Do you think that your early childhood memories are now influencing your art?

I grew up living in the countryside a long way from the sea but in a way the quiet, empty spaces of my childhood, living in a sparsely populated rural landscape, has made me feel at ease living so remotely now. I have never lived in a city but do like venturing into Glasgow now and again to visit family, but I always find peace and feel more like myself crossing the ferry and returning to my home in the west coast.

Sketchbook Images and 100 Day Project Sketches

I live by the sea and am inspired every day by the view from my window, the changing light, the weather, the chance to walk along the shore at the turn of the tide, the wildlife…otters, seals, dolphins, eagles and the solitude.

My affinity with this place began nearly 35 years ago coming on family holidays. It’s a place I instantly felt connected to. Ardnamurchan is known by many as a ‘thin place’ where the veil between the physical world and the spiritual realm is believed to be almost transparent. Where I live is so much part of who I am and is the reason I need to paint.

I studied art at school intending to go to art college, but it wasn’t encouraged so I went to teacher training college instead. I had a fulfilling career in education and didn’t regret taking that path. When I retired after 35 years and moved on a permanent basis to the west coast, I worked for a time in an art gallery…in that space full of beautiful artworks, meeting and talking with artists my interest and enthusiasm was reignited and after attending a weekend painting workshop in 2016. I was hooked. When Covid came, I took part in a ten-week online course and then started to paint every day, and it led me into a new chapter.

Do you use photos or a sketch book to begin with and why!

All my work starts in my sketchbook.

For many, it’s putting paint on canvas that really gets them excited, for me, it’s the preliminary work I do in sketchbooks, the simple lines and mark making, that help shape ideas and contexts for creating larger works…although to be honest, sometimes a simple sketch is as good as it gets.

Sketching on the shore

A day spent along the shore or in the hills gives plenty opportunity for sketching. Sometimes when I get a bit stuck with a painting, I go back to my sketchbook to remind myself of the joy of not worrying about how something will turn out and make art simply to enjoy the process.

Sketchbook Images and 100 Day Project Sketches

What is your main medium and why?

When I’m sketching, I use pastels, charcoal and inks. They are easy to carry and quite forgiving. When I first started to paint, I used oils but now I much prefer using a variety of media. To create a finished painting, I might use water-based oils, watercolour, ink, pen…I like the flexibility and I’m constantly experimenting to achieve different results.

While the environment is exceedingly important, you also paint flowers.

Most of my work comes from a deep affinity to the west coast and a love of the sea but recently I have painted flowers and birds too and enjoyed the challenge of painting something completely different and out of my comfort zone.

Gull

I was given an opportunity to attend a weekend painting course led by an artist who paints the most glorious flowers. She was an inspiring teacher, and the room was filled with stunning blooms and wildflowers too. Like my seascapes and landscapes my recent flower paintings have been painted from memory!

Discuss the importance of positioning of the flowers on the canvas.

I still have a lot to learn to master the compositional elements of painting flowers and although I’ve had some early success, I’ve also had many failures! Working on paper has allowed me to crop the finished paintings.

Fantasia

When is the most productive time for you to work in your studio? 

I usually walk along the shore every morning looking for driftwood and other objects that have been washed in on the tide. I call them my gifts from the sea. Mornings might be spent in my garden or doing mundane tasks but I’m always thinking and noticing. My studio is in a converted space above the garage. It was never meant to be an art studio so it’s not perfect, but I feel very grateful to have it. I go over most days after lunch and if I’m in the flow, I will carry on into the evening.

If I’m not actually painting, I’m thinking about painting.

Why are clouds so varied in your work?

I live where the weather comes and goes at speed…big weather happens but there are calm days too. I have a view down Loch Sunart, and I can watch the clouds pass through. Then there are the wide-open skies of the Outer Hebrides with clouds renowned for their dramatic, rapidly shifting formations.

The Hebrides

How do you create movement in you work?

Paintings rarely come together in a day…they develop over time. Layers, under painting and the use of lines, shapes and colour create the movement. Every time I begin a new painting, I start with an under-drawing. It may be the horizon or the route of a river or a rugged coastline. I use those initial marks as a guide but do not stick rigidly to the original drawing.

How do the changing seasons affect the work you do?

Spring

For the last three years I’ve taken on the challenge of the #100dayproject which starts towards the end of February. It’s a free, global art project that takes place online and you sign up to 100 days of creating. It’s a challenge aimed to build your creative habit….and develop skills and technique. It’s a huge commitment to produce a sketch every day but I thoroughly enjoy the focus, and it builds in to my practice.

Riverbank

Summer

Sailing and Sketching

During the sailing season, which happens between April and October, we try to get away as often as we can on the boat. From where I stay there is good access to some lovely anchorages in Loch Sunart and the Small Isles of Canna, Rum, Muck and Eigg are not too far away. The Small Isles provide the inspiration for many of my paintings. Such beautiful and unspoilt places. Our furthest sailing adventures take us out to the Western Isles where the Scottish weather brings storms and rain as well as shifting light and moments of awe.

Blue Pools

Travelling by sea gives you a unique perspective on the land and even familiar places onshore can look so different from the boat. The light can be special too and magic weather moments happen frequently especially on the west coast.

Autumn

In the autumn I have more time to spend back in my studio, to reflect and process a head full of images and experiences from sailing. My sketchbooks offer reminders of places we visited, magic moments and passing glimpses. Autumn is my favourite season.

Tree painting

Autumn colours resonate…burnt sienna, yellow ochre combined with earthy browns appear in my paintings.

Winter

In the past living by the sea, we very rarely get much snow, but that is changing. Recent winters have brought snow right down to the shore and as well as enjoying blue skies and freezing temperatures and a snow-covered landscape which brought a different vibe, we’ve also had back-to-back named storms with heavy rainfall and damaging winds. Climate change is happening and we’re experiencing it first-hand.

Painting a winter landscape brings its own challenges.

Do you get inspiration from others artist?

I look at the work of other artists all the time. I follow many artists on Instagram not only to appreciate their work but to learn. Many share their process which I find interesting.

Between Land and Sea

Inspirational Artists include:

Tom Shanks – he painted evocative watercolours of Scottish mountains, lochs and beaches. James Morrison – best known for his rugged west coast landscapes and big skies. The seascapes of Kurt Jackson as well as the work of Norman Ackroyd.

Who is your best critic?

I am my own best/worst critic!

In Coming Storm

What sizes do you paint within and why?   

I started painting small postcard sized paintings. One of the biggest challenges when you paint small is trying to include all the compositional elements on such a small scale without losing the sense of space and distance or the atmosphere and magic.

Magic Light

Since then, I’ve painted a variety of sizes the largest being 50 x 120 cm I mostly paint on canvas or canvas board but there’s a freedom I enjoy from creating mixed media paintings on paper too.

Eventide

Contact: Lisa Houston

Website: Lisahouston,co.uk

Email: info@lisahouston.co.uk

Deborah Blakeley, Melbourne, Australia

Interview by Deborah Blakeley, August 2026

Images on these pages are all rights reserved by Lisa Houston