I am so pleased to have had two of my recent paintings selected for inclusion in this beautiful and poignant exhibition, alongside some of my fellow professional members from the Society of Scottish Artists.
From the SSA…
“We are delighted to be collaborating with An Tobar, Isle of Mull for the first time on a new exhibition with the theme of Life With Water: A wave of creativity in response to the Ocean.
On the Hebridean Isle of Mull, where land and water evaporate into one another, we gather to create, to question, to reimagine.
Life With Water is a call to witness and to wonder at the depth of our love for the sea. In response to UN Sustainable Development Goal 14: Life Below Water, artists converge to explore the vast, fragile world beneath the waves.
The ocean cradles life and drowns cities. It has fed us, carried us, connected us since before humans were humans. Yet, it suffers—overfished, polluted, acidified, dissolving at the edges. What is the role of the artist in this tide of change?
Through painting, sculpture, installation, digital media, and interdisciplinary works, Life With Water invites artists to immerse themselves in imagining a different future filled with the quiet and wild poetry of the sea.
Anchored at An Tobar (Gaelic for The Well), a creative sanctuary shaped by the Atlantic, this gathering places Mull at the heart of a global conversation—where art meets urgency, where creation becomes conservation, where the sea itself is invited to speak.
Exhibition : 18 August – 24 October 2025
Opening Night: Saturday 16 August 2025, 6-8pm
Opening hours: Monday – Friday, 10am – 4pm
An Tobar, Argyll Terrace, Tobermory, PA75 6PB
About my work in this show…
My relationship with the sea since moving to live on an island three years ago has grown exponentially. Spending time in, on or around the water has become a huge part of each day and developing my understanding of the sea has in turn deepened my connection to it as a living body. Learning how to read the water, kayaking, snorkelling, feeling the water cradle my body as I swim. I’ve experienced all seasons and noticed tiny changes in the colours, textures, sounds and smells. I’ve sat still as an otter scampered across the rocks, floated above hermit crabs tussling over empty shells and watched transfixed as gannets elegantly plunged into the water like gleaming white arrows.
Most recently we, as a community, spent several days witnessing the arrival and eventual sad passing of a sperm whale in our most popular bay. At my time of writing his colossal body remains still and decomposing on the rocks. Many questions have arisen since his arrival; Is he lost, sick or in distress? What caused him to die? Was it our (humans) fault? Could we have helped? It has been a stark and confronting experience, to see this massive deep-sea animal laid bare in front of us, but it has also been an important learning opportunity which has lead a community of people to reflect on the magnitude of our affect on the ocean and our kin who call it home.
The desire to move to a more environmentally friendly way of producing work, in this time of climate emergency, is something I know is high on the agenda of many artists and makers. It can be overwhelming and complicated to tackle as an individual, and so I’ve found perhaps best approached as a series of small changes which will build over time to make a cumulative impact.
These paintings are part of a conversation and exchange between artist and earth. The use of natural pigments, alongside the human-made, deepening the works relationship to place. Layers of blue, plant and plastic extrinsically linked, they have been physically in the making since the seeds of indigo and woad were sown in our community garden. The linen, woven near my home on the Isle of Bute, is saturated with pigment gently extracted from the plants I’ve grown. These plants, pigments and fibres tell a story of place, time, space, care, weather, earth, sharing, learning and community.
This moment of transition and development of materials, combining the natural pigments with synthetic, speaks of the process of change. A liminal space which acknowledges the time and effort involved in these more sustainable practices, but with positivity and hope for what is possible.