Gill Stewart Art

Name: Gill Stewart Art
Address: Lochgilphead, GB
Telephone: +447493514261
Rating: 4.8

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Gill Stewart Art

Artist || Abundant Florist || Stylist || Wreathmaker || Gardener || Forager Abundant Florist || Artist || Stylist || Wreathmaker || Gardener || Forager
(8)

07/12/2024

I have been making wreaths for as long as I can remember.
Here is a dried flower one in shades of white and faded Winter tones.
This one is for inside the cottage this year, because I am creating a White Christmas. Understated and simple . Everything made with natural ingredients.
I will be making country inspired outdoor ones too. Using berried Ivy , Noble fir from deep in the Forrest gathered by a very dear man.
Twiggy Birch and fallen lichened branches from today’s storm, studded with the tiniest hazel cones.
Cinnamon sticks and tiny fruits.
They will be finished with sumptuous velvet ribbon.

Pears, I could not be without pears at Christmas , both to paint and eat in various ways .
The very sight of a beautiful pear fills me with deep joy.
The painted ones here are Anjou pears. Their skin wears a soft Naples yellow with a hint of rosy blush. Divine .

Wreath making this week for The Archway gallery and one for my baby Greenhouse, wee studio shed and large studio shed .
Lots of paintings on the go too.
Felt rather festive yesterday when I popped into our local butcher and placed my Christmas order. Took me back to my childhood when my Mother placed all her orders in the local shops.
In those days everything was seasonal. So to see Tangerines arrive in the greengrocer was always a delight!
Boxes of Turkish Delight and chocolate Brazils. Martin’s glacé too.
Fresh evergreen wreaths by the door. Potted bulbs to be taken home or given as Christmas present. The scent has never left me of the fresh greenery and Christmas scents from within.
The floor was sawdust and everything was arranged in beautiful boxes and sacks of hessian.
Even as a small child I noticed interiors both home and shops .
It’s little wonder a lot of my life was spent In floristry and styling events . I think it began back then.

Sadly, our world has become less attuned to the natural flow of the seasons .
I believe so much wonder has been lost.
I hope there is a slow awakening the the things of nature and sustainable living .

Enjoy your weekend. Hope you are safe from the storm 🤍🕊️🎄

04/12/2024

A day of silver grey clouds . The light diffused in monochrome. As it often is in Winter.
Everything is still and quiet . A lacklustre you could say…yet

The backdrop of an uncluttered landscape allows one to think. To stop on the bridge and watch the water flow as it has done for years. Our life is temporal .
I stood and watched the river patterns today in harmony with the flow of the river , and I thought “ this is how it should be”

03/12/2024

This time last year …
A lot has happened.
The greatest joy is more mobility after my accident.
It has taken a long time . Four years of a lot of pain, therapy and anguish.
But here I am happy and healthy having learned so much through hardship.
One thing I would say. “ Don’t resist the things that come your way “
Embrace them, because in the midst is learning and riches

02/12/2024

A day of days…

December 2nd… glorious and beautiful.
A sky of soft ice, sea and river molten and cool .

A funeral to attend …A lovely lady and neighbour only 32 days older than myself.

A reason to think on the power of a day.
That each day is given.
What do we do with this God given gift?

Complaint can often be our cry. It is the human way.
It is time to cast that aside.
In life there will always be reasons to complain .
If only we could see these moments as opportunities. To have a listening ear to what might be the teacher of our soul.
Lessons from times of sorrow are often deeper, bringing positive changes to our lives than times of joy.
Yes, we welcome joy, but least not shy from the shadows of teaching that eventually shines forth light

01/12/2024

December 1st… home from visiting family.

We step into the month of reflection and hope for the future.

As the garden sleeps, in some respects so do we.
A time to embrace quieter times .
A time for reading and fires .
A time to search our soul for hopes and dreams for a new year looming.
A beautiful time to wipe the slate clean from whatever it may hold .
It’s that easy.
An attitude of mind .
It truly can be embraced .
But must be practiced .
Be kind to yourself as you embrace the subterranean rivers of your being .
This coming year can be a year of beautiful opportunity.
Embrace it .

