Terry Adams - Dalwhinnie Distillery

HOME OF THE GENTLE SPIRIT

My first reaction on opening the email, was scepticism, where, why, what, how and why did they select me, I am so used to getting spurious requests via email for my work, these normally turn out to be in the interest of others. However on further investigation and googling and realising that the selection came from your website I was encouraged to progress. I am glad that I did.

Barbara Drummond-Hay was very helpful and her guidance invaluable, all to often the primary difficulty in commissions is the marrying of expectations. This is particularly so when the brief is so wide.

The timing was difficult as I was preparing for my exhibition at Pittenweem Arts Festival where I had a venue, I knew that this obligation meant that I had a week of commitment to the promotion of my work, Pittenweem was, for me, very successful although having discussed the sales with other artist I realised that I was fortunate.

After the exhibition finished I took a drive up to Dalwhinnie, and introduced myself. The staff knew nothing about the project, so I took the tour that was very informative. This tour without realising it gave me the handle upon which to base the commission - Dalwhinnie means the meeting place. On completing the tour, I was greeted by a member of staff who stated that they had received an email, alerting them of my arrival that very morning, The site manager would like to meet us, if there was anything that they could do to assist they would be only too pleased, I mentioned that I had hoped to get one or two photographs of the inside of the distillery. After monitoring the atmosphere and taking the necessary health and safety precautions they allowed me the privilege of taking a few photographs. I cannot say just how accommodating and knowledgeable the staff at Dalwhinnie were.

On the journey home thoughts of the history and location condensed. Dalwhinnie was a meeting place for cattle drovers on the way to the lowland markets, and today the distillery is still a nexus a meeting place where the golden grain of sustenance, meets the rugged hills, the sparkling highland waters and the purple heather join in friendship, warmth and knowledge to produce the gentle spirit in harmony that is Dalwhinnie. And so the idea was formed.

The painting called out to be produced in oils, but due to the tight schedule I needed something that dried quickly so I used artists acrylics painted on prepared canvas.

Having taken numerous photographs of the setting from all directions I wanted a view that showed the distillery’s main features, nestled within the landscape. Once the view had been chosen the style had to be formalised a style that emphasised strong contrasts and colour to facilitate printing, the result (see attachment) is a picture that captures the ambience of the Highlands and Dalwhinnie. The “Home of the Gentle Spirit”

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