The Ross of Mull

24/03/10

I am back from a really good time on Mull. I had uninterrupted sun and blue sky. I walked on some fabulous beaches |Kintra, Ardlanash Bay, Uisken, Fidden and the huge bay on the west coast of Iona, however my favourite was Carsaig - a magical place.
It was so good to get such an intense reminder of the roots of so much of my work. All those things I think I remember with clarity but when Im "in" the landscape it is so intense. The colour of the sea over clear sand, the patches of light illuminating silver sea, the jewel like streams that carve through sand and the spectacle of a cold starry night.And the beauty of the edges – between sea and sky, sea and beach, water and san, water and rock.
I was reminded of a quote I used to use in reference to mywork – being on the beach at Carsaig I remembered its potency
"The small figures against the vast rock with the sea behind. All the complex wires of life were stripped out and he could see the structure of life. Nothing but rock and sea, the tiny figures of humans and animals against them for a brief time".

E. Annie Proulx -- from "The Shipping News"

I will try to post up thoughts and “sketches” here as the work develops – there is a date for an exhibition opening on the 14th July 2010 and as yet nothing exists only a few scraps of material gathered on Mull and a few bad drawings and notes in a sketchbook.
Watch this space
Here you can see some images I made for my own reference -
http://www.flickr.com/photos/43625184@N08/sets/72157623619178202/show/
The snowy mountains were on the journey to Oban