Reviewed by Ian Carter
Donald Watson is someone with whom I’ve built a connection of sorts, though we never met. I have ended up living in Galloway not many miles from the village where he spent much of his life painting the birds and the landscapes that he loved, and making his ground-breaking studies of the Hen Harrier. I’ve long admired his writing as well as his artwork. I borrowed a few of his words about the local hills for Wild Galloway and I made extensive use of his classic monograph on the Hen Harrier when I wrote about this bird a few years’ ago.
Donald Watson is justly famous as an artist. But his writing was also exceptional. His Hen Harrier book stands out today, almost 50 years on, as one of the best of its kind – it is at once scholarly, accessible and a joy to read which, as all who have tried will know, is not an easy thing to achieve. And, of course, it is full of his masterly sketches and paintings.
By reading someone’s books you get a sense of what matters to them, and you learn a little of the way they go about their lives. From his writing, Donald Watson comes across as someone who was motivated by a love of wild places, a desire to do all he could to represent them to others, and, above all perhaps, an awareness of the importance of protecting them and the wildlife that lives there.
This new book brings together contributions from friends, family and colleagues. They all approach the man and his work from slightly different angles and taken together they do a fine job of telling the story of his rich and influential life. On almost every page are images of Donald and his family, or examples of his artwork from the many different books that he illustrated.
The warm, if hazy, image I had of a man who cares passionately about wild places has been reinforced and sharpened by the writing of those who really knew him. If you love Galloway, or wild places, or birds, or fine art, or good natural history writing, this book is well worth seeking out.
Donald Watson: Bird artist and writer edited by Roger Crofts is published by Whittles
Ian Carter is a writer and conservationist who lives in Galloway and whose most recent book, Wild Galloway, was reviewed here last week – click here.
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