The casual visitor on the ferry sees only the stony face of Coll. A little further. and the white washed cottages, the roofs, piers, boats, people, jumble of fishing gear, come into sight. Fingers begin to search round for a stump of pencil, an old envelope, a sketch book. You're hooked!

Unlike Iona, the island of Coll cannot be taken in at a glance Of walked round in an hour or two. It is its East shore and the South that make up the finest stretch of seaboard and beach in Britain. On the grayest of days, in storm, and in calm blue weather Coll always offers something to the painter or draughtsman. Brilliant greens are made up from white sands and cobalt sky; deep purples rise from kelp and the prussian and ultramarine sea; there is always a band of muttering violet cloud on the horizon where orange and scarlet meet the water. The sky is always changing: the rocks have an infinite variety of colour, right through the spectrum.

When S.J. Peploe and F.B.C. Cadell first painted in Iona, in the 20's and 30's, people did not believe them; such colour might exist in Brittany or in the South of France, but not on the West coast of Scotland. Dozens of painters have gone to the East side of Iona; only a handful have discovered Coll. Those I did know of include the water colourist John Crawford at Sorasdal; James Herriot who worked the beaches out from Arileod; Ann Donald; Perpetua Pope; and Mairi Hedderwick whose accomplished line-work illustrates this magazine.

I find Toraston sufficient challenge, but there is Baile Hogh with towering breakers crashing in; Clabach always full of sunshine; Cliad, Gallanach, "Red Rocks", Eileraig and Sorasdal. Then there are the dwellings, Struan, Cranaig, Breachachadh, the Dairy Farm, Friesland. Everyone has a favourite sets of places; those are some of mine. For the bird artists there are duck, the buzzard, the ravens, black-back gulls, herons, terns, skuas, oyster catchers and the waders. Flower painters have "Alpine meadows", at Cornaig particularly. In the distance loom the outer islands. There are the faces of the people for portraitists. The beauty of the island is only one aspect of life here, but it can be set against other things: the hard work, the isolation, even, the clegs! I value freedom to go wherever I want, to stand in the fresh salty air and try to get down what I can see but seldom capture.