The Falkland Islands may have become famous as a result of the war in 1982 but many people do not realise that there is much more to the Islands than the mud and rain and miserable weather that was depicted by the press during that period. Charles Darwin visited the Islands twice but although he was not particularly complimentary due to the bad weather he experienced while here he is alleged to have used his experiences in the Islands to help reach his conclusions in the Origin of the Species. 

There are a couple of facts about the Falkland Islands that few people know about.  Firstly the islands are not on the edge of the Antarctic but are the same distance from the South Pole as London is from the North Pole.  The other fact is that if you travel West from the Islands  the first land-mass you meet is South America,  and if you travel East, again the first land-mass you meet is South America!

There are wonderful landscapes to paint -the land mass being about a quarter of the size of Wales and with all the smaller islands covers the area of Wales -or if you are from North America the land area is the same as that of Connecticut-. Besides the rugged hills and wide open spaces, there is also the seashore with beautiful white sands stretching in some instances for miles.

Around the Islands there are also a number of wrecked sailing ships from the age of sail. These make interesting subjects for the lovers of the rich colours of rusting steel and sun bleached wood. Personally I do not make a habit of painting the wildlife but for those who wish to do so there is no shortage of subjects from huge elephant seals, penguins galore and majestic albatross to the tiny Cobbs wren darting about on the sea shore margins.

One of the great features of the Islands is the wonderful huge skies; these are made all the more amazing due to the clarity of the air so that on a fine day they are crystal clear. This also makes the light very bright and has been compared with that of the South of France.