THE POWER OF PAINTING
While sitting at home during lockdown, I – like so many others during this pandemic – have found myself returning to old pastimes that had fallen by the wayside due to busy family life. Bringing up three children and acting as their private taxi service (which, for the record, I adore doing), on top of a career, cooking, walking the dogs... well, time was of the essence!
But with the pace of life having slowed for the time being, I was inspired to put paintbrush to paper again after reading your article on Lachlan Goudie ['The Art of Escapism', January 2021].
What first caught my eye was the rather beautiful portrait shot of the artist himself on page 86 where he is standing along the banks of the Clyde. I immediately recognised the backdrop.
Taking my old camera with me, I took my dogs Islay and Skye and traipsed down to that very spot to take some pictures for inspiration. It's amazing what you can find, even in urban areas – birds soaring high in search of a spot of lunch, and skeletons of trees looking majestic in the winter light.
Islay, who is a two-year-old cocker spaniel with seemingly endless amounts of energy, was highly entertained by my new-found hobby; Skye, an eight-year-old labrador, was less interested and stood with pleading eyes for the duration.
While I tried to recreate some of the photos I took in watercolour, I wouldn't exactly say they are prize-winning pieces of art. Nevertheless, it provided a bit of breathing space in this strange period. Florence Hayes, Glasgow