Island artist explores the life stories of her subjects while she paints them in a new TV series starting next week
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Islay artist Heather Dewar returns for a fifth series of Dealbhan Fraoich on BBC ALBA, painting the people she meets on a journey from Islay to South Uist and stopping in at Fionnphort, Tobermory and Skye in between.
Dealbhan Fraoich, produced by Caledonia TV for BBC ALBA, sees Heather paint across the Inner and Outer Hebrides, while learning the stories of her portrait subjects along the way.
From Islay to South Uist and stopping in at Fionnphort, Tobermory and Skye, Heather works to capture her fascinating interviewees on canvas. While teasing out every little detail of their life stories in the 30-minute episodes, Heather also creates colour portraits of her well-known Gaels. From the silversmith to the teachers, the fisherman and someone with a great interest in his Scots heritage, Heather’s natural interest in other people and their lives is what helps her to capture their true personality.
Through the series, Heather explores the diverse walks of life found on the islands. She talks to a Gaelic social media influencer native to Mull, before meeting with a man of Skye who followed many career paths. She then goes on to paint a Mull silversmith, and then later meeting with a South Uist priest who helped transform a South American shanty town into a thriving community.
She follows with another subject, from the east coast of America now in Uist to reconnect with his heritage. And finally Heather meets with an ancestor of heroes who saved lives from the HMS Otranto after it was wrecked off the coast of Islay.
The new series of Dealbhan Fraoich brings the stories of island people to life on canvas and on screen.
Episode 1 of Dealbhan Fraoich airs on BBC ALBA on July 5 at 8.30pm, with each episode available on BBC iPlayer for 30 days afterwards. The series runs for six episodes, ending on August 9.
