I went away to the Isle of Eigg from May 9th to 27th. An inspirational place, with its wild landscape of rocky highlands, so different from Norfolk. We stayed in a croft house with no electricity, lit by gas lamps and candles.
The bird-life on the island is one of it's greatest draws. We had a corncrake calling day and night circling our cottage, who would never let itself be seen. It's call was accompanied during the day by ravens, cuckoos and sedge warblers, at night by the ghostly call of nesting shearwaters on the rock cliffs. Eigg was just the place to spend time working in more depth on my currant work on the form of birds and their feathers. The relationship between birds and wind turbines was also an issue on the island. Eigg is in the process of installing a electrical supply for the island powered by environmentally friendly sources, including three wind turbines. Through careful siting agreed with local wildlife experts they will be placed on a part of the island where conflict with bird activity will be minimal.
The first thing I felt drawn to do was to make a quill pen from a feather found on the beach. This seemed fitting not only for the low tech atmosphere of the croft house, but I also wanted to work in the most direct way with the subject of my study. I found the wing feather washed up on the beach, it was probably from a gull or a gannet. I have worked with metal nib pens for many years producing archaeological finds drawings, loving the directness and subtlety that can be archived in the quality of the line.
Cutting the feather in to a nib was a lot harder than I have envisaged. The quill got shorter and shorter with each attempt, until on the fourth cut it worked. 
Not the finest of nibs but it was my own and it was a thrill to work with it. My first sketch made with it was of a seabird.
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