Good Morning from a chilly Highlands of Scotland, never mind the weather, I have my West Highland Terrier Angus beside me, keeping me cosy as I write. Sounds cheesy, I know, but he really is a hairy, four legged, nuclear reactor! The photo above was taken after he thought it would be a great idea to eat sand!

So, this is my first ever attempt at a blog, a bit scary but I am sure I will get into it, I wasn’t sure, in the fast changing social media world, that the blog was still a thing, but I guess it is. Blog etiquette is something I am not familiar with so I have decided to make up my own rules. I will start by telling you a little about myself and my work but I hope to post some things in the future about being a self taught artist and also discuss some of the artists who are inspiring me at the moment. I am guilty of ‘doom scrolling’ so I come across a lot of stuff on Instagram I might share with you.

Aside from Doom scrolling and painting, my day job for the past 20 years has been in a busy social work department within the NHS. My work is emotionally draining, and it was on family advice, as an antidote to this, that I picked up painting again after many years, for the sake of self preservation. My love of art stretches way back to my childhood and my past life before social work was screen print and graphic design.

I never went to art college and I’m not fussed, because if I did, I would not be sitting here writing to you now, so no regrets. The fact that I am a self taught artist will be the subject of a future blog post. Also for a future blog post will be the Celtic and Pictish history that surrounds me in my part of the world, again another post for the future.

Ok, enough waffling for just now. I will leave you with a picture of a beach in Harris, in the Western Isles. We have travelled to the Western Isles many times and it never ceases to be a place of peace, relaxation and inspiration.

Until next time

Jim