Our first day took us right down to Rodel , South Harris from where we travelled east along the Golden road and back to Horgabost on the west coast for the night. I was looking forward to taking roads we had not yet travelled and i was not disappointed . In contrast to the vast sands and open spaces on the west coast the eastside gave us  low lying rocky outcrops ,tidal inlets and bays , sheltered by the minch and with an outlookout across the water to the Isle of Skye , the landscape offered something new around every turn but it was the shape of the rocks on the west side coast when we...

How could i visit Harris for inspiration without spending some time at Luskentyre sands . The colours here are incredible so too are the patterns made naturally in the sand , glistening streams and pools , turquoise seas and surrounding  salt marches , all sounds unbelievable right ? , overwhelmingly beautiful and a real challenge to represent artistically i did my best to sketch out some ideas before we took to the road and headed back past Tarbet and onto the island of Scalpay. The drive to the Scalpay bridge took us through some impressive mountain scenery , the suprise came as soon as...

Heading into north Harris today we travelled my favourite section of road , winding steeply down the mountainside overlooking seaforth Island and dropping into the river Sgaladail valley , its a fairground ride with an unbeatable view i was too busy oogling to capture in sketch but loch Seaforth offers many an opportunity for the artist and i caught a classic view from a convinient view point further down the route. Our next stop was Aline community woodland where we took to the walking paths to soak up the atmosphere . The restortive action of spending time in the woods is undeniable and...

Our day began in Aline woodlands Harris where we were shrouded in mist and unable to see much beyond our feet so we made a decision to head home to Bernera , refresh supplies and cross our fingers that the weather would improve ... and it did so off we went again. That afternoon we headed across to Uig as far south as the road will take you to our favourite place so far Mealista. Spending the afternoon here foraging the vast pebbled beach i found three different soft stone pigments to use for paint making , what a find that made my day. I took the chance to sketch the view across the water...

We began the northern part of the tour in stornoway where , inspired by the wonderful work i had seen in an exhibition by the painter Donald Smith i headed over to the harbour side of town to capture it's distinguishing colours , buildings and shapes before turning my attention to the shining boats and crossing lines of the full and bustling harbours pontoons.   Already seeing the makings of a vibrant , busy painting to represent the towns eclectic mix of buildings, styles and fishing heritage i made some sketches to refrence  my ideas for future use in the studio . From here we headed...

Tolsta today , we headed north with a huge storm cloud overhead that burst just as we arrived at the impressive sea stacks and sandy white bay of Garry beach , some rushed and dampened sketches later i sought shelter inside the van and after enjoying a warm cup of tea we headed a little further  up the road to the suprising and pituresque Garry bridge . Also known as 'the bridge to nowhere ' the bridge built by Lord leverhulme as part of a plan to build a new road to connect this part of the island to the Butt of lewis was never completed and only parts of the route and the concrete...

Wow , we spent the night at Eoropie beach and what a beautiful sunset . Once we had made our way through the vast and undulating sand dunes we were met by a long stretch of pristine coast with a bank of full and dramatic clouds hanging lazily across the horizon , each perfect detail  reflected back in the glossy wet sand and interupted only by the crashing of the waves onto the shore . To one end of the beach a rocky outcrop with an almost square hole carved right through it by the never ceasing crashing of the tide , to the other i found a bare cliff edge that hosted the most varied and...

The last few days have called for a weather intermission , we have been incredibly lucky so far but it has become very chilly and a little wet  just now so the last few locations of the tour are on hold until we get a good day again,  but iv'e taken to the studio to examine all my finds  and yes ... iv'e made some paint . 

I am completely delighted and somewhat overwhelmed by the variety of colours i have collected from around the island , i never imagined this would be the case because of the amount of extremly hard granite and quartz we have here but the edges of our coastline are...

The weather finally cleared and so we headed out to the Callanish stones on the west side of Lewis. A site of great historical importance this huge arrangement of neolithic standing stones makes a stark and impressive statement on the skyline as you approach the village of callanish. Planted deep into the earth on a ridge above the waters of Loch Roag the stones are belived to have been the focus of ritual activity during the bronze age and undoutedly since . Impressive as the main site is , it has now become a popular 'must see' on the islands tourist trail so i can't help but  find...