This was the very first copper plate etching plate I ever did!
Malcolm, Bernard and I were in Orkney.
A very special trip, a mission to collect an engagement ring and a bit of an adventure!
We didn’t have long enough, but did a lot when we were there…
One particular memory, we were tandeming back to the van having visited the Ring of Brodgar as the sun was beginning to set. We reached the top of a long, steep hill and I couldn’t let go of the image in my head from half-way down… We had to turn back!
Wheeeee!
There was one spot on the hill where the sky silhouetted the fence posts and long grasses perfectly. I needed something to draw for my first copper plate etching course in a couple of days time, and knew that this was it!
I got my photo reference, the sun was heading down and we still had a long way to cycle back (up the hill, and a few more) to the camper van before the sun went down! We ended up getting back very late, by bike/ torchlight!
Just as well we’d allowed a contingency, as Freddie VW campervan broke down on another hill on our way to the ferry to go home! The police closed the road, and we rolled back down the hill, spending the night in a junction as the local RAC man wasn’t well!
We got a different ferry the next day, I did a quick line drawing in my sketchbook on board! We made it back to South West Scotland, just in time for the first day of my etching course, with the late, lovely Silvana McLean.
This is a later print I pulled from the plate. It will always be one of my favourites, for many different reasons!
