'Drying the Salmon Nets at Macduff', watercolour, 55 x 35 cm.
Salmon fishing is done in the rivers of Sxcotland these days but years ago it was also done at sea all along the Moray and Aberdeenshire coastline. This was painted as a commission from an old 19th century photograph supplied by the owner. I was lucky enough to be able to stand on this exact spot, which is now a rough car-park, and sketch the scene. The row of houses on the left is still there, as is the grassy area on which the nets are drying, but almost everything else has changed. Only remnants of the factories remain and almost all of the distant houses have gone, replaced by bungalows in the case of the long building at centre-left, and by a large marine aquaruim in the case of the houses at right centre in the distance. The headland to the right is now a shipyard. The buildings on the foreshore are now gone but you can still see their foundations in places. What a great experience this was to recreate a bygone age and to meet someone who knew all about it!
The painting was sold by commission and prints will not be made.