THE most northerly part of mainland Scotland has held such an allure for Ann Davidson she has painted it all of her life.

After growing up in Dornoch, then moving to Edinburgh for school and on to art school in London, Ann has forever yearned for the place she knows as home.

She still has links with the massive expanse of wild land and tiny settlements and visits regularly. Over the years her work has expanded to take in the stunning landscapes that lie beyond - to the north.

Her first solo exhibition in the Central Belt, North from Sutherland, on at the RGI Kelly Gallery in Glasgow, charts her travels to Iceland and Greenland.

"I think what got me when I was young, and it hasn't gone away, is that Sutherland is so big, so empty, and so beautiful and the thing that used to grab me was that nobody knows about it," explains Ann.

"That's actually not true anymore, with bridges and roads and the development of tourism.

"I was just desperate to tell people and that's why I always wanted to paint it. I remember when I went to school in Edinburgh and I used to take bits of Sutherland and put them in my locker: a bit of water from the river Helmsdale and a piece of bracken from the hill."

It was when Ann was studying textile design at Hornsey College of Art in London and wrote her thesis on life in Sutherland that she knew its landscapes would always be the main subject of her work.

Over the years her abstract landscapes have transformed into collage paintings, overlapping colours to create a multi-layered effect.

"I call my work 'paintings in sections' because they are conventional paintings but made in sections," she says.

"I colour the paper and I tear it, then I use the pieces. Sometimes when I'm painting, not a picture but a painting session, it can end up on a few pictures.

"There is a lot of wastage with the process because I colour lots of paper, sometimes huge sheets, and I keep the bits that are interesting or useful and put the rest to one side for another time.

"I work from memory and photographs but I like writing as well."

Ann will be demonstrating her collage technique in a masterclass at the gallery on April 18, following an illustrated talk.

It will bring to life the painstakingly detailed 28-stage process detailed on her website.

"1986 is the exact year I started working with collage. I used to do abstracted landscapes, which were supposed to just evoke Sutherland, and I had a piece of work on the floor and I put another one on the floor and I liked the way they came together," she explains.

"Then I realised I could do this on purpose, so I started to do collage.

"I take big pieces of coloured paper and fiddle about until I get what I want but I'm quite keen to tell other people about this because it allows for experimentation. I think all collagists enjoy that feeling.

"With this invention you can retain the image; it doesn't fall apart when you pick it up. The other thing is you can work on it vertically and then stand back and make judgments, which to me is crucial. Whereas if you work on it down on a tabletop you can't see it properly."

Ann's collage paintings on show in Glasgow are inspired by the land where she grew up in the post-war years, as well as the lave fields of Iceland and the ice of Greenland.

Cerulean and manganese blue washes perfectly convey the majesty of icebergs and glaciers, while heavy black gouache evokes the expanses of Icelandic lava fields. The cobalt blue water, smudged brows and atmospheric greys are unmistakably Sutherland landscapes.

"It took a bit of determination to get to these places because I don't like travelling on my own but I got there. Then I wanted to paint all three destinations," she says.

"Iceland is quite like Sutherland but very different whereas Greenland is very like Sutherland so in a way it was more novel to go to Iceland."

She says her dream of seeing "Sutherland exaggerated" has now been fulfilled, though because of issues such as global warming her work is very much retrospective, recording they way they were.

"In Greenland there were these beautiful ovals on the ice cap. I didn't know what they were and found out it was melt water," remembers Ann.

"I think it is natural for there to be some melt water but it turned out to be melting ice.

"Then my brother went and found the lakes much bigger. When I flew over and saw the coast of Greenland it had much less ice than I would have expected."

North from Sutherland by Ann Davidson runs at the RGI Kelly Gallery, 118 Douglas Street, Glasgow, until May 2. Ann's masterclass on April 18 is at 2pm, priced £10. Visit www.royalglasgow institute.org