"GIRL PAT"

This is just to let you know that I am still in the land of the of the living and painting production.  Shown above is my version of the Fraserburgh dual purpose fishing vessel "Girl Pat", rigged for drift-net fishing, approaching Lerwick harbour, with the Bressay Lighthouse coming up to starboard.  This is sheer nostalgia for me, evoking a summer's morning in the 1950s and early 1960s, when scores of these vessels took part in the herring fishery.  Although I was never actually off at the drift-net fishing, I can remember the sights, sounds, and in particular the smell of a busy morning at Lerwick fishmarket, with boats tightly crammed into the pier, landing the silver darlings in baskets onto trucks and bogeys for the short journey to the fishmerchants and curers' stations.

I received good news on Friday, from the Economic Development Unit of Shetland Islands Council, that my exhibition grant application was successful.  This means that my wallet is now going to develop a serious leak, as I make the purchases which I have been putting off until I received the news about the grant.

I've almost finished a painting  of another fishing vessel from the same period as the "Girl Pat".  This is the Aberdeen trawler "Leswood", heading out of lerwick in less summery conditions.  More of that later in the week.  Have a nice one!