Acrylic on canvas, 16 x 12"

This rough sea painting is on a stretched canvas, painted round the sides, with a string on the back, so it is ready to hang as it is, or can be framed if you prefer.

Mesmerised by the movement of the waves and the constantly changing shapes and colours, I took a lot of photographs of the rough sea. I enjoy painting from my photographs when I get home from a trip. I find it a lot easier to concentrate painting at home rather than en plein air with people around and the wind blowing things around. It is also my way to relive the experience of being in that special natural place, dwelling on the details in the photos as I paint them. It feels almost like a religious act of worship of nature, and I like to take time over it. I would feel rushed if I had to complete it while I was there, but I do see the value of doing quick sketches to help fix the feeling of the scene in your mind.

Most people visit Neist Point on the Isle of Skye to see the lighthouse. There is lots more to see as well. The views of the coastline are striking, and at the start of the walk down to these rocks people have created a beach full of 'fairy stacks'. These are piles of rocks and pebbles arranged artistically into towers of all different sizes. We have been there twice and my daughter has made a fairy stack there when she was a child and then on our more recent trip, as an adult. I wondered whether her first one was still there somewhere. My son was more interested in getting close to the crashing waves, climbing down over the rocks. We were careful of course, not to get too close. The sea is beautiful but dangerous, a divine power of nature.

Visiting Neist Point was part of one of our Scottish tours round the islands and the painting is part of my Scotland collection. These are some of my favourite paintings which I have done.