Andy Goldsworthy at the Royal Scottish Academy

The main staircase of the Royal Scottish Academy has a new carpet. I’m smitten the moment I walk in.

Andy Goldsworthy at the Royal Scottish Academy 1
‘Wool runner’ Sheep fleeces on netting, 2025

‘Wool runner’ comprises dozens of fleeces bearing the farmers’ colour coding that signify the owner of the sheep or which ewes have borne twins. The fleeces are attached to netting by thorns. It is simple in concept and stunning in effect. I stop and gape. I have the feeling that the fleeces are running up the stairs close-knit(!) and enjoying their new freedom. Andy Goldsworthy could offer no better welcome to an exhibition celebrating fifty years of his astonishing work. 

Andy Goldsworthy at the Royal Scottish Academy 2
‘Fence’ Reclaimed barbed wire, 2025

At the top of the stars, I encounter ‘Fence’. Two doric columns are joined by multiple tense strands of barbed wire all reclaimed from farms. It jives with the fleeces and serves to emphasise Goldsworthy’s work on the land, obstacles encountered and boundaries pushed.

‘Wool runner’ and ‘Fence’ are just two of a number of site-specific works. The two chambers flanking the stairwell are each dedicated to installations that defy my photographic abilities. ‘Skylight’ depends on the light from a hexagonal skylight from which hundreds of stalks of reed mace (bullrushes) are hung giving an otherworldly beam-me-up feel. With ‘Gravestones’, Goldsworthy has covered the floor with rocks that were dug out of the ground and abandoned by the grave-diggers of 108 different Dumfrieshire graveyards. The work emanates the passage of time, abandon and sadness.

Andy Goldsworthy at the Royal Scottish Academy 3
‘Oak’ Branches of fallen oak trees. 2025

My first impression of ‘Oak’ is a floor covered by leafless branches. Viewed from one end of the room, though, I find that hundreds of similarly sized branches have been laid out in a gorgeous and angular symmetry that draws my eye and invites me to walk toward an intriguing and balanced serpentine work on the far wall.

Andy Goldsworthy at the Royal Scottish Academy 4
‘Fern Drawing’ Ferns and thorns. 2025

I can’t help it. I walk in close and examine how Goldsworthy has made ‘Fern Drawing.’ I’m in awe. Just how much time has he spent on this? Further, will it outlive this exhibition?

Andy Goldsworthy at the Royal Scottish Academy 5
‘Flags’ Dyed cotton. 2020

A whole room is dedicated to ‘Flags’. There are fifty. They have different hues of an earthy colour that hum to the theme tune of this exhibition. I have to turn to the exhibition guide for the backstory. ‘Flags’ is a commissioned work for the Rockefeller Center in New York. Each flag is dyed with the reddest earth that Goldsworthy could find in each of the states of the USA. He makes reference to the powerful connections us humans make between earth and flags. He hopes that the boundaries and cultural differences currently associated with flags could be transcended and would no longer be a source of division.

As I move through the other rooms, I discover a sumptuous tribute to the decades of imagination, creativity, determination, technical expertise and environmental concerns of one of Britain’s best-known contemporary ‘artists.’ The photographic history presented here focuses on his ephemeral and temporary works. I adore these; their creativity is, intentionally, given by the second law of thermodynamics. Goldsworthy understands entropy; that all things in the universe inevitably move to a more stable state.

Andy Goldsworthy at the Royal Scottish Academy 6
Feathers plucked from dead heron and cut with a sharp stone. 1982

I stand in front of a photograph of one of Goldsworthy’s most iconic and exquisite temporary works; it is made from the feathers of a dead heron. I become aware of something I feel whenever I look at Goldsworthy’s work. Something beyond admiration. It creeps up on me. It’s a kind of jealousy that sits somewhere between ‘It’s not fair!’ and ‘I could have done that!’ ‘It’s not fair!’ that one person can have such a wide-ranging imagination. ‘I could have done that!’ is instantly followed by the obvious autoreply: ‘Well, I didn’t, did I! 

Andy Goldsworthy at the Royal Scottish Academy 7
Still from ‘Maine Coastline’ Video 2021

I am not a fan of videos in an exhibition. They tend to the banal and steal minutes of my life. I see a group of ten people transfixed by a screen showing a rocky Maine coast. Sea weed heaves and swirls gently as the tide comes in. I look at the guide. It lasts twenty-nine minutes! Nevertheless, I join the others. One says ‘I don’t believe this!’ Another says ‘He’s gonna die!’ The tension is palpable. And then I get it. Andy Goldsworthy has buried himself in the sea weed. At twenty eight minutes, in soaked tee-shirt and jeans, he emerges only when the rocks and sea weed are entirely covered by sea water. We all clap!

