David Cass 24/03/2026 David Cass 24/03/2026

Royal Scottish Society of Painters in Watercolour: 2008 & now

Back in 2008, a year and a half out of art college, I was extremely excited to receive an award at the Royal Scottish Society of Painters in Watercolour (RSW) Annual Exhibition. It was a really prestigious award, the Alexander Graham Munro Travel Award, awarded for “best artwork by an artist under 30”. Fast forward from 2008 to present day, March 2026. The 145th Annual Exhibition of the RSW has just ended and I am delighted to have been part of it, with my large Isle of May mixed media piece hanging on the walls of the Royal Scottish Academy alongside 300 other selected artworks.

Back in 2008, a year and a half out of art college, I was extremely excited to receive an award at the Royal Scottish Society of Painters in Watercolour (RSW) Annual Exhibition. It was a really prestigious award, the Alexander Graham Munro Travel Award, awarded for “best artwork by an artist under 30”.

The artwork was a 10x11cm miniature. An acrylic painting on card – A Walk at St Abbs (below). Looking at it now, I see it showed what I still love, wandering the coast.

I used the award to travel to Orkney in 2009. I travelled by train, of course – always Scotland By Rail – and then ferry. The journey was and is an important part of it. Orkney wowed me. I immersed myself in the land there, in the ancient places, the wildlife, the drama. Lots of paintings resulted. Read to the end of this post to see a piece of writing I put together back then, summarising my time in Orkney trip.

But first, fast forward from 2008 to present day, March 2026. The 145th Annual Exhibition of the RSW has just ended and I am delighted to have been part of it, with my large Isle of May mixed media piece hanging on the walls of the Royal Scottish Academy alongside 300 other selected artworks. It was an inspiring exhibition, packed with so much exciting painting. Some of the show can still be viewed online. And here is my own piece:

*Bishop’s Cove* | watercolour, gouache, pencil, pen | 56x76cm | £1,300 (available)

Back then I loved the coast – I still do. I do notice some very significant differences between then and now. The scale obviously – miniature to large. That in 2008 I rarely painted outdoors. That in 2008 there were no birds in this painting, and little wildlife in any of my work. Painting and sketching outdoors helps you to really notice, to really see. Part of that is to really see wildlife.

My trip to Orkney, thanks to my award from the Royal Scottish Society of Painters in Watercolour, was one of the turning points in my discovery of my love of working outdoors. And here it is, the piece I put together on my return from Orkney in 2009:

A September Trip to Orkney

In May 2008 I was awarded the Alexander Graham Munro Travel Award by the Royal Scottish Society of Painters in Watercolour, having had my miniature painting, A Walk at St Abbs, named “best artwork by an artist under 30” at their Annual Exhibition. I hadn't known I was eligible! The award enabled me to travel to Orkney. The following paragraphs record some of my Orkney experiences.

Day one - The trip started in Linlithgow one Tuesday morning early, an electrically lit cycle to the station, Jennifer and I not yet used to the feel of panniers on a bike. It ended in Stromness thirteen hours later, now dark again. I like the long journey, and trains are wonderful to travel on, offering countless glimpses of tantalising landscapes. On the ferry, as it darkened, lighthouses began to twinkle. Travelling by land, not flying, leaves a real sense of how much distance we've covered.

Day two – The friendly Hamnavoe Hostel, Stromness, overlooking the harbour edge. How nice to wake early and see Orkney daylight for the first time. Across the bay a large farmhouse was silhouetted by the bright rising sun, silver water below. We explored the town - one main, wiggling, cobbled street - then walked onwards along the coast. Sat awhile sketching waves and the hills of Hoy. Most days these hills could be seen in the distance, a dark and imposing backdrop, ever present. In late afternoon sun I sketched in the harbour. Flocks of Starlings were wheeling through the air amongst the jumble of rooftops, flowing in and out of the few largest trees.

*Gannets Diving, St John's Head*, detail. acrylic on board

Day four – A day of blue sky and bright sun, sometimes too hot. Foot ferry to Hoy then onwards by bike. We stopped at a massive flat-topped boulder on the valley floor, an angular cell hollowed out inside, carved as many as 5,500 years ago - The Dwarfie Stane. It may have been a tomb. Two musicians came up, sang inside, testing its resonance. A trickle of water nearby and the occasional crow called, cackled, but little other sound. Reaching Rackwick Bay we locked bikes behind the hostel wall then walked the couple of miles of cliff and moor to the 'Old Man.' At the cliff edge, looking down and across to the famous sea-stack, Fulmars were all around, gliding close, seeming curious. The sea was dark, the cliffs shone in reds, oranges, yellows, grey-greens. Jennifer saw two hares on our walk back. I lagged behind, so much to draw.

