News...r Derek Robertson

Winter is here and the first flurries of snow are falling in Aberdeen. The Cairngorm summits are white and will be covered in snow until the thaw in spring. It has been a busy year and I am already making plans for next year and even for 2009. I spent a week on the Isle of May in October where I was watching and sketching the seals. Earlier in the year I spent a week on Handa Island where I painted seabirds, snipe and red grouse. Almost all of these paintings sold within a couple of weeks of getting back home, but I am turning many of them into prints and these can be seen at exhibitions and on the website here. Bizzarely, a bee-eater turned up in the car park on the mainland and I commuted over one day to paint it. It seemed very incongrous in the Sutherland landscape.

On the way to Handa, I stopped at the Aigas estate where Sir John Lister-Kaye very kindly allowed me to watch and sketch the wild boar and european beavers that live in a semi-wild state. Despite warnings that the boar were wild and unpredictable, I ended up having to beat them off with my sketchbook as they rooted about in my rucksack and pockets. One of them ran off into the woods with a tube of red paint.

The Beavers were highly amusing and it was fascinating to see the incredibly diverse habitats that they had created. I had some fantastic views and nearly jumped out my skin when an osprey snatched a fish right outside the hide.

It was a delight to return to the countryside fairs this year, despite almost constant rain. Thank you to the hardy souls who turned up and were determined to have a good time. It was hard work being there but I really appreciated meeting you all again and I hope to see you next year. My program of fairs and exhibitions is on the exhibition page on the website. I have a busy year ahead: I have a lot of commissions to work through in the winter and am already collating pictures for projects next year. I have a new book coming out in the summer and I will keep you posted about a pre-publication offer. I will be holding a retrospective exhibition at the Scottish Ornithologists' Club, Waterston house in Aberlady in August which will display sketches and paintings connected with the research and conservation work I have been involved with over the last 20 years. I will also be holding an exhibition of Aberdeenshire wildlife and landscapes at the new Riverside Arthouse  gallery in Stonehaven at the same time. Next year I will be exhibiting at Glengorm Gallery on Mull during the Wildisles Week in May.

I had a fantastic few weeks on Skye this year and produced some new landscape paintings. I also had an exhibition there and had to rescue a robin that kept coming through the open doors and attacking a painting of a robin that I had in the show! Have a look at the new prints on the website, including landscapes of Skye. That's enough from me: I need to get back to some painting!