Alan Ingham
SCOTLAND PORTFOLIO (set of 4)
A limited edition portfolio of 500 copies signed and numbered by the artist and stamped by the publisher.
Image size: 9" x 12" (228mm x 305mm)
Price : Conservation Mounted portfolio £260.85 + p&p

I spent a lot of time in Scottish waters during my time in the Navy, notably as a surveyor among the islands of the Inner and Outer Hebrides Yet, probably my single most memorable experience was some years earlier when, as a nervous midshipman, I took an MFV (motorised fishing vessel) from Invergordon, through the entire length of the Caledonian Canal - the Great Glen- thence via the eddies and whirlpools of Corryvreckan to the Crinan Canal and on, into the Firth of Clyde. Such scenery!

My love affair with the country started back in those days, and it has continued on holiday tours with Rose which have enabled us to venture further inland.

But it is to the coast that I am constantly drawn: to the fishing villages of Fife in the East and of Kintyre and Argyle in the West, and the magical lochs and mountains, castles and crofts of the Highlands and Islands from Islay in the south to Lewis in the north. (Truth to tell, one is never far from water, as well as whisky, anywhere in Scotland!)

The nature of such a country has to be not only seen, but experienced; sensed in the nostrils and the bones. The majesty of the mountains in the cool, clean air, the ghosts of a turbulent history and the awesome vastness of the skies and vistas are not simply visible qualities. I have to admire the publicists commissioned by the Scottish Tourist Board for their material. 'Feel the light' they command: 'Hear the silence, See the past, Taste the view, Touch the space, Share the experience'. I could not put it better.

How then, can this mighty collection of scenic and historic treasures be encapsulated in four small paintings? I know not, but I have tried, and in trying have again been humbled. As I said, such scenery!