Inspired by a close reading of Soil and Soul, (McIntosh 2004) 2017 saw the successful amalgamation of Russell’s environmental journalism and desire to make ecological art.

The book uses a case study of a proposal to establish a massive super-quarry in the pristine landscapes of southern Harris in the Scottish Hebrides and details the islanders’ resistance and eventual success in halting the project after a thirteen year public enquiry, known as The Battle for Roineabhal).

In response Russell produced a series of sculptures that recognised the mountain as a geo-socio catalyst in a body of work entitled “Solte Teine: Seeds of fire and the Mythopoesis of a Mountain”.