Andy Goldsworthy at the Royal Scottish Academy 8
‘Black sand, Morecambe Bay, Lancaster’ Photo 1976

This portrait of the artist as a young man is now more famous than whatever it is he was working on in Morecambe Bay. He just felt he was engaging with the world. By the way, I couldn’t have done that!

Bravo Andy! Top bloke!

Do not miss this exhibition. It ends on 2nd November.

The Giant Flower Bee in Geneva

Giant flower bee 1

It’s the middle of summer and a heat wave has been pressing down on Geneva for weeks. To escape it for a bit, I’m in town with the boys and their dads. We’ve just played laser tag in Eaux-Vives and decided to stroll down through Parc des Eaux-Vives, aiming to catch one of the paddle steamers on the lake to take us back home to Versoix. I’ve been here many times. We used to live here about ten years ago, and it’s still one of my favorite spots in the city. There’s always something happening and something to see. Robin and I came here a few years ago for the sculpture park, which was awesome. And this time, the park delivers once again.

Giant flower bee 3

In a green patch right next to that well known building where peace talks are often held stands a bee. A giant bee made entirely of plants. We stop and take a closer look. Usually, the boys are terrified of buzzing insects, but they find this one fascinating. And so do I. A sign nearby tells us that the bee is made of 1,300 plants attached to a metal frame. The structure is covered in mesh, filled with soil, and planted in April. The plants are then cared for indoors until the bee is “released” into the city at the end of May.

Giant flower bee 2

Apparently, this floral bee was first created in 1999 for an exhibition in Italy and has since traveled through several towns in Switzerland. Google tells me that the “beekeepers” are the same gardening crew responsible for Geneva’s famous Flower Clock. They clearly know what they are doing. It is a beautiful sculpture, in a beautiful location, and a perfect reminder of just how important biodiversity really is. Without bees, there would be no pollination, and humankind simply would not survive. Well done, Geneva.

Briony Carnachan’s Left Hand Wine

Briony Carnachan's Left Hand Wine 1

I’m in St Arnaud, South Island, New Zealand. I’m catching up with my friends Nick and Anna. Supper is perfectly grilled venison filets. They’re served with a fresh salad and new potatoes from the garden. ‘You’ll enjoy this,’ says Nick. He’s aware of my near-addiction to the fulsome and beguiling New Zealand pinot noir wines that simply continue to improve. He shows me a bottle with a modest but stylish label. ‘Left Hand, Pinot Noir’ must be a unique moniker for a wine. Nevertheless, bottom left of label there is a small imprint of a left hand. I look at him questioningly. ‘My cousin, Briony, made this’ he says with a note of pride. ‘She’s a star!’ I’m thinking there can’t be too many female winemakers out there.

‘Why the Left Hand?’ I ask.

‘She’s the left-hand winemaker at Paddy Borthwick’s winery.’

‘Who’s the right-hand winemaker?

‘Paddy Borthwick!’ Nick’s now grinning. My intrigue is obvious. ‘Paddy’s the owner and winemaker at the Borthwick Estate Winery. He and Briony divvy the best pinot noir grapes from every harvest and each does their level best to produce a better wine than the other.’ I’m liking this narrative. Go Briony!

Nick pours me a glass. The depth of colour surprises. I smell it, swirl it and smell it again. Quality is not in doubt. I taste it. Something moves within me. This pinot noir has cannily awoken my pharyngeal sensorium to the exclusion of other faculties. Nobody notices that I’ve gone awfully quiet. Mute, I can only look at what’s in my glass. This is a wine that calls out to me.

The following morning, the red fruit fragrances of the Left Hand still have central place in my nasal cavity and sinuses. ‘Nick, where’s the Borthwick Estate Winery?’ I ask over breakfast.

‘The Wairarapa. North Island. Call in on her on your way back up to Auckland.’

‘I might just do that’ I reply knowing perfectly well that I’ll do just that.

Briony Carnachan's Left Hand Wine 2

Briony welcomes me from among the barrels of the winery. It’s a hot day but the air inside is cool and hung with the familiar yeasty, grapey, concretey, cold-metallic smells that are part and parcel of a visit to any wine-making enterprise. Her right-handed handshake is firm; a working hand. ‘So, Robin, what’s your wine story?’ she asks. This catches me unawares. I want to know about her and the Left Hand.

‘Urm… I’m not sure I have a wine story.’ This sounds feeble.

‘Sure, you do!’ she replies with a knowing smile. ‘That’s why you’re here!’

