Revisiting The Isles of Barra and Vatersay - Source of inspiration for the New Hebridean prints

My camera is like my sketchbook …

Sources of Inspiration from the Isles of Barra and Vatersay

… in fact I use my camera far more than I use a sketchbook.

I’ve recently been reviewing the photos I took over 18 months ago while I was visiting the Isles of Barra and Vatersay. I have been so yearning for the sea and last year in May we were supposed to be returning to Barra with our kids for a family holiday to have a late celebration to mark my 60th birthday.

Sadly, we all know how any holiday plans went last year. None of us could go anywhere, holed up at home for over a year. It was lovely to go back over all these photos, a reminder of what a beautiful place Barra and Vatersay are and the feeling of peace and joy it brought me while I was there.

We postponed our plan to this May - I was keen to see the machair in flower. Sadly we postponed our trip again, until September, when we all of us should be vaccinated and three, not two households can mix.

More inspiration from a trip to Vatersay in the Outer Hebrides

A feature of my iPad shows a selection of photos every day from my photo library. That’s what drew me back to look at the photos again. Not only did it remind me of what a wonderful place it is, (I’d move there in a heart beat but Chris is less keen on the isolation), but I realise I still have a massive amount of source material for new work.

I created a few more memory videos from the still photos so you can see the kind of thing that catches my eye, the views, the light, the patterns, colours and textures.

Easdale Island - home of the stone skimming world championships

That particular trip finished off on Easdale Island, one of the Inner Hebridean Islands. It’s a tiny island just off the coast south of Oban and accessible by a tiny ferry, (foot passengers only) from the mainland. It’s a fascinating place, once a very important slate quarry with seven working quarries until 1881 when a terrible storm flooded all seven of them and the local population of 500 had to abandon the island.

Today, the inhabitants make their living from tourism. One of the biggest draws comes from the stone skimming world championships. People from all over the world descend on the island to try their hand at becoming world champion stone skimmers - quite an art.

Interesting fact

When we stayed with Dougie MacDougal and his partner on the island they told us of other new residents of the island who brought in bee hives. There were fruit trees on the island that had not produced fruit in decades as there were no insect pollinators. The spring after the bees were brought to the island the fruit trees the bees did a splendid job and the resulting fruit harvest that year and every year since has been abundant.

Chris and I are going to take break in a short while, all being well, to Scotland’s west coast. This time we’re taking a look at the Isle of Bute. Keep an eye out for more photo memory videos and when we get back refreshed and reinvigorated from some time close to the sea, I’ll be able to give you a flavour of why this part of the world continues to draw me back.