Category: Journal

Friend and writer Rebecca Sharp’s poem ‘Thaney’ has been selected for the Stanza’s poetry map of Scotland. Click on the link to read it. It came about from a painting I made about the scottish story of Thenaw, a princess, pregnant out of wedlock who was thrown from Traprain Law, but survived to give birth to a son who would become St Mungo.

It is a beautiful poem and I am so chuffed it made the collection.

https://stanzapoetry.org/blog/poetry-map-scotland-poem-no-407

Ravens, waterfalls, Schiehallion, rock, beetles, lochs, slow worm, bracken, hare bells, Buachaille Etive Mor, and cherry bakewell tarts.

This is a drawing made in response to a poem from Rebecca Sharp called ‘Passerine’ which was made after our last visit to Drumcarrow Craig as we walked and drew and talked and looked and listened. The final line of her poem is – So damn blue .

Soft, wet blanket of rain pins down the landscape. A man in green wellies schluffs along the road with a bottle of milk, a woman hurries on with a daily paper under her arm. The coverlet starts to lift in the southwest corner, toes of cloud poke out from under, wiggling the rest of the warm dry sky to rise. Drawing the sheds at the far end of the harbour. Iron rails descend the slope to the waters edge, where once boats were built and launched. At the top of the slipway a rowing boat planted with scarlet tulips named ‘Dignity’. A shower of rain returns spotting the paper .