Feature by Sian Jamieson
Orkney Makers’ Day 2009
1 Oct 2009 in Orkney, Visual Arts & Crafts
Bringing Craft Makers Together
SIAN JAMIESON reports from HI-Arts latest Makers Days event on Orkney
ALL WE could do was look on and giggle nervously as the Pentland Ferry drew in closer to Gills Bay, on what was a wild and windy late September lunchtime. The ferry had been delayed earlier due to the weather, and I couldn’t help but wonder whether it was still safe to travel across the Pentland Firth towards what has always been an island I have longed to see, Orkney.
The ferocity of the waves looked as if they were toying with the ferry; I had to remind myself that it goes out every day, and probably in worse weather. As a confirmed central belt Scot who traversed the A9 to settle and work in Inverness four months ago, I had never truly appreciated the extremes, remoteness and beautiful isolation that make up the Highlands and Islands of Scotland.
Orkney Makers Day (25 Sep 2009)
These are three elements which have attracted people, as tourists and migrants, over many years, and elements which have had a profound and unique influence on artists and makers for many more years. Which brings me to why I was sat on a ferry bound for Orkney. For the next four days the crafts development team at HI-Arts and fifty makers from across Orkney, Shetland, the Western Isles and the Highlands were to come together to discuss and share experiences on a topic close to their hearts – Crafts.
Crafts have long been an important contributor to the traditional and contemporary culture of Scotland, and the Highlands and Islands has provided a natural home for craft makers and artists, drawing inspiration from the beauty of the environment. The Scottish Arts Council (SAC) has recognised the integral part craft plays, not only in the culture of Scotland and its economy, but in the lives of its inhabitants, and set out in 2002 to ‘develop the infrastructure to enable a broad range of people throughout Scotland to experience and appreciate the best of contemporary work.
Through its own work, HI-Arts has endeavoured to engage a broad audience in the appreciation of crafts as well as providing support, business advice and professional development for crafts people across Scotland. HI-Arts craft development has been spearheaded by Pamela Conacher since 2008.
The Pier Arts Centre, Stromness, Orkney (© Sian Jamieson)
She has coordinated a series of Makers Days designed to give those within the craft sector opportunities to meet other makers, share and learn from each others experiences, as well as provide advice on funding, marketing and business development.
Previous Makers Days were designed to give crafts people a reason to spend a whole afternoon, or as we have lovingly dubbed it, a ‘craft-ernoon, to talk about nothing other then crafts; their passion, their inspiration, their lives. The Orkney Makers Day was unique in that it allowed this forum to be extended beyond the craft-ernoon to a fully fledged three day operation.
Over the course of the trip the makers who had travelled from places such as Lerwick, the Isle of Tiree, Plockton, Harris, Findhorn and Papa Westray were invited to attend an informal reception at the impressive Pier Arts Centre in Stromness, to explore the Orkney Crafts Trail, travel the one and a half hours to Westray, dine in the fine Helgis eatery in Kirkwall, and then to top it all off come together to discuss crafts under the banner of the Makers Day.
This not only provided the opportunity to unearth the true nature of crafts in Orkney, but it allowed them as individuals to connect with one another, establish new networks and most importantly come together as friends in an open, supportive and understanding environment at the culmination of the trip.
Birsay landscape, Orkney (© Sian Jamieson)
One of the biggest hurdles craft makers in the Highlands and Islands face is the sense of isolation they feel, not only geographically, but also within their chosen profession. In general there is a misconception of what crafts actually is, and it is often seen as a ‘hobby or not a ‘real job.
Lizza Hume, who runs the successful Hume Sweet Hume with her sister Jenna on Westray, demonstrated this best with a story about a visitor to her shop, who believed that the reason there were so many makers in Orkney was because there were no real jobs available. But craft makers are artists, they are professional and they are incredibly gifted.
Makers Days are designed to reinforce the reality of professional crafts. Bringing makers together reaffirms in their minds the importance and professionalism of their chosen careers, and also provides the opportunity to develop business and marketing skills to reinforce the real image of crafts for their customers and wider society.
