Oil on board, 60x45cm. £1,650

"Auchnacree" when you boil it back to the original Gaelic means Field of Treasure. There was indeed a "hoard" of ancient valuables discovered here in the 1920`s dating back to the Bronze Age. Some of the artifacts found seem to have been deliberately broken suggesting that their concealment had a ritualistic significance.
This corner of County Angus is festooned with evidence of ancient settlement - Bronze Age, Pictish and Viking and it certainly is a most atmospheric area.
Typical of my compositions, in this scene I`m looking directly into the light, "contra-jour". This perspective renders the central tree as a silhouette which I thought to be very attractive; stark and elegant at the same time. The landscape in the background and middle distance is that of Strathmore, partially obscured by a snow shower blowing in from the West.

Date: 06/02/2019

Location: Auchnacree, Angus.