With love,
Gill 🤍🕊️

30/11/2024

The season of Comfort and Joy…

The last evening in November. A month of shifting lights filled with wildlife and promise.
The months which precedes the quieter cosy of December.
Candles and kindling stored. Bird seed aplenty.
Bulbs still to be planted, then a time to hunker.
Fire lit with an early rise so the slow dawn arising can be embraced with a cup of tea in hand breathing the chilly Winter air.

December is a month for candlelight and fires, both inside and out .
A month to read.
Have you got your reading list ready?
Recent reads of mine I can highly recommend recommend are:
Raising Hare by Chloe Dalton

Windswept by
Love of Country by Madeline Bunting
The Last Wilderness by Neil Ansell

I have so enjoyed and been profoundly moved by each read.

Some re reads I have on my list too, but they can wait for another post.

Have a gentle and lovely Saturday evening and a beautiful Sunday.

With love,
Gill 🤍🕊️

28/11/2024

Days of milky skies with whispers of soft grey. Dawn and sunset singed with soft fire . The tones of fading embers crackling in the grate.

Jack Frost painting his Winter magic as dusk falls. Winter walks have a crispness underfoot as day fades away .
Dawn wearing a robe sparkling with the tiniest diamonds . The hills of the Glen wrapping the fields with a soft velvet cloak of warm rubies, Amber and smoky quartz .

A morning to celebrate the birth of a new day . My stove is lit . The birds are fed.
Bird bath to de frost
A day of painting ahead …

Wishing you all a wonderful day 🤍❄️

27/11/2024

Strange happenings at Kilmartin Museum

26/11/2024

Island of Mull November 2024.
An annual sojourn to this magical isle…the seat of Maclean .

A creative retreat to paint and write. One we take time for each year.
Here’s a short paragraph of something I am working on.

The Winter is as cold as the granite of the mountain, which stands looming behind the cottage. A small Croft of bygone years. The black mount with a deep sense of permanence and wrapped in stories looks to the storm as though challenging the tumbling pillows of cloud weighted heavily with rain skudding to shore from the west.
Menacing leaden clouds gathering speed.
Its face as black as liquorice, razor sharp edges glinting like quicksilver as the light of the storm flashes glimpses of a formidable cloak.
Sèona gathered her shawl around her shoulders and shuddered as she looked to the storm. The mountain echoing many of her thoughts.
Looking out to sea, a steely grey with no hint of welcome, she thought about the journey that led her here.
A tangled weave of stories, many yet to unfold. The secrets and shame of the past slowly being revealed. What is brought to the light becomes light.
Her glance remains on this remote and hostile shore, yet of extraordinary beauty that stirred the soul and said ‘I am home’
At one with the elements of this place.

Some scribbles which may remain or may become embers in the fire…

23/11/2024

From the fire of Autumn to the quiet duns of early Winter, I shake the dark cloak of Covid.

Mull was full of fire and vibrant molten energy . Paints flowed. My spirit soared.
Even Covid could not quieten the palpable energy.
On days when I couldn’t venture out we had a glass wall I could sit, whereby I still felt immersed in the elements. I indeed felt elemental, in harmony with nature.

I knew this creative retreat was to be special, I didn’t know why, but I felt it.
I didn’t expect illness, but things work in mysterious ways, the wonders to perform.

I have rarely been so energised .
I have so much work I have brought home.
A winter of creativity to look forward to.

On arriving home and opening the garden door, Winter had descended. It said hello in shades of soft gold , deep earthy browns , fading stems flicked with a shimmer of light.
The moon hovers in all its early Winter glory. A Celtic moon , the month of Reed…a Hunters moon

The days ahead are promising.
Today, was a special day .
Gareth and Paul came for lunch and to deliver some garden treasure .
What a beautiful time we had. Gypsy was in her element. She tells me they are her favourites.
Days to be thankful for .

With love,
Gill 🤍🕊️

11/11/2024

Dusk…the twilight hour on the shore.

