In september of 2019 Cathy Brett visited Harris and Lewis as a tourist and as an artist. Through the following winter and spring she developed a body of work in response to the overwhelming beauty of the islands and to the tourism industry. Her work in acrylics tends towards a more conventional and literal depiction of landscape, often incorporating wide wooden, sometimes square frames into the composition in a knowing or 'meta' reference to contemporary notions of image capture and photographs posted on social media. Similarly, her drypoint etching landscapes capture conventional Hebridean 'big sky' compositions, though each print has a unique 'monotype' cloud element to reflect the ever changing weather of the islands, and are hand-tinted with watercolour.

Cathy Brett is a professional author, illustrator and graphic novelist who has rediscovered painting and printmaking in late career, incorporating both into her illustration practice.

In a career that has included fashion design, illustration, book publishing and academia, her work as a painter and printmaker is now at the core of her studio practice.

Since completing an MA in 2017 Cathy has worked in collaboration with conservation projects, museums and charities, as artist or illustrator in residence, while also developing historical graphic novels, including 'Mary and Agnes', the true story of Mary Ann MacLeod/Trump and her Dundee pen pal Agnes Stiven (Cathy's gran).