THE glorious settings of the Isle of Mull, Skye, Dumfries and Galloway and the remote Island of Soay, all play a major part in the new Fiona Clucas exhibition.

However, for fans of Fiona's paintings her latest solo show promises to be a visual voyage of discovery with works she's produced over several years on show for the first time: mixed media gouache paintings, graphite drawings, and oils both landscape and, surprisingly, still life, not the usual genre associated with the brush strokes of the renowned Witherslack-based painter. Nevertheless, captured as exquisitely as you would expect from such a tremendously gifted artist.

Highlands, Islands, and Still Life - which runs at Halecat, Witherslack, from Saturday, April 29, until Sunday, May 7 - is Fiona at the top of her game with the beauty of the natural world at the centre of her creative zone.

"I love the transient weather and light in Scotland," explains Fiona. "I love the drama of mountains and cloud, the myriad of colours in the sea and on sand, the way everything sparkles after rain and the wonderful wildlife that inhabit these magical places.”

Many of Fiona visits to Scotland she enjoyed together with her late husband Brian, who worked for the National Trust at Sizergh as a forester and estate manager, and was well-known and respected for his holistic approach to landscaping and planting. Their trips inspired Brian to write the poems that are included in Fiona's exhibition catalogue.

"Though I have often included flowers and other plant life in my landscape paintings I really began painting still life around four years ago," continues Fiona. "There is a real intimacy when painting flowers which I have found very grounding and healing.

"Flowers are symbols of love and loss. They are celebratory and consolatory and remind us that life is transitory and fragile, infinitely beautiful and precious."

Born in Liverpool, Fiona’s formative years were spent in Crosby before the family moved to Leicestershire where she lived before moving away to college.

She completed an art foundation course at Leicester Polytechnic in 1982, then went on to gain a BA in fine art at Gloucestershire College of Art in 1985.

Her mother had her own pottery and also worked as a picture restorer, and both grandparents on her mum’s side painted for a hobby.

Although no longer involved, Fiona is well-known as a founding member of Kendal’s Green Door arts group, set-up in 1995, and has worked with schools on many occasions, running workshops and inspiring budding young artists.

During her own school years she remembers two particular teachers who loved nature and encouraged pupils to be creative.

Highly revered far and wide, particularly for her birdlife paintings, Fiona was elected in 2013 as a full member of the Society Of Wildlife Art and has just been selected as part of a small group of artists from the society to visit and document the development of the Wallasea Island Wild Coast Project in Essex, a landmark conservation and engineering scheme on a scale never attempted in the UK and the largest of its type in Europe.

The aim of the project is to address the threats of climate change and coastal flooding by recreating the ancient wetland landscape, mudflats and salt marsh, lagoons and pasture.

Once completed it will provide a haven for a wonderful array of nationally and internationally important wildlife.

Fiona's Highlands, Islands, and Still Life exhibition at Halecat is open daily 10.30am-4pm.