A SCOTTISH-based artist has completed his mammoth "modern-day pilgrimage" walk from Aberdeen to Venice in time for the 56th Biennale.

Anthony Schrag spent almost three months walking 1,500 miles across a continent to reach the Italian city on Thursday.

The walk, commissioned by Huntly-based Deveron Arts, was set up as a work of art mirroring the endeavours of ancient pilgrims with the destination the "sacred site" of the art world.

Schrag, a Glasgow School of Art graduate, admitted that he was relieved to have completed the trek, but said that it had been worthwhile and that he was overwhelmed to reach the finish line.

He said: "It's hard to get used to not walking and I think it's going to take a few weeks for me to realise what I have achieved fully.

"The mental aspect of the walk was a lot harder than I thought it would be, and a lot of it was very, very lonely. There were days I would say about three words.

"But it has been a great experience and it is something that will always stay with me."

The Herald: Anthony Schrag arrives in Venice Anthony Schrag arrives in Venice
Schrag was born in 1975 in Zimbabwe, and studied creative writing at the University of British

Columbia, Vancouver, Canada before undertaking postgraduate studies in Fine Art at the Glasgow School of Art in 2005.

His shows and exhibitions include There Shall Be Blood at Timespan in Helmsdale, Tourist in Residence at the Edinburgh Art Festival and Rebelland at the Gallery of Modern Art in Glasgow (2007).

The 39-year-old set off in June from Huntly and walked across Britain and France before crossing the Alps and continuing on to Italy.