I first arrived at the Scottish Wildlife Trust Rahoy Hills Reserve in the sleepy lull of a glorious midsummer afternoon to begin a year long project as Artist in Residence. Tucked among the hills of the Morvern peninsula, the reserve has a modest, unassuming outward face and its size and diversity has to be seen to be appreciated. High basalt topped hills surrounded by crags and cliffs, an expansive upland network of burns, lochans, peat and grassland, then down steep slopes past river gorges and finally plunging through ancient Atlantic temperate rainforest which crowds down to the very edge of a freshwater loch. It was both an exciting and slightly daunting prospect.

I love to be outside surrounded by wildlife and the landscape, so most of my work is made right there and then, in a single sitting whilst I am in the midst of my subject. This certainly has its challenges and there is nothing like the sight of fast-approaching rainclouds to get me working quickly. It has been a natural progression to want to collaborate with conservation organisations and I hope that this work can have a positive impact. So I was delighted that with this residency I would be able to work closely with Steve Hardy, the Rahoy Hills ranger who has been at the reserve for nearly 25 years and whose knowledge, company and enthusiasm were absolutely invaluable. Thanks are also very much due to Anna Raven for boundless enthusiasm and providing the perfect base from which to explore.

It’s hard to know where to begin to describe my visits to Rahoy, taken over the course of a full year. There have been so many precious moments as I came to explore different parts of the reserve and discover some of its hidden treasures. One of the beautiful things about sitting still for a long time, as I do when drawing or painting, is the unexpected encounters that occur. It’s in these moments of stillness that I can watch animal behaviour that is completely natural and undisturbed by my presence or become absorbed in the minutiae of an environment. Entering the cool green dappled light of an ancient oak woodland on a hot day and sitting by a burn watching dragonflies and damselflies whizzing along in a blur of iridescent wings. Up at the highest point of the reserve, on hands and knees, appreciating the miniature beauty of Arctic alpine plants that cling on there. Or watching black throated divers preening from the shores of Loch Arienas, red deer stags bellowing in the autumn rut, fledgling ravens leaving the nest for their first flights and badgers snuffling among roots.

Getting to know such a large, diverse area and understanding some of its complexity was something I very much wanted to delve into. Over the course of several walks around the reserve with Steve, I was able to build up a more complete picture of what makes Rahoy such a special place. His knowledge and care for the reserve, the conservation concerns it faces, and his outlook for a future that supports and nurtures

the natural world was hugely inspiring. Not to mention a ready source of suggestions as to where I might find interesting subjects to draw.

It is often a bit of a frenzy, especially with wildlife, to try and get something down on paper before my subject disappears from view. I like the movement that this brings to the drawing, it may not be in perfect detail but I hope to convey something of those moments in time and a sense of place. And when I look back through my drawings, paintings and sketchbooks they take me straight back in time, the sights, sounds, smell, the atmosphere. I hope for anyone else looking at them, that they share some of the joy and delight to be found in the natural world.

To listen to an interview with Liz on the Scotland Outdoors podcast please visit: BBC Sounds