My World

Oh my Scotland, my Scotland how I miss you. Such beautiful landscape and amazing livestock. Sheep and pheasants and sea gulls and COOS every where we went. Of all these, the hairy coos stole my ❤️! For those that are unaware, there is a breed of cow in the highlands of Scotland made for the mossy ground and cold temperatures. They have long shaggy hair and wide massive hooves for traipsing across the spongy bogs. The Scots call them hairy coos although technically they are Highland cows. We met several in our travels across 1700 miles of highlands and islands in May 2019. Some were behind fences and others roamed freely. They were even on the beaches of the isle of Lewis-Harris. We saw them in a range of shades of red, some spotted red and white and even a gorgeous black one that loved turnips. These animals are gentle giants that are truly amazing.

I took so many photos of them but didn’t get just the right composition to show off their beauty. So I delved into showing them off in oil portraits. I found a couple photos of other photographers online and immediately contacted them for permission to paint their photos in oils. I was thrilled to get the go ahead from both of them. One is a young bull in a field. I named him Hamish. He was such a joy to paint that I was sad on completing him. A digital copy for prints of young Hamish can be found at my photography website Images by DonnaU .

I found the second photo by a different photographer and began creating what I call Hamish grown up. I love the sense of him peeking around a corner in curiosity.

By the time I finished these two I had been gifted a gorgeous massive steel saw blade. I wanted something special to paint on it. So I decided to have a go at freehanding a portrait of the beautiful black female hairy coo we saw on the beach. I had to draw her from one of my photos then manage to paint a realistic black animal with all the shades and highlights that bring them to life. I am rather pleased with this particular painting. Meet Miss Bluebell.