Hearing their stories I came to understand the effect this perception and reputation of crafts has had on its makers. Successful and internationally recognised craft makers, Wendy Inkster of Burra Bears on Shetland, and Eoin Leonard of Belgarth Bodhrans on Orkney, both spoke of their ‘accidental careers.
Hume Sweet Hume, Westray, Orkney
Leonard was particularly honest in admitting that initially creating his now spectacular ancient-looking single-headed drums had indeed been a hobby. He and his wife Jane had no idea how much their product would come to be in demand. A perfect example of the power of word of mouth, Leonard has now worked full time since 1998 to produce drums. “The sensible day job went”, and he now runs a hugely successful business.
Inkster, or the ‘Bear Lady, tells a similar story of making a keepsake bear for her sister in 1997 out of a recycled hand-knitted Fair Isle woolly jumper. As more and more people asked for a bear, similar to her sisters, out of their own jumpers or those of fond relatives, Inkster soon found the confidence and the belief that she could do this for a living. Elements of these inspiring stories can be found within the stories of all craft makers.
Craft is a personal endeavour; ultimately each one of these makers is putting themselves and their work out there to be judged. I found this truly inspiring and encouraging. The passion, commitment and dedication to crafts as a sector demonstrates its sustainability for the future, but this is reliant upon the support of local councils and the national government.
It was interesting and enlightening to hear three arts development officers, Clare Gee of Orkney Islands Council, Hazel Hughson of Shetland Arts, and Elsie Mitchell of Comhairle nan Eilean Siar of the Western Islands, talk of the level of support they were able to provide the sector.
Evening Reception at the Pier Art Centre (© Sian Jamieson)
While crafts in Shetland receives a high level of support through projects geared towards the development of individual makers and craft groups, and works hard to promote the contemporary application of indigenous craft, the Western Isles shares one part-time arts development officer whos commitment to and vision for crafts cannot be fully realised in the limited time available to them.
These discrepancies of support from councils for arts may be disheartening, but to see the level and quality of work to come out of poorly supported areas is what must be taken away and remembered.
Aside from the beautiful setting provided by Orkney, the island also provided a context for how collaboration between crafts people can truly benefit the professionalism and ability to enable crafts to provide a living for its makers. The now established Orkney Craft Trail, based upon the various Whisky Trails dotted across Scotland, was established in the 1990s and is maintained by the Orkney Crafts Association (OCA).
The Woolshed, Member of the Orkney Craft Trail, Evie, Orkney (© Sian Jamieson)
The Craft Trail was designed to provide support for professional crafts people by promoting their unique and beautiful products. The Craft Trail made up an important element of the Orkney Makers trip, and the fifty intrepid makers traversed the Orkney mainland and Westray, visiting and meeting with their peers.
If there were ever to be a template for how crafts, as a respected, professional and sustainable artform, should be moulded, it would have to be taken directly from Orkney and its islands. For what emerged from the trail and the trip was that here in Orkney crafts is not just a profession, a job or an artform, this is a culture.
This idea that craft is culture is embedded in the way makers perceive what they do. This is not simply a job, it is a lifestyle. The trail exemplifies this. As you wander between the makers workshops set against the backdrop of their homes and on some occasions farms, you get a real sense of how their craft is reflected in their lives.
Dawn Cawthra-Hewitt, a Morayshire based textiles maker, described how important it is to be true to yourself as a crafts maker and equally so to have the support and advice of other makers to understand the value of what you are doing, to generate that sense of self-confidence needed to be successful on your own terms.
Whether this is opening a shop-front, being part of a craft trail or being at ease with life and making what you love more then anything else in the world. Like all art forms, being an artist, a maker, being creative, it is clear that ultimately this is not work, this is life.
HI-Arts would like to thank the all the Makers who attended, the Orkney Craft Association and the Pier Arts Centre for the trip could not have been such a success without their help and support.
© Sian Jamieson, 2009
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