The Moment of Change
As an artist, there are moments in your career when you feel a profound shift in your work—when something clicks, and you realise that the art you’re creating is no longer the same. This is exactly what happened with my latest lighthouse paintings, which were recently delivered to Ballater Gallery. Looking at them now, I believe these works are my best yet, but what stands out most to me isn’t just the finished product. It’s the journey I took to get here.
Seeking New Inspiration
In June of 2024, I felt it was time for a new source of inspiration. After years of painting skies and seas dominated by rich Prussian blues, I started to feel a yearning for something different. I wanted to step out of my comfort zone and explore new landscapes that could challenge and refine my artistic vision. After much thought, I knew exactly where to go: Orkney.
Why Orkney?
Orkney is a place that has long been celebrated for its natural beauty and unique light, and I have always heard that many artists and poets have found it to be a deeply inspiring place. What intrigued me most was the idea of its “special light” and how it changes with the weather, time of day and season. Orkney’s rugged, windswept landscapes, with their quiet solitude and vast skies, have captivated many before me—and now, they were calling to me as well.
The Impact of Orkney’s Light
Upon arriving, it didn’t take long for me to see how different this place was from anywhere else I’d been. The soft, ethereal quality of Orkney’s light shifted my perspective, albeit without my realising it at the time. I’d come to associate the intense, vibrant hues of Prussian blue with the sea and sky. But here, I found something new and more muted, more natural: an expansive range of greys that seemed to embrace the land, sky and sea in a way that felt more intimate. The colours weren’t just what I saw—they were how I felt, a reflection of the atmosphere itself.
A Subtle Shift in Palette
This shift in palette is something I hadn’t consciously planned, but it emerged as I spent more time on the island, sketching and photographing lighthouses and the coastal landscape, as violent winds constantly roared around me and the rain poured down almost all of the time. The greys in the sky, the soft blues in the water, the shifting clouds—all seemed to whisper to me to pare things back, to allow nature to be the star. In contrast to the bold blues of my previous work, these new paintings feel quieter, more contemplative and more grounded. That’s not to say I won’t ever use Prussian blue again, but right now I am enjoying the serenity of working with this new palette.
Unaware of the Change
What is most exciting to me is that I wasn’t even aware that this change was happening until it was already underway. It’s as if the spirit of Orkney, with its elusive light and rugged beauty, had gently guided me toward a new phase in my artistic journey—one that has already had a profound impact on how I view and represent the world around me (as can be seen in the above painting Scurdie Ness, Montrose, also at Ballater Gallery).
A New Chapter in My Work
These two new lighthouse paintings—my most recent works—mark the beginning of this new chapter. And although I am proud of these paintings and excited by the new direction of my work, I know there’s still so much more to explore and achieve. Orkney has not only inspired these paintings but has also sparked a deeper understanding of my own personal and artistic relationship with light, landscape and the subtle yet powerful shifts that occur in the natural world … and I can’t wait to see where I go from here!
Looking Ahead
As always, I’m excited to continue sharing my journey with you.
Thank you for joining me on this wee adventure—both through my art and the landscapes that continue to inspire it!
In the meantime, keep your eyes peeled for more exciting news about a very special commission I’ve been working on recently. I can’t wait to share more about all of that with you very soon!
This is the final week of my solo show Paintings & Prints From Scotland To The Moon at Inverness Creative Academy.
