Caithness plays host to sheep sculptures as part of Flock to the Show art trail
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Caithness is playing host this month to two of the painted sheep statues that are touring Scotland ahead of this year's Royal Highland Show.
Local artists Davie Greig and Eilidh Geddes are among those who have contributed to a public art trail called Flock to the Show that will travel to different parts of the country during April and May.
The campaign celebrates the return of the Golden Shears World Sheep Shearing and Woolhandling Championships to the Royal Highland Show, taking place at Ingliston from June 22-25.
The trail features specially designed sheep sculptures decorated by 36 artists from across the UK.
Davie's sheep has pride of place outside the tourist information office at John O'Groats. It features colourful depictions of the Inn at John O'Groats on one side and Duncansby Stacks on the other.
Eilidh's design, located at Quoybrae auction mart, was inspired by her PhD research into parasite control on hill and upland sheep farms.
The two sculptures will be on display locally until April 16 as part of the "Aberdeenshire and Inverness" leg of the tour. The trail then moves on to three other areas – Dundee, Fife and Perthshire; Strathclyde and Dumfries and Galloway; and Lothian and the Scottish Borders.
Davie, from Thurso, has raised thousands of pounds for charities through his football portraits.
He said: "I was delighted to be chosen as one of 36 artists. I submitted my initial design on paper and was lucky enough to be selected from that.
"There was no brief to the design – we were left to our own devices.
"I just wanted to use the far north and its landscape and buildings as my inspiration, as the design would be unique from other artists' designs. I had painted both images in the past.
"Painting on the sheep sculpture definitely posed a different challenge but I'm pleased how it turned out."
Eilidh is a pet portrait artist from Thurso, currently based in Peebles.
She said: "I am a PhD student at Moredun Research Institute near Edinburgh, where I am researching practical sustainable parasite control solutions for hill and upland farms. Parasites are a major welfare and economic concern for farmers, costing the industry in excess of £40 million a year in production losses.
"Through my research I have had the opportunity to speak directly with many farmers across the UK about the impact of these on production, and with my design I wanted to highlight this 'hidden' challenge to the public.
"My design represents three of the major parasites of concern – sheep scab, roundworms and liver fluke – and also indicates where these parasites may be found within our Scottish landscapes."
Eilidh added: "As most of my artwork is normally detailed pet portraits completed with pastel pencils, painting this sheep in was certainly a challenge. The texture made drawing shapes like circles quite difficult, but with the natural landscape design I was able to work with the texture for areas such as the mountains, and I think this was ultimately quite successful."
It is hoped the trail will appeal to visitors of all ages while also raising awareness of causes related to farming, including regenerative agriculture, rural isolation and climate change.
As part of the campaign, there will be four opportunities, one in each area, to win a VIP Royal Highland Show experience for all the family. Budding artists can download a sheep outline from the Royal Highland Show website and create their own design to be in with a chance of winning.
