Arran Open Studios

I am Zabdi Keen and this is my final post in my Arran Open Studios Social Media takeover.
I did a carved wooden sign for the salamander stove company in exchange for a hobbit woodburning stove! They have it hanging on their office.

You can see one of the signs I carved for Roots of Arran at the viewpoint to the top of the Lamlash / Brodick hill. Take a walk to the community woodland - especially now walk the spiral and see the the bluebells before next spring.

I have some carvings at Easmor - One at the cafe and some down by the fairy pool past the micro Hydro station - If you ask Albert for the key to the hydro you can see some airbrushing mural that illustrates a fairy story. You can see a video here https://youtu.be/zD7octl929Q?si=ZfG7PnCYYdLzRoGJ

I mainly work to commission but I will also have some carvings and pictures available to purchase at my studio

Visit me at studio 20 in Kildonan
www.zabdikeen.com ...

I was enjoying the sunshine making a thatching test panel yesterday. It got so hot I went for a swim! I want to incorpoate my sculptures into natural built garden huts.

The Arran Visual arts exhibition is in Corrie hall today and tomorrow well worth a visit. I am trying to figure out a hut design that will incorporate the selkie sculpture I have done that is on display there.

I am part of the thatching crew for the Crannog centre a living museum at Loch Tay where I have been learning how to thatch. I scythed some water reed in the winter and am using that.

I have been developing the Kildonan castle forager trail ( the path that goes past the Wee gallery past Kildonan Castle to the shore) with the help of the Climate hub and other people. Planting fruit trees and bushes that folk can munch on as they walk. It took 75 hours of digging to clear the sludge from the pond to increase biodiversity. In this dry weather I can see I need to add more clay to the key outlet and to try to increase the water flow. I would like to create a water sculpture that will let the water drop into the pond to increase the amount of oxygen.

I tried to remove the gunnera plant as it is spreading but it hadn’t worked and I must admit the leaves look fantastic it’s like being in the Jurasic period.

I planted willow and hazel coppice here and at the Arran Land Initiative in Whiting Bay where I was helped by a couple of fairies! I have been harvesting and sharing basket willow twigs and have been weaving willow domes. I want to learn how to weave baskets next! So many things to learn and do! Life is fun!.

So you will occasionally see me working in my studio but normally you will find me hands in the dirt, boots on the ground weaving or carving something outside from the natural materials I find.

Zabdi Keen
Studio 20 ...

Hello I am Zabdi Keen and Im a sculptor . I have some sculpures on display at the Arran Visual Art exhibition in Coŕrie.

You can meet the Selkie and a cat as well as some others. There is a lot of fantastic artwork on display. Here I show some photos of how a carving develops from a block of wood using power tools then I move onto hand tools for the final work.

With the Selkie I carved all winter mostly using hand chisels. It’s on a beautiful 8 foot length of sycamore. The pillar at the Corrie hall is a great place to display it as you can see through the carving.

It is hard not to cut the wrong bit off when using the chainsaw so I make a little model in clay or plasticine to help guide me. ...

Welcome to this year’s new participants.
Nikki Harris, John Townsend, Jane Greenstreet, Jamie McNaught, Christine Walker , Estelle Manson.
Jerome Robertson will also be exhibiting his knitted and crocheted accessories with Lucy Cartledge in Studio number 1.
#arranopenstudios26 ...

Hi there! Another lovely day on Arran ☀️

Here’s part 2 of my posts this week.

Arran’s always been part of me. My parents met here, and I’ve been coming back most years since. It’s where I first got the chance to just wander off on my own. That free spirit here is what I’ve always loved.

It’s a fantastic place to live for an artist — it’s like living in a painting. I like to immerse myself in the locations and know them well before I can paint them.

I love the west coast light, whether it’s calm, moody, or wild. I try to catch that spirit I can feel in the sky. It changes fast, and the coastline never looks the same twice. From Arran up to Skye, Mull, Iona — it’s all the same pull for me.

Most of my work gets done in the studio. I’m a bit frantic when I paint — it’s chaos, and then suddenly the painting shows up. The weather and my mood both come through in it, whether I mean them to or not.

I paint mostly in oils on canvas and board, using palette knives and a blending brush. I do use watercolour too sometimes, usually when I run out of oil paints 😆

You’ll find me at Studio 6 this year — not 7 as I said in my first post — from 14th to 17th August.
Pop in for a blether if you’re around!

My next post I’ll be showing all my paintings around the island.

See more of my work at www.scott-macdonald.co.uk
Or find me on Instagram @smacdonald_art
#ArranOpenStudios #ArranArt #ScottishArtist #WestCoastArt #OilPainting PaletteKnifePainting Arran ScottishWestCoast Studio6 ScottishLandscape

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