‘It was made to be painted’: Woman, 87, who survived stroke shares paintings from entire NC500 route

An 87-year-old woman living in Aberdeen has shared her paintings after travelling along the picturesque North Coast 500.

Judith Stephens made the trip along the famous Highland route with her son Quentin doing the driving.

She has lived in the Rosemount area of Aberdeen for seven years, after moving up from England, but always enjoyed travelling in the Highlands.

Mrs Stephens believes the scenery along the popular tourist trail “was made to be painted”.

‘It was absolutely mind-blowing ‘

“I’ve always been an outdoors person and I love the countryside. Despite the fact that we live in town” she said.

“Along the way, we would stop and say ‘that looks good’ and I would get out and sketch it. It was stunning. Absolutely mind-blowing.

The week-long trip took place in May in an attempt to try and avoid the worst of the midges.

Despite only beginning painting seriously five years ago, she managed to sketch dozens of scenic pictures on the busy trip.

“I’ve always drawn since I was a child, and then I got married and did nothing because I was looking after family.” she said.

“My husband died in 2015, so over the past five years I have been painting more seriously.”

“But I am 87 now so it won’t be for much longer.”

What are her painting secrets?

All of Mrs Stephens’ paintings follow a similar technique.

She always starts with a sketch of the scene, tackling the main objects in the frame and then filling in the rest. It usually takes her around half an hour.

Then, when she returns home, she uses watercolour paint to fill them in. This process can take much longer.

It took her months to fill in all the sketches from her NC500 adventure.

The Press and Journal previously shared paintings from Mrs Stephens in 2017.

Hand steady despite stroke

Despite having a stroke 20 years ago, the grandmother-of-two says her motor skills have not been affected.

Painting has kept her hand steady, and her attention span long.

Experts believe that painting not only keeps the mind active through concentration, it also promotes good mental health.

It is suggested to strengthen memory, provide stress relief, and encourage a positive attitude.

What painting is Judith’s favourite?

Mrs Stephens says her favourite painting is Achmelvie beach at Lochinver, 40 miles north of Ullapool.

She said: “It just looks attractive to me.

“I don’t like going to the beach or like sand. Well, I just paint what I like. And I like the sea.

“It’s tough to paint the waves. But I would go back there again and do it all over again.”