Fair enough! I describe myself now as a lover of wine who talks about wines with more enthusiasm than knowledge. Long ago, at university, my interest went little further than enjoying some wines more than others. The all-male chatter-boast was about Clarets, Burgundies and Sancerres. I didn’t know that it was possible to talk about wines in terms of what they were made from rather than the valley in which they were made. Non-French wines didn’t get a look-in. In my mid-thirties, I moved to Geneva, Switzerland. The prevailing French culture revealed the full extent of my ignorance about wine; an ignorance which I managed to dent somewhat through tasting courses and tours of vineyards. I tell of being stupefied by the quality and affordability of New Zealand’s wines that, in my opinion, should make their far-European ancestors bashful in their ordinariness. My preference for pinot noir and the story of the Left Hand have piqued my interest. Here I am! There, Briony! I say to myself. That’s my wine story. What’s yours?

Briony Carnachan's Left Hand Wine 3

Briony doesn’t give of herself and deftly avoids her own story by giving my visit her undivided attention. We start by tasting the Estate’s white wines drawing straight from the vast stainless-steel vats. After sampling the riesling, sauvignon blanc, pinot gris and chardonnay – all of which give off far more citrus than I am used to – I admit that my sense of taste is discombobulated. Yes, if prompted, I can catch some melon here or peach there and something floral. Briony notes my inability to articulate completely what I’m tasting.

We move on to what I came here for: the oak barrels that house the wine from the vineyard’s eight clones of pinot noir. Her glass ‘barrel thief’ dispenses samples into a wide tasting glass. I’m much more at home with this and am amazed that one varietal from one vineyard can give rise to such diverse wines. To help me along, she uses a broad range of descriptors that I can relate to such as ‘colour,’ ‘body,’ ‘oak,’ ‘tannins,’ ‘plum,’ ‘raspberry,’ ‘caramel,’ ‘coffee,’ and ‘vanilla.’ She explains how different clones combine to give the most promising wine and she’s gratified that I’m already familiar with the story of her Left Hand. We chat some more. The defences drop. She tells me how her Left Hand represents the pinnacle of her winemaking journey. She can prove to her most discerning – and mostly male – contemporaries that she can do it. I dig a bit deeper. Her Left Hand is deeply personal. It displays her aspirations, competence and determination. She tells me she has put more than her heart and soul into this wine; she has actually had her hands in it; her sweat; her tears. If Briony was an accomplished painter, this would be her acclaimed self-portrait.

Briony Carnachan's Left Hand Wine 4

I’m invited to supper with Briony’s family. Such uncommon hospitality is common in this country. Her husband, Hamish, barbeques a couple of spatchcocked chickens each with a dusting of herbs. Seventeen-year-old Isla, prepares a salad. Her dressing is made from a local olive oil cut with lemon juice; it hints at freshly cut grass and pepper. Fox, fourteen, strums his Fender Stratocaster. I sit next to Briony and listen to her wine story.

Briony left University in 1997 with a science degree focussing – usefully – on plant pathology and chemistry. She wanted to do something creative. Her father suggested winemaking. She headed to Lincoln University for a post graduate year studying grape-growing and winemaking. Over the next seven years she gained valuable experience in four different wineries in New Zealand, one vintage in California and another in Australia. In 2005, seeking a still more eclectic base on which to build her winemaking skills she took herself to a small vineyard in the Gard in Southern France. ‘This was one of those life experiences that make you grow’ she tells me. ‘I worked for a small family winery that owned and picked around 200 tons of red varieties. I lived alone and spoke no French and there was not an English speaker among the people I worked with.’ However, with the help of her French-English dictionary, she got along and soaked up the experience. The owners were sad to see her return to New Zealand.

From 2006 to 2013 she worked as a laboratory manager and later as a winemaker for a large-scale producer in Auckland. During this time, she and Hamish started their family. Not wanting to raise their children in a city environment, they moved south to the Wairarapa where she eventually joined the Borthwick Estate Winery in 2018.

I ask Briony what impact having children has had on her winemaking. Wrong question. Not a lot apparently, thanks to Hamish. They’ve managed and managed well. What impact has her winemaking had on her children? Right question. She has been able to show them the value of passion and perseverance; the prerequisites for good winemaking. Inevitably, the Covid-19 pandemic was a major stress for her professionally and for her family. Determined not to miss a vintage, she moved into the vineyard for the lockdown and was only able to hug at a distance when the family delivered food for her. Undaunted, she picked grapes and made wine. Now she looks back on that time as an achievement. Even though the children hated it, they learnt to appreciate their mother’s determination.

I’m served a succulent portion of chicken and help myself to salad. I notice Briony has put a bottle on the table. It is a Left Hand from 2018. ‘This was the first Left Hand I made’ she says. ‘It’s improved nicely.’ With a confident smile, she pours some into my glass. It has the faintest tawny hue. This is the summit of her wine story and probably mine as well. I smell it. I swirl it. I smell it again. I taste it. I am, as the Americans say, all outa wows.