"Inspiration for painting comes from the birds that surround us in everyday life in Scotland, from the small birds in the garden to the more exotic raptors found in the hills and on the West Coast.   Summer is a good time to get away to remoter locations on less trodden paths.  We spent two days anchored at Lunga in the Treshnish Isles last summer; much of the time ashore was spent among the puffins who are much less shy than elsewhere.   I find that it is the small observations of behaviour and habits that often form the subject matter for paintings.  I see a bird do something and in an instant think - yes, there's a painting!"                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                           Paul Howey