Update from Suzanne Stuart Davies

I'm not sure how blogs work and am struggling with 'error reports' and technical troubles with the computer after two weeks away in Assynt and Wester Ross.
So – cross with the computer when I will need to use it to sort out information – statements, labels for work and such – organising for Spring Fling starts this week.
However – lots of work ready – paintings, books and some crafty cushions - and new work arising from recent trip will hopefully be started and on show.
I have been preoccupied, even more this year, with the changes taking place in rural areas and marginal lands – my work reflects these concerns – there are fewer traditional buildings being repaired, less tin huts to admire! There will be no cattle in our surrounding fields this year – the lovely pedigree Ayrshire heifers which enjoyed the high summers pastures have given way to lonely sheep.

So the painting that is on show in the Taster exhibition at Gracefield 'just a small gathering now', while celebrating the agricultural traditions of Dumfriesshire, also indicates underlying worries about the effects of globalisation on our local landscapes.
In the very North West of Scotland, a little crofting still continues and some of the stone buildings remain with their painted roofs – and sky, sea and mountains always exhilarate! So there will be work in progress which celebrates the wilder lands of Scotland.

You can find Suzanne at Muiryhill Bothy, Studio 64 in the north region in this year's Spring Fling.