Landscape Painter, Life Writer, occasional Nomad in perpetual pursuit of a dream
We sat on the grass verges outside our house in summer, eating clover flowers. Purple or white, they all tasted sweet, though Mum was concerned: ‘A dog may have peed on them!’ she’d proclaim. She never stopped us, though. We’d make daisy chains, as well, late into the evening, our tiny fingernails making slits the …
The sun is out, the sea is calm and primroses nestle beneath the birches: it’s that time of year again. So why am I not on my kayak on a beautiful Sunday? I keep glancing outside, and I will get there, but there is a lot of organising to do for my upcoming sketching holidays. …
My plan worked: Escape at the beginning of March, stay a month, then return once spring has arrived. Okay, it might not have been as well thought-out as that, but that’s more or less what happened. Apart from arriving back to an overwhelming mountain of work (in terms of missed course work, new assignments, paintings …
What a difference a day makes. This is how I always think of February on the West Coast: Crisp, clear and bright. Frosty mornings with a hint of warmth in the sun, almost coats-off weather in the middle of the day. February hasn’t really played the game this year with a succession of storms, named …
Another year over… and a new one just begun. And what food for thought it is. A monumental, life-changing decision has been reached, though not without the odd tear. I will share news as and when it happens, but there is a long way to go yet before we see any real movement. It’s been …
As I shiver under my plug-in, heated, faux-fur throw and write the last update of 2022, I am very glad to report that I will soon be shedding a layer or two and giving the storage heaters a well-earned break. Anyone who knows me will realise I don’t winter well, and the view from my …
At the most hectic time of the entire year – being so busy at the pottery as we strive to get everyone’s orders out in time for Christmas; organising watercolour card-making workshops for local learners; commissions to be executed and posted, and the inevitable social calendar in which I fail miserably to participate – I …
Last night the clocks went back, and while I’m always glad of the extra hour that gives me, it’s a depressing time of year; I’ll be coming home from work in the dark with no chance of a quick swim in the river or paddle in the kayak which I’d often look forward to during …
It seems like summer has finally arrived in the Highlands, and it’s certainly better late than never. Some of us had begun to sink into a closed-in, resigned kind of depression as if already curled up for a long winter hibernation, believing we had been bypassed this year in favour of just about everyone else …
