A trip to Wester Ross to commune with the ancestors and be surrounded by the vivid colours of the trees is a welcome change in autumn.

In Orkney the transition from summer to winter is marked by decreasing day length, lowering of the light and increasing frequency of gales. Trees often don’t get the chance to turn before the leaves are dessicated by the wind.

By contrast, in the forest, the air can be completely still, the horizon hidden, the sky reduced to a negative shape between the branches above. The diversity of the plant forms and abundance and diversity of plant life is mesmerising. My autumn sketchbook is a place to explore intense colours and record my response to the rich atmosphere rather than analyse or develop ideas for finished work.