I have just spent a wonderful week on the Isle of May in the Firth of Forth, walking, watching, drawing and absorbing the rhythm of life on the island. Predictably the weather was changeable and there were moments of battling the wind as paper and drawing board threatened to blow away or having to dry out a sodden sketchbook by the stove. But it meant seeing so many different facets of the island as sea spume swirled around the cliffs at Altarstanes Harbour, the magical appearance of vast numbers of puffins from the gloom of a murky morning or shags preening and glistening in the sunshine.
I had a fabulous day out drawing the Black Spout waterfalls at Pitlochry last week. The sun was shining, the birds were singing, it was actually warm enough that my hands didn't go blue working without gloves on! Here are a couple of the drawings, really enjoying the play of light on still pools or foaming, rushing torrents and some lovely rock forms.
A few quick sketches from my travels around Dumfries and Galloway on a glorious frosty and sunny morning in February.
And drawings in ink of some fantastic tree forms. I really enjoyed getting back to basics making these, restricting myself to working purely in black and white with one brush and a twig. Its always a pleasure spending a few hours outside, getting completely absorbed in a subject and thinking of nothing else but what the next mark will be.
A recent collagraph I've been working on after spending many happy hours watching the cormorants and gannets diving off Waternish Point on Skye earlier this year. This is a working proof yet to be editioned but I think its just about ready to go. I really love those rich, velvety blacks full of texture which collagraph can achieve.
And some fresh inspiration from a recent trip into the Cairngorms just in time for the first serious snowfall of the year. The walk up was eerily misty but once in the bowl of the corrie it suddenly began to lift, revealing spectacular black rocky outcrops and snow filled gullies.
Another new linocut fresh off the press, Sea Campion are one of my favourite flowers clinging to tiny scraps of turf in among the rocks at the bottom of my parents croft on Skye. The delicate white petals and subtle veins somehow withstand the battering they receive from the elements and always seem to have a tangle of twines, interesting flotsam and jetsam intertwining with their roots.
A selection of work ranging across paintings, drawings and prints is currently on display at SNH Battleby and open to the public. To avoid disappointment please telephone in advance to ensure your visit doesn't coincide with any large conferences which may make viewing difficult. https://www.facebook.com/ScottishNaturalHeritage