Rafts of Oystercatchers and skeins of geese celebrated the last of the day. Their sounds were joyous and full of vibrant life.
Fully present. Fully alive…
A lesson of life for us all from the creatures of the wild 🤍🕊️

09/11/2024

Just a ‘wee hoose’ to set in the hill, and I’m done.

Days of milky skies and misty shores .
Tumbled seaweed and beach patterns drawn with tiny shards of ancient sea coal.
The ebb and flow drawing chevrons , swirls and soft sea sprays of coal dust.
Time and tide waiteth for no man…these works only in existence for a glimpse of time., before the shore is set clean again . The blank canvas of nature awaits.

I have walked this shore for 47 years . I first came aged 19 in search of truth and beauty. My soul needed healing…
Mull has been medicine ever since.
I have known it through all stages of life. The joys, the sorrows, the wonderments of life.
Still, as I set my first footprint on these silver white sands of seashell it’s like my first encounter. The awe and wonder never fades…

06/11/2024

Nothingness….where you find everything

05/11/2024

The quiet moments …

Mull- November- 2024

The moody days along with all the other surprises is why I return each year…47 years on

04/11/2024

A place which has been a constant in my life since teens.
It has seen me through many ups and downs m.
The disappointments of life along with the joys and sorrows.
Each being important in the weaving of character, and ultimately patience and hope.

Here I am in ‘my happy place’ as they say nowadays.
Fitting too that I am wearing stripes … I have loved stripes , checks and dots for as long as I can remember.
Every shade of blue being a favourite too.

Hope you all have a blessed week .
Gill 🤍🕊️

30/10/2024

In the Lee…Sèonaid’s cottage.

A painting relating to a book I am writing. Whether it is ever finished, I do not know.
My Gaelic birth name entitles the painting.
The book…A life never lived.
From abandonment in the late fifties to adoption into a new life… currents converging over a lifetime of understanding…

A body of work aside from my usual work at this time.
Mull will be explorative in everyday painting.
This series of paintings will be explored in early morning hours before daybreak, a personal journey…
Mull being the convergent waters. A place of heritage. A place drawn to by forces we do not fully understand…

28/10/2024

These last weeks I have gone out every day to walk for two hours, sometimes three.
I have immersed myself in the fading landscape as Autumn sings her song.
The joy of the season, the salt marshes teeming with wildlife, the hills beyond and the woodlands whispering to the deep dark wood of my soul.
A moment of oneness. Of knowing.
A deep understanding of the centuries, embracing the spirit of land and sea.

These experiences have crept into the fibre of my being like the tide gently coming in until only water is to be seen from the wet toes of my boots. A liminal space…
My painting table ebbs and flows with the colours that have crept into my being.
No paint straight from the paint tubes, but each colour mixed by my hand as I let what is within flow on to canvas or board.

A misty rainy day, all leaves have fallen from the old Elm at the bottom of the garden.
My painting table ebbs table calls…

Have a wonderful week everyone
With love,
Gill 🤎🍂✨

27/10/2024

Sunday, October 27th…

The clocks have gone back , heralding the journey into the deep sleep of Winter.
The garden still with a subtle patchwork of colour sewn together with the buff tones of a season fading.

My Tulip bulbs have arrived. I thought I would embrace a circus this coming Spring . So all the clowns have arrived.
A planting job for this week before our painting retreat.
No Fritillaries this year because the mice ate every last one last year.
Strangely there are a couple of pots that keep coming. Hope they do again.

The last week in October. The last Sunday in the cottage until mid November.
By that time the darkness will be gently drawing its curtain.
This Sunday will be the last of the year in this light. The gentle routines of Winter will be slipped on like a pair of comfy slippers on our homecoming.

Today, I will celebrate the light and atmosphere by immersing myself in painting . My palette has all the tones of this photograph from an earlier walk. First, a walk along the Crinan canal looking west and out to the Hebridean Islands . One of which we take a giants step over to this Friday.
Sunday next week we will be there. I wonder what will be on the painting table.

Have a peaceful Sunday.
With love,
Gill 🍂🤎✨

Address

Lochgilphead

Telephone

+447493514261

Website

http://lovedovestudio.com/

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