Cuillin

In a lost time only known only through fragments of collective memory, a young, dashing and daring prince, to prove his honour, crossed the sea to Skye in three bounds in search of Skiach, a warrior queen renowned for schooling heroes in combat. From the shore, the prince crossed a great jagged ridge fighting each of Skiach's heroes along the way, until they were all defeated and he stood to face the warrior queen. Their swords clashed in thunderous whirl of steel. But the prince could not vanquish Skiath. And Skiath could not vanquish the prince. After days of continuous combat, in a moment of exhaustion, the queen and the prince agreed a truce. Skiath declared the prince was the greatest hero she had fought, he had proven his honour, and in recognition the reat ridge would bear his name. The prince was CuChulainn.

This is just one of countless retellings of CuChulainn and Skiath. Whether this is the etymology of our modern day 'Cuillin' is subject to constant debate, but given Skiath is often cited as the orgin of 'Skye', it doesn't seem that fanciful that the islands great mountain range is named in honour of the hero prince.

I have walked and painted the Cuillin for many years but, over the last five years, I think it is fair to say, they have become an obsession. I;ve wanted to draw every jagged crevice, paint every buttress, and capture every awe inspiring peak. Now two moments in the shadow of the ridge are the same. The play of rock and heath and weather and light mean, that despite their great hulking mass, the Cuillin have a unique ethereal quality like Lewis Carol's jabberwocky; an elusive quarry that can't be pinned down however hard I migh try.

These works are created using iron oak gall ink. Oak gall ink has been used in Europe since the Roman Empire and was once the favoured medium of manuscript illuminating monks due to its high permanence and the quality of line that can be achieved on vellum. Oak galls are woody growths that form on oak tree treaves after a female cynipid wasp injects irritant chemicals. Initially the gall is home to the wasps' larvae before dropping to the forest floor. Once ground to a powder, they provide a tanning rich ingredient, that when combined with iron sulphate and gum Arabic, forms a light blue-black water soluable ink. As the ink is exposed to air, a further oxidation reaction occurs creating an intense deep blue-black permanent ink. Its organic nature also means that each batch is different and the qualitiesd of one bottle can change over time. All this just makes for a more exciting creative process.

For me, the crystals of iron sulphate that form in the darkest ink application and occasionally catch the light, are reminiscent of the black gabbro rock that makes the Cuillin. There is also a sense of continuity of medium with the Romantic artists that first tried to capture the sublime nature of the ridge.