14th March 2019 · “Sketching Scotland by Rail”

Presenter: Leo Du Fu.

Our March meeting saw a healthy turnout for the presentation “Sketching Scotland by Rail”, by artist Leo Du Fu.

Mr Du Fu is Artist in Residence for Scotrail. On leaving Art College, a proposal to become an Artist in Residence, including some expenses and a Scotland wide Travel Pass was submitted to Scotrail. A reduced scale travel pass exploring the Aberdeen-Inverness route resulted. A number of photographs, sketches and paintings were produced and displayed locally a short time after. The work has taken him to many locations, sketching stations, their environments, rail lines in the landscape & mountainscapes, and on occasion, a Scotrail passenger train. Wildlife, including Ravens, Red Deer, Golden Eagles, Puffins, Razorbills and Buzzards have formed part of the resulting images, some being utilised as publicity material. Locations ranged from the Borders Railway to the Horseshoe Curve north of Tyndrum, Forsinard Flows Nature Reserve, Helmsdale, Wick, Thurso, and an excursion to John O’Groats. A variety of media are utilised, including pen and ink, watercolour, etc.

This was a different type of presentation, proving a most interesting and entertaining subject for the audience that evening.