New painting

James and I recently decided to buy a painting to go above the fireplace in the new front room. We were keen to choose some aspect of our beloved north west of Scotland, preferably a sea or mountain view. So when we were at Ullapool at the end of September, we called in at the Rhue Gallery before we set off home on the Monday. We had a look around the display of acrylic paintings by James Hawkins - James was in the gallery working on his new collection of mountains of the Himalayas and we were chatting to him. The paintings that we liked were a bit surreal, with vibrant colours. Some of them were very big - James pointed out that we would need to build a bigger house in which to display them! However one painting stood out for both of us. It was neither of mountains nor the sea, but of a bright woodland glade at the height of summer, with the dark blue waters of Loch Achall beyond, and mountains in the distance. We really liked it, and I suggested that we take some time to think it over. However James said that sometimes you have to be spontaneous and go with your instinct, so we purchased it on the spot. And I’m very glad that we did. It is now installed in the front room at Casa Anderson and I love it.