Muir is Tir ‘Land & Sea’ Residency

I have just returned home after a week at sea taking part in an art and sailing residency, exploring the coastlines of Lewis, Harris and the Shiant Isles. Along with five other artists, I spent the week painting and exploring on the beautiful sailing yacht Merlin, as part of the Muir is Tir (Land and Sea) residency with An Lanntair and Sail Britain.

We spent the week far from human habitation, with whales, dolphins, sea eagles and puffins for company. In the Outer Hebrides the weather is fast-changing so we fought through high winds and squalls, followed by glorious sunshine, rain and dramatic light-filled skies. We made our way south from Stornoway, exploring the many seal-filled sea lochs, and spent two days on the uninhabited Shiant Isles with skies full of puffins, razorbills and guillemots.

The eastern coastline of the Isle of Lewis is very different to the white sandy beaches and more heavily touristed west coast. It is wild, a long way by road to the rest of the island, sparsely habited and the impact of the Highland Clearances can be clearly seen. Remains of houses and entire villages can be found all along this coastline, which was once a thriving fishing and farming area of Lewis and well connected by boat to Stornoway. The Shiant Isles too were once populated but now humans have left the island, leaving it to the birds and sheep.

I worked mostly in mixed media while on land, using acrylic paint, inks and pastels but also used charcoal to capture simple drawings and studies of island shapes, particularly the dramatic Shiant Isles rising out of the sea. I enjoyed the challenge of drawing while moving on the boat (during calm stretches of water), being forced to capture light and shadow very quickly before the angle changed as we moved across the water.

I’ll share more about this soon but I have returned home with a full sketchbook and the beginnings of ideas about work that will come from this week. I’m really looking forward to seeing what comes next.