Last night I went to a private view at the Resipole Studios, located on the shores of Loch Sunart a few miles north of Strontian, on the road which takes you either to the Ardnamurchan peninsula or on up to Loch Ailort and the road to Mallaig.
The paintings I went to see specifically, were by an artist from Lochaber, called Anna Raven, who had spent a month doing a residency on Iona last November. She was there for some of the severest weather of last winter, sleeping in a shepherd’s hut and either working outside, if the weather allowed, or in an old byre. I enjoyed following the blog she wrote while she was there, which told the story of the progress of her work there as well as the story of her adaption to island life. Her work reflects the storms and experiencing ‘life on the edge’; the wonderful colours of stormy seas there which are so different to the colours of the stormy seas here, with a great sense of movement and energy.
After the exhibition a sunset drive back along Loch Sunart and on to Ardgour to enjoy a delicious dinner in great company (check out the fancy ice cream sundaes we had for pudding) and a wonderfully comfortable bed for the night.
I highly recommend a visit to Anna’s show if you have some time to spare this month. It is on for 6 weeks. It is easily possible to go to the Resipole Studios as a day trip from Lochaline round to Kilchoan and back to Mull. The ancient Sunart oak woods are worth exploring at the same time, and you can have lunch at the wood chip powered community cafe in Acharacle!
The drive back home this morning via the Lochaline ferry was a sunny one with strong blue skies. I got home to find Farmer back from his morning lambing activities, having managed to turn eggs into bread. This delicious sour dough loaf was traded with Jeanette from Ballygown for our surplus eggs!
