‘Beyond the Ice’

Fi Photos at the “Creative Freedom” Exhibition, the John Muir Trust

One of the quotations I often appreciate are by John Muir: “The mountains are calling and I must go”. As I wrote back in 2022, every mountain lover – hiker, artist or climber – has permanently itchy feet to be roaming the ancient high places, and spend most days imagining their next adventure and trip.

For a long time, I have also been a great fan of the work of the Scottish-born American naturalist, author, botanist and glaciologist John Muir, who along with the artists Ansel Adams, Sebastião Salgado and Steve McCurry have represented to me a strong support for indigenous peoples and places through art and words. Such talent.

I’m excited to announce that my artwork is featured at the John Muir Trust Creative Freedom Exhibition!

The John Muir Trust is a conservation charity established 40 years ago, dedicated to protecting and enhancing wild places across the UK. They are even part-stewards of the Ben Nevis summit, the UK’s highest mountain. They help conserve the rare environment and its wildlife, flora and fauna.

Celebrating the Trust’s belief that society thrives when wild places are given the freedom to repair themselves, the Creative Freedom Exhibition features a range of multimedia artworks, including paintings, comic books, photography, movement art, and VR, all inspired by the importance of wild places. You can also see a short video of the launch of these marvellous works at the John Muir Trust, The Wild Space Visitor Centre, Station Rd, PH16 5AN, Scottish Highlands.

My piece “Beyond the Ice” is on display at the Creative Freedom Art Exhibition held at the John Muir Trust, Pitlochry Wild Space from 18 March-25 May 2024.

“Beyond the Ice: the icon and the snow” features “The Matterhorn Fire”, part of an exciting new project depicting 3 images from the Alps. “The Matterhorn Fire” presents a dramatic image taken from a summer sunrise in canton Valais, Switzerland. There are 82 4,000m peaks in the alps.

In the winter, the Matterhorn presents the well known image of snow and ice on a stunning, iconic peak popular with skiers. In summer, the mountains are now scored with grey as the ice retreats. The glacial tracks are disappearing at 25 metres per year. This is almost unnoticed in a single year, but over the past two years Swiss glaciers have reduced by 10% (SNCAT).