Coire Mhic Fhearchair

1100 x 340 (three of)

Watercolour on paper

Handmade frame 


I’m not shy to call this the most beautiful coire in Scotland. I’ve visited it many times, as a walker, as a climber, on a highline, in summer and winter. The view you get as you enter the mouth of the coire by the outflow of the loch is still my favorite big reveal. Dramatic, panoramic, yet hidden until the last moment. 


I spent a cold December day sitting in the mouth of the coire painting the view from all sides on huge lengths of paper balanced on boulders. I ended up having to use my tea as water, as the cold water was freezing on my brush before I could lay the colour on the page. The heat of the tea gave me a few extra seconds before it froze which gave some spectacular effects as the paint crystalised to the paper rather than drying. When I was finished I had a veneer of coloured ice floating on the page.

I had to carefully roll it up to walk out and then balance perfectly flat in my car on the way home so that the melting paint wouldn't run off the page on the drive to Inverness. 

Working across three sheets I have tried to bring together all my sketches from that day, to do justice to the most beautiful coire in the land.