Charles Simpson: Painting the Light

The more years I have been painting, the more I seem to be fascinated by painting light. I am perhaps now less concerned with depicting particular landmarks or topographical feaures and more with the effects of light on sea, sky and land, and particularly on Scotland’s north west coast. The light here, as many others have observed, is rather special for some reason – though I have enountered light of a similar nature in Venice and Cornwall.

Of course the light in Scotland is so weather dependent and by nature fickle and changeable. The west coast is especially susceptible to inclement weather with dramatic and sudden changes. For the painter this can be frustrating as well as hugely rewarding. Bunacaimbe between Arisaig and Malaig is a regular destination with my small touring caravan. On a week there in June I barely saw any suitable light and left early with little if any material. In the autumn on my way to Bunacaimbe I had to sit out a storm in Glen Nevis campsite. After four days I made the short drive out to the coast and experienced one of the most dramatic afternoons where dark clouds rolled in over Eigg and Rum and the sometimes dazzling light changed continuously.

The paintings in this exhibition are derived from travels during the last couple of years including trips to the Arisaig coast and Sanna in Ardnamurchan. I also returned to Gairloch in Wester Ross and reaped the benefits of some windy and changeable weather including a walk to Redpoint. It had been some years since I had painted this area though I had passed through on some occasions but the weather had not been sympathetic. In fact this was the first time in ten years that I had managed back to Redpoint. There are also a handful of paintings around my home in the Scottish Borders.