I have been asked to represent Scotland at this year’s Interceltique Festival in Lorient Brittany. This festival is a celebration of all that is Celtic through cultures of the Celtic nations, including Scotland along with Brittany, Galicia, Isle of Man, Cornwall and Wales to name a few. I’m thinking it may be like a Celtic Glastonbury! I don’t know but I will after August.
I have been asked to be the artist from Scotland this year. I will be taking twenty paintings with me.
I thought hard about which ones to do. How do you represent Scotland for goodness sake?
I decided to tackle places that had a story, so among my paintings will be the Free French Memorial Greenock, a snowy Edinburgh and Aonach Eagach Ridge, Pittenweem Boats and Loch Ossian Youth Hostel. My paintings will be exhibited for the week; I am given a translator luckily.
I think the whole enterprise will be amazingly colourful in a melting pot of art, music dance and hopefully great wine and food. Evidently around 850,000 people visit each year.
Helen McDonald Mathie 