Monday 11 April 2016

Last winter trip of the season

The weekend of the 18th of March we had booked ourselves on one of the ski club (ESTC) meets at Laggan, south of Newtonmore, in The Cabin, one of Edinburgh JMCS huts. It had been quite warm recently so most snow had already disappeared. Well, at least on the east side where we live but The Cairngorms had still plenty!

On Saturday early morning we started at Cairngorm upper car park and skinned up Fiacaill a' Choire Chais. The weather forecast gave us negligible wind but very thick, low cloud. We were hoping that if we got high enough we would be above it. And we were right because when we approached the steep bit of the ridge, we could see the sun appearing. A few steps more and we were witness of a beautiful cloud inversion in the valley.


Skinning up Fiacaill a' Choire Chais through clouds ©Fenfolio2016


Skinning up Fiacaill a' Choire Chais through clouds ©Fenfolio2016


Above cloud inversion ©Fenfolio2016


Skinning up Fiacaill a' Choire Chais in spring weather ©Fenfolio2016


Skinning up the steepest bit of Fiacaill a' Choire Chais  ©Fenfolio2016

After we took in the stunning scenery and soaked up some vitamin D, we headed towards Cairn Lochan, back into the thick cloud. It was constantly changing so it didn't last long until the sun was back again. Initially we planned to skin further to Ben Macdui but most of us preferred to ski down the very appealing slopes here. The snow on our first run back to the saddle at Coire Cais was so good that we did this a few times!

Taking in the views towards Ben Macdui ©Fenfolio2016


Making our way to Cairn Lochan ©Fenfolio2016


Making our way to Cairn Lochan ©Fenfolio2016


View from Cairn Lochan ©Fenfolio2016

Then we skied down Coire Raibert and skinned up the top of Cairngorm, skiing downhill on the groomed slopes back to the carpark. Down here there was not much snow left so we really had to circumnavigate carefully around the heather. Luckily the Fiacaill ridge poma was not open and it still had lots of snow so we had the opportunity to ski down here. Again, the snow quality was fantastic so I went first showing the 9 guys how you really ski, haha!! It was the perfect last run of the season.

On Sunday, we made a walk to A'Mharconaich, one of the mountains along the Drumochter Pass. Although I could still feel my muscles from the day before, it was great to be out again and walking through the snow patches.

It has been a fantastic winter season. Now it's time for other sports like cycling and sea kayaking in hopefully some decent summer weather!


Walking up to A'Mharconaich ©Fenfolio2016


Descending from A'Mharconaich ©Fenfolio2016


Me being happy! ©Fenfolio2016

Saturday 2 April 2016

Artistic Explorations: Papercutting (1)

Recently I added a new art medium to my palette; papercutting. During a 4-week workshop run by artist Anna Shirron, I have been working on an A1 sized cartridge paper, carefully cutting out sections with a scalpel knife to create a design. Once I figured out that certain sections shouldn't be cut away to keep the design strong, I really enjoyed the meditative process. The technique is very effective, even with simple designs and the results are striking.

For my design I chose various flowers such as cow parsley and teasels, inspired by printmaker artist Angie Lewin.

Angie Lewin print


Angie Lewin print

This is my papercutting (A1 size) with a black paper as background.

Floral papercut with black paper as background
©Fenfolio2016

Floral papercut close-up ©Fenfolio2016


Floral papercut close-up ©Fenfolio2016

We had so much fun just taking photos of our artwork and using the light source to create various patterns on the wall! I'm already thinking of using this technique to create a new lampshade at home.

Floral papercut silhouette ©Fenfolio2016

After the workshop we put all our work in front of windows as part of the exhibition at Woodend Barn. This was the trickiest bit of all! It really looks fab and we already received a lot of feedback.

Floral papercut displayed in front of window
©Fenfolio2016

Exhibition papercut artwork participants ©Fenfolio2016


Exhibition papercut artwork participants ©Fenfolio2016


Exhibition papercut artwork participants ©Fenfolio2016

Papercut artwork by Elaine Reid ©Fenfolio2016


Papercut artwork by Chloe Wilson ©Fenfolio2016

Papercut artwork by Leslie Stewart©Fenfolio2016

Papercut artwork by Leslie Stewart ©Fenfolio2016

Papercut artwork by Claudia Stumpp ©Fenfolio2016

Papercut artwork by Ellie Rattenbury ©Fenfolio2016