Day five – A smooth and relaxing cycle took us to our self-catering cottage on Netherstove Farm. What open views across fields to the Bay of Skaill and distant low hills. We stocked up with Orkney produce in the local shop - breads and bakings from Kirkwall, tomatoes from Birsay, Sandwick eggs. Then a short walk to the shore with Lapwings and Starlings and Golden Plover in the fields.

Day six – We cycled to the Brough of Birsay, 7 or 8 miles. At low tide only is this small island accessible by foot, by a stone causeway surrounded by rock pools and sea urchin sand. Several hours passed on the island with so much to see. The remains of Pictish settlements, and of Norse. A slow walk around the island perimeter, stopping often to admire the sea crashing below us. Rabbit cities, tumbling cliffs, and birds: gulls; skuas; a Wheatear; Rock Doves in their natural habitat, seeming much less scruffy than in Princes Street Gardens. All around us were grasses sculpted by ferocious gales to resemble waves. On the cycle back a Short-eared Owl flew beside us, hunting in the dusk.

Day seven – A truly wild day so didn't venture far. Some of the biggest waves I've seen were surging in from the Atlantic, smashing up and over the cliffs above the Hole O' Row. But seals and Eiders don't seem to mind. To Skara Brae and working on my sketchbook in the visitor centre cafe. A warming hot chocolate then a second visit to the rather grand Skaill House. A very relaxing hour passed in the old library study. I drew the port-hole window, and the other, and the landscapes beyond. Out of one window are the wild dunes and sea, out of the other – a manicured stately-home garden. Books floor to ceiling and a clock ticking gently. A peaceful feeling, of safety and of home.

Day eight – On the radio the BBC forecast (of which I'm normally a fan) said, “...less windy as the day progresses...” So we took the risk and cycled to Maeshowe Neolithic chambered tomb and the Ring of Brodgar. “Less windy” turned out to be hugely more windy and having been blown off bikes several times we'd no choice but to phone for help. A very generous lift home in the pick-up truck of Ann and Tony, the Netherstove farmers. In late afternoon the rain stopped. We walked down to the bay and watched the waves pouring in. Thousands of little jellyfish were washed up on the sand.

Days nine and ten – Returned to Stromness. A further afternoon and morning to enjoy in such a lovely town, exploring winding backstreets and admiring the interesting collections people display in their windows. I visited the local museum, an excellent place of artefacts from seagoing days, from times of lighthouse keeping. Along the coast a little to examine fossilised ripples in rocks. A flock of ten Whooper Swans struggled against the wind, headed towards Hoy. Two Black Guillemot sheltered in the harbour wearing white and black winter plumage. I'd never seen these before. We caught the evening ferry to Scrabster and I stayed on deck the whole time, dizzy from the rocking and being blasted by the wind. Black storm clouds engulfed Hoy as the sun slowly set.

Day eleven – The train took us home. Many hours to watch the landscape, ever changing, and to work on my sketchbook.

David Cass 23/02/2026 David Cass 23/02/2026

Landscape, Art, Nature, Birds.

Fourteen years and ten days ago – 9th February 2012 – I posted my first ever blog post. It came after a period of long interesting art-nature-writing chats with my great friend and fellow artist Kittie Jones. I had been offered the opportunity of having a book published, I was very excited and I was very uncertain. I wanted the book to contain my artworks and my writings, not someone else’s. But did I know how to write?

Summarising My Old Blog

I did already write often, but I didn’t really think of it as writing. I was an artist, not a writer. I wrote what I was seeing while I was out in nature – what wildlife, what weather, what thoughts. I wrote poems sometimes. Nonsense rhyming verse inspired by Edward Lear and Dr Suess – I was always quite pleased with these. And not-nonsense stuff, about landscape and fantastical things (these I found mortifying to read back afterwards). I loved trying to find the right words, getting them onto paper. The sensations it gave me were and still are very similarly satisfying to those I get when sketching - when it’s going well. Sort of peaceful, yet exciting. A wandering, wondering, zippy-mind feeling with all these fizzy bursts of satisfaction and realisation. Actually I really love it.

