Callanish is a prehistoric site on Lewis in the Outer Hebrides. It was probably used as a kind of temple doubling up as a calendar to track the movements of the heavenly bodies, especially the long and wandering cycle of the moon. This painting was made on-site in front of the subject.

The weather changes minute by minute in the Outer Hebrides, hence the subtitle, ‘the sky moves sideways’, which is a reference to a song by the band Porcupine Tree.