‘Looking for Carn a’ Gheoidh, Winter’, Acrylic & Pastel, 2006, 12.5 x 12.5 cm
Seeing as I’ve been painting on a small scale these last few days, I thought I’d select an early small work for this weeks Artwork of the Week. I always liked this little piece and sold it to a local Ayrshire man several years ago.
The wee painting / drawing was done after an interesting and somewhat scary incident on the hills to the west of Glen Shee in early December a number of years ago. We’d walked up and over the Cairnwell directly above the Glen Shee ski centre and had then headed out for the next Munro, Carn a’ Gheoidh, only for the cloud to fill in quite dramatically. With snow on the ground and the thick mist all about we had some navigation to do but eventually found the top of the hill. As we approached it the mist and snow gave a strange light as the cloud briefly thinned and a weak sun made an appearance. We stood at the top with snow and mist all around …it was quite a strange experience. The walk back proved quite difficult with the light rapidly fading and the mist getting even thicker. Eventually the sound of the ski tow generator came to us through the gloom. It was a wonderful noise ….and a great relief. We’d made it back just as it was starting to get dark bit not without some worry and a good deal of checking and re-checking the map, compass and GPS.