Conversations with Kittie helped me to see that yes, I could write, of course I could write. She suggested I start a blog to get more practice, specifically to get more practice at writing my outdoor nature-art-exploring experiences as this what my book was to be about and this what I was realising I loved so much.

So, on Thursday 9th February 2012 I published my inaugural blog post, titled, What this blog will be - Scotland, landscape, art, nature, birds. Here it is:

“Hello, I'm Leo du Feu. I'm a Scottish artist, a painter of landscape and nature. I live and work in Linlithgow, near Edinburgh, and exhibit in galleries around Scotland and the UK.

I anticipate using this blog to show what I'm working on in my art and also as an encouragement to me to write – I find writing brings a similar satisfaction to sketching and painting. Birds are also a passion and it'll be good to be able to post some of my birding experiences here.

My interests in art and environment come together in an ongoing project to explore Scotland by rail. I've been getting to know countryside and towns along various lines, sketching as I go. The project has been possible thanks to the support of ScotRail for the past four years. I intend to post accounts of my railway explorations on this blog, detailing walks, sites of interest, flora and fauna to be seen, etc.

I hope that'll do for an introduction, now here's one quick encounter with a bullfinch:

In the latest edition of RSPB's Birds magazine David Lindo writes in his 'Urban Birdwatcher' (http://urbanitybirder.blogspot.com/) article about the decline of the bullfinch. (Since their 1950s-1970s peak the UK population of these beautiful chunky birds has severely reduced in number, due probably to changes in farming practice and woodland management.)

Anyway, David talks about the song of the bullfinch and the fact that most of us aren't even aware it exists. Certainly until I read his article I thought the low plaintive whistle was the only noise they made. But this morning, walking to my studio, I stopped to look through my binoculars at a flush pink male in a tree across the canal and realised that his black-wedge beak was moving - he was singing! A lovely, gentle, unassuming burble. So I can confirm that yes, bullfinches do indeed sing!”

https://landscapeartnaturebirds.blogspot.com/2012/02/what-this-blog-will-be-scotland.html

I was started! I really loved blogging and posted one or two or even three new posts a month for the next eight or so years. After the next paragraph, the remainder of this post will highlight some (lots!) of those posts. I’ve loved dipping back into them to write this for you.

Citizen Science

I posted descriptions and summaries of various volunteer bird surveys I undertook for the British Trust for Ornithology (BTO), sometimes including sketches I made as part of these days in nature. In particular I wrote about the monthly Wetland Bird Survey (WeBS) I did along the Union Canal from my childhood home in Linlithgow, and about the Breeding Bird Survey I did twice a year in the hills between Garelochhead and Loch Lomond. Those were two great routes, and both have now fallen away from me in this phase of life. I have loved remembering them through reading some of my old posts while making this new one. Here are a few:

Introducing my BTO Wetland Bird Survey Union Canal walk -https://landscapeartnaturebirds.blogspot.com/2012/10/counting-canal-birds-linlithgow-to.html

Including an otter and 38 bird species - https://landscapeartnaturebirds.blogspot.com/2013/01/2013-january-bto-waterbird-count.html

Including a mole! “On towpath, in water, now back in its hole..” - https://landscapeartnaturebirds.blogspot.com/2014/01/a-mole-on-towpath-in-water-now-back-in.html

And the excitement up being up in the hills for BTO Breeding Bird Survey - https://landscapeartnaturebirds.blogspot.com/2019/04/bto-breeding-bird-survey-hill-count.html

Including a cuckoo - https://landscapeartnaturebirds.blogspot.com/2015/05/garelochhead-bto-bbs-bird-count-first.html

Campaigning

We need to sort out plastic - https://landscapeartnaturebirds.blogspot.com/2017/02/we-need-to-sort-out-plastic-garelochhead.html

Exhibitions and calendars and cards

I wrote posts sharing the artworks from some of my exhibitions, and advertising my annual art calendar and greetings cards. I love that my calendars and cards offer a way for everyone to have my art in their homes.

2019 calendar and winter cards - https://landscapeartnaturebirds.blogspot.com/2018/11/2019-calendar-christmas-cards-order-now.html

Callendar House exhibition, 2024 - https://landscapeartnaturebirds.blogspot.com/2024/12/artful-exhibition-callendar-house.html

One-off adventures and happenings

I wrote one-off posts about, well, things.

