Quiet wild (Original, Signed and Framed)

Original oil on fabriano paper

70cm x 50cm (unframed)

Whilst on the Isle of Skye, I decided to go on a bike ride.  It was one of those missions where I only really considered the outward bound section.  I just kept going as I was enjoying it and the weather was quite nice.  

I knew more or less that I wanted to get to a peninsula that had a reported white sand beach and eventually the single track road came to a gate through which sheep and highland cattle roamed around a track that continued.  Obviously, I got lost and strayed into a farmer's field.  Said farmer, and indeed farmer's family were out corralling some animals and were kind enough to point out I was trespassing, thankfully in a none-aggro way. 

Eventually I found another way, desperately asking someone with a backpack, who looked like they knew what was what. "Where is this beach, where is the beach." After repeated information I eventually found the spot, instantly thinking about the return journey. 

The tide was in and the sky had clouded over.  I couldn't actually see any sand, so my wild swim idea didn't feel like a good idea anymore as I looked out on a craggy, wild looking coastline - just me alone. It was very still and quiet, the sea hardly lapping over the covered sand. Hands on my hips I imagined I huffed a bit - feeling how tired my legs already felt. 

Exhausted I made it back to the holiday cottage a couple of hours later, where my Mum had been contemplating mounting a rescue. Later that week my brother went to the same beach in beautiful weather, with the sand stretching way out in front.  He siad it was easy to find.

These beaches are beautiful, but they are locked away from typical beach infrastructure - quiet and wild, which is amazing but slightly disconcerting, at least that's how I felt. I've tried to capture that feeling in this painting. 

'Look deep into nature, and then you will understand everything better.' Albert Einstein