Wednesday

The light was very bad on Monday and Tuesday, so I was unable to carry out any detailed artwork. As the rain saturated these islands, I concentrated on applying broad brushwork to two seascapes with which I have been dissatisfied ever since I created them three or four years ago. The sea is now more plausible than it was, although I can't guarantee that I won't get annoyed with it again at some future date.

Each sea-wave has to be constructed carefully, tying in properly with the one in front of it and the one coming after. It all has to fit, and form a moving organic whole, bearing in mind the weather conditions I am trying to create. If ever I write an autobiography, I'm going to call it "Making Waves"!

Today, with the better light, I have been doing some detailed work on the first of the pictures which are intended for the Duff House exhibition next year. The event is going to be a nostalgic look at the fishing fleets, from the towns and villages of the Moray Firth, which worked the Shetland grounds, drift-netting for herring in the summer months and seine-netting for white-fish for the rest of the year. These were the vessels which first fired my enthusiasm for all things nautical in my youth, and which have fascinated and inspired me ever since.