Above: Eilean Annraidh from Iona. Mixed media on 16×16″ wood. Rose Strang 2026.
The above is pronounced AY-lun AN-ray, meaning The Island of Storms. I’m not worried about people stumbling over the Gaelic pronunciation of these paintings, given that everyone at The Resipole Gallery is familiar with Gaelic and will happily help anyone with correct pronunciation.
This series, including yesterday’s painting, and five more, is destined for an upcoming exhibition at the Resipole titled Facing West. Today’s painting, painted en plein air on Iona, is actually facing north east, but since Iona is in the far western Hebrides of Scotland, I think it counts as westerly.
‘Eilean Annraidh from Iona’. Mixed media on 16×16″ wood. Rose Strang 2026
This little bar of bright sand viewed from Tràigh Bàn Nam Manach (White Strand of the Monks) is very familiar to anyone from Iona, or anyone who’s visited. We were chatting with people who work in Columba’s Hotel on Iona, both of whom had kayaked there. They told me it actually protects the north east beach from storms, acting as a little breakwater.
Adam and I had dropped in there for a much needed coffee on our way back from painting, and Allie, one of the staff there, really loved the painting, so I asked if they’d like a print of it. They definitely did, so if you ever visit Iona and drop in to the Columba, you’ll spot it somewhere!
This view always looks so striking against the deep blue/purple drama of Mull, which is why this exact same scene has been painted hundreds of times. Especially since the colourists made it famous. They stayed at the nearby cottage of Lagandorain (place of the otters) while painting Iona in the 1920s or thereabouts, and it would take them just a few minutes to walk down to the beach.
Painting on the beach, the light changing all the time…
And a video…
More tomorrow, from the north beach, getting closer up to the sea…
Rose Strang Artworks 