‘Twas an excellent trip up north in the Cairngorms and Aviemore area again this year with the Hamilton College Art Department – very energising, artistically productive and lots of laughs too (mostly at each other, and there was some lazy gentry to paint for too, as well as a sudden escape off Cairn Gorm mountain at midnight chased by some boy racers). Refreshing to work outdoors although it did take a couple of days afterwards to recover from all the activity, fresh air and midge massacres. Alan and Jane had everyone working on Impressionist influenced pieces, mostly made on the spot using watercolour and acrylics. Edith led an excellent workshop working with folded paper body adornment pieces – my effort above turned into a bit of Nightmare Before Christmas theme but I really enjoyed and at least the male contingent of our group wasn’t let down! Alan’s talks got us going each morning and he told us quite a few super quotes, such as:

‘Enter my north room, touching the walls with grass, clouds and trees…’

William Carlos Williams

‘Colour is the place where our brain and universe meet.’

Paul Klee