These are quite different studies, of the same subject, The Five Sisters,(which I find myself returning to time after time),and capture, in their own way the essence of the subject matter. The ‘Five Sisters’ shale bings, a reminder of the extensive mining which occurred in the West Lothian area and beyond until 1947 when the Burngrange disaster struck this small mining village, killing 15 men in an underground explosion and fire. My grandfather was a miner and therefore the nostalgia surrounding this landmark is deep rooted. The Five Sisters can be seen from many villages around West Lothian and sit proudly on the horizon. Impressive from up close or from a distance. The undulating landscape in the foreground of the bings depicts their demise and is in fact from a photograph taken by a local photographer Adam Prentice who gifted the photograph to me. The photograph shows Addiewell bing as it is being demolished, the shale removed and used for another purpose. The form and shape before the bings is the ever changing landscape, which in parts look like the earth has been lifted up to allow the viewer to look at what lies beneath.

Study 1 is an oil pastel drawing completed in the style of Hunterwasser, one of my favourite Artists. Study 2, ‘Sisters Blue’, is oil on canvas and I painted this in 2001. Study 3 is a recent work, acrylic on canvas and it is Impressionistic in style, not by intention but by chance as I used a lot of white and light orange across the canvas giving it a nostalgic atmosphere. Study 4 is called De Profundis, Out of the Depths.( Out of the Depths I have cried to Thee Oh Lord, Lord hear my voice. Let thine ears be attentive to the voice of my supplication). This is a prayer for the dead and this painting commemorates the 15 miners who lost their lives in the Burngrange Disaster in 1947, by far the greatest loss of life in any accident during the history of shale oil industry.