An amazing Transatlantic adventure - https://landscapeartnaturebirds.blogspot.com/2012/07/new-york-art-birds-atlantic-on-queen.html

Sketching a chamber choir in rehearsal in internationally famous Rosslyn Chapel - https://landscapeartnaturebirds.blogspot.com/2014/03/sketching-song-in-rosslyn-chapel-again.html

My favourite place in Scotland (Can you guess where it is?) - https://landscapeartnaturebirds.blogspot.com/2012/08/my-favourite-place-in-scotland.html

My lovely 99 year old Jersey Granny - https://landscapeartnaturebirds.blogspot.com/2014/07/woodhall-spa-dunston-99-year-old-granny.html

Birds

I wrote about birds. Such as this incredible close-up totally unexpected encounter with an osprey on the River Tay at Perth - https://landscapeartnaturebirds.blogspot.com/2012/07/yesterday-afternoon-i-watched-osprey.html

Art Ideas

I shared art ideas to inspire creativity in others. I’ve been a lead artist on Scottish charity Art in Healthcare’s outstandingly good Room For Art social prescribing programme for the past decade, and worked with them for years before that too. When covid came along we were no longer able to run our weekly in-person sessions so I moved online with a series of Art Ideas posts.

Charcoal. It’s been around for a while. - https://landscapeartnaturebirds.blogspot.com/2020/10/art-ideas-charcoal.html

Turning sketches into paintings - https://landscapeartnaturebirds.blogspot.com/2020/08/art-ideas-turning-sketches-into.html

Thinking about Outer Space - https://landscapeartnaturebirds.blogspot.com/2020/07/art-ideas-thinking-about-space-outer_30.html

Painting without brushes - https://landscapeartnaturebirds.blogspot.com/2020/06/art-idea-painting-without-brushes.html

Window Views. (I do so love windows in art) - https://landscapeartnaturebirds.blogspot.com/2020/04/art-idea-window-views.html

YouTube

I started a YouTube channel in a similar vein to my Art Ideas posts. It’s still out there somewhere - https://landscapeartnaturebirds.blogspot.com/2020/05/leo-du-feu-new-youtube-channel-film.html

Other art workshops

I shared images from some other workshops I ran. Just LOOK at some of these kids’ creations:

Often posts overlap, as do the many varied activities in my full, fulfilling, chaotic, creative, all-over-the-place art life. This post for example, is about a session I ran for Art in Healthcare, and about a railway day out - https://landscapeartnaturebirds.blogspot.com/2023/03/scotland-by-rail-edinburgh-gateway.html

And now for the key thing my blog has been about these past 14 years.

Scotland By Rail – Community Rail Champion

My second ever post, Friday 2nd March 2012, was titled, Painting Scotland by Rail - Sponsored by ScotRail - https://landscapeartnaturebirds.blogspot.com/2012/03/scotland-by-rail-sponsored-by-scotrail.html

“Since 2008 I've been working on a long-term project to explore Scotland by rail. As part of this my artworks have been exhibited at various railway-related events across the country. The sponsorship of railway operator ScotRail is absolutely invaluable to me in continuing this project.

I hope that my railway travels and the resulting drawings and paintings will encourage others to explore Scotland for themselves. Train is a great way to travel. It gives access to a wealth of wonderful landscapes and there's nothing quite as relaxing as sitting by the window and watching the world trundle past.

*view from a window, on the Glasgow - Stranraer line*, pencil on paper, 15x21cm

It's fun to write a list of all the birds seen on a journey and really satisfying to make quick sketches out the window. There's only a second or two before the object or scene has been passed and memory and artistic license have to kick-in. Some of these quick window sketches of mine have been used to create often much larger finished paintings back in the studio.

*cottage remains, steep forest clearing south-east of Elgin*, pencil on card, 10x11cm

For those who commute - travelling a route regularly needn't make it boring, in fact quite the opposite. I now know to look for that clifftop herd of bison on the approach to Aberdeen, or those small ponds on the right between Falkirk High and Croy where mallards and tufted ducks swim and you sometimes see a few teal that have flown in to join them. Or south-east of Elgin the remains of a cottage among stumps of felled trees - what family or railway worker once lived there?

