Journey to North Uist . . .

I am very excited as I board the ferry to North Uist in the early morning, having dropped my dog Freddie off at his dog-sitters in Uig.  We are warned that thick fog is expected on the crossing, but we should not worry if the foghorn is sounded, which it did on numerous occasions during the passage.

In spite of the fog, it is hot and the sea sparkling, as we cruise into Lochmaddy.

We drive through ribbons of lochs, teaming with reeds and water lilies and see flashes of shell beaches and turquoise seas as we speed by on the quiet single-track roads towards Sollas Bookbinding on the north coast of the island.

For the next two days, I will be working with bookbinder Corinna Krause on my handmade Artist’s Book.  Each book will have 28 images and the prints are safely packed between glassine paper to ensure the photographic surface is not compromised.  I meet Corinna and drop the boxes of images off at the bindery before taking a drive around the island to get my bearings, although I do not expect any free time to explore further.  North Uist is very different to Skye.  It has small hills rather than the dramatic Cuillin range on Skye and it has beautiful white shell beaches rather than the coarse sand of its larger neighbour that we call home.  It is much quieter and although much of the road system is single-track, it is easy to see whether cars (or cyclists) are bearing down and coming from the opposite direction. I tuck into a supper of local seafood anticipating an exciting day working on the books tomorrow.