day living. The newer houses do not have the same emotive effect on the viewer and certainly are not therefore often featured in Ian's watercolours as a result.
Sea View overlooking Little Loch Broom
From arriving here in September 1989, not too sure of quite what we would do, our lives are now organised into three separate tranches. For the first three or four months Ian was painting in anticipation of the tourist season which gets going rather slowly from the beginning of April. Once under way he finds time is taken up servicing his print outlets in the area, as he signs, mounts and packages each one himself. They are to be found at Inverewe Gardens, Carron Restaurant, and Creative Designs (Aida's new shop). Although Aida and Carron Pottery and Gallery (adjacent to the Restaurant) sell his originals, by June there are rarely many left. He then struggles to produce more original paintings before the season comes to a close at the end of October. Nothing comes easy!
The Artist's Studio