In these postings I'm going to write about days out I've had along Scottish railway lines. Looking initially at the West Highland Lines from Glasgow to Oban and Mallaig I'll describe walks walked and wildlife watched. I'll mention interesting historic sites and probably wont be able to resist telling you about some of the cafes I visit... I do hope that you too will be inspired to get out on the trains and start to explore Scotland by rail.”

Here’s a selection from over the years. I have so many more you can explore.

West Highland Way Bridge of Orchy to Tyndrum - https://landscapeartnaturebirds.blogspot.com/2012/03/railway-walk-bridge-of-orchy-to-tyndrum.html

Loch Ossian eco-hostel trio. Hostel accessible only by train and by foot. Stunning stunning location.

- https://landscapeartnaturebirds.blogspot.com/2012/04/three-days-in-scottish-highlands-loch.html

- https://landscapeartnaturebirds.blogspot.com/2012/04/loch-ossian-loch-treig-bothy-back-then.html

- https://landscapeartnaturebirds.blogspot.com/2012/05/loch-ossian-u-shaped-valley-overhead.html

Cruachan Dam, The Hollow Mountain - https://landscapeartnaturebirds.blogspot.com/2012/08/loch-awe-to-cruachan-dam-castle-kirk.html

Dundee - https://landscapeartnaturebirds.blogspot.com/2014/03/scotland-by-rail-dundee-dragon-penguins.html

Moving house, to Burntisland. Discovering our local hill circle walk - https://landscapeartnaturebirds.blogspot.com/2014/01/scotland-by-rail-burntisland-fife-hill.html

West Highland Line, Inverness to Mallaig, sketching the whole way - https://landscapeartnaturebirds.blogspot.com/2014/04/scotland-by-rail-west-highland-line.html

Mallaig – the harbour - https://landscapeartnaturebirds.blogspot.com/2014/05/scotland-by-rail-mallaig-boats-gulls.html

From Mallaig, over the sea to Skye - https://landscapeartnaturebirds.blogspot.com/2014/05/scotland-by-rail-mallaig-then-over-sea.html

Snowy New Year in Kingussie - https://landscapeartnaturebirds.blogspot.com/2013/01/new-year-2012-2013-in-kingussie-walks.html

Montrose dolphins - https://landscapeartnaturebirds.blogspot.com/2014/07/scotland-by-rail-montrose-dolphins.html

Montrose. Family sketching, terns, beautiful gardens, Elephant Rock & Boddin Limekilns - https://landscapeartnaturebirds.blogspot.com/2014/08/scotland-by-rail-montrose-scotland.html

Scotland’s brand new (newly re-opened) line! The Borders Railway. This was a really great walk, a countryside circular, passing Walter Scott’s Abbotsford home - https://landscapeartnaturebirds.blogspot.com/2015/10/scotland-by-rail-tweedbank-abbotsford.html

Scotland’s brand new (newly re-opened) railway again! The Leven Line. -https://landscapeartnaturebirds.blogspot.com/2024/06/scotland-by-rail-scotlands-brand-new.html

Falkirk High to Callendar Park and Callendar House - https://landscapeartnaturebirds.blogspot.com/2024/12/scotland-by-rail-falkirk-high-to.html

And sooo many more. 91 in total. Explore them via the Scotland By Rail tag on my old landscapeartnaturebirds blog site.

The tailing off

By around the time of having our second child in 2021, the blog platform I was using was being more and more glitchy and cumbersome, less and less enjoyable to use. My mental health was also going badly downhill, though I didn’t properly understand that, and I just couldn’t make myself get on with all the things I needed and wanted to do. Putting together posts was deeply frustrating rather than the fun it used to be. The number I was publishing dropped drastically and never recovered.

Out of Anxiety

I’m delighted to say that although the blog never picked back up, my mental health did, brilliantly so. In 2025 I shared intimately to my art emailing list (message me to sign up), to my social media followers, and in a blog post, opening up about the mental health journey I had been on. Through years (decades in fact) of not-understood, unaddressed, chronic anxiety, to breakdown, to a new, truly, wonderfully, excited, inspired me! - https://landscapeartnaturebirds.blogspot.com/2025/06/journey-out-of-anxiety-transformational.html. This still remains the final post on https://landscapeartnaturebirds.blogspot.com. And that feels perfect.

Now I have this beautiful sparkly new website, with blog included. I can’t wait to get started.

—Leo du Feu, March 2026