This July 2010, we talk to Suzanne Shearer who runs (with her partner Mark Sinclair) North Rock Gallery in Lerwick on the Shetland Isles.

Suzanne talks about her experiences of opening the gallery and shop last year, her online presence and how she selects work for the business.

Exterior of North Rock Gallery

Tell us a little about your background:

North Rock Gallery is run by myself Suzanne Shearer and my partner Mark Sinclair. We have both been busy building up our own creative businesses for the past 7 years. I am a textile designer maker specialising in printed textiles which have a nostalgic and whimsical take on Shetlands Heritage and Culture. Mark is a photographer specialising in landscape and architectural photography.

Could you tell us about the background to opening North Rock Gallery, and when you opened?

Initially Mark was looking to rent a studio space and was interested in having gallery space to display and sell his photographs, with one toddler and another baby on the way working from home was becoming increasingly difficult. When the offer of the shop came up we couldn’t resist going for a look. The shop had great potential, we could see that we could fit in a shop on the ground floor, a bright and airy gallery space on the middle floor and our workshops on the top floor.

We got the keys in April 2009 and after 6 weeks of non stop re-decorating by Mark and his Dad, there were some questionable paint choices and floor coverings which needed to be removed, we were ready to open in Mid May 2009.

Interior of North Rock Gallery

Was the location of the gallery important to you?

In terms of the wider location, we were both born and brought up on the Shetland Islands and after time away on the mainland to study and work we settled back in Shetland and that’s where we are happy to stay. It is a great community to live in, especially with a young family. It’s a creative and inspiring place to live and any development in our business was going to be based here.

In terms of its precise location we knew that we wanted to be in the centre of town where there is a buzz of activity and where the buildings each have their own character.

Interior of North Rock Gallery

How do you select work for the gallery?

We like to keep up to date on local artists work by following their blogs and websites, by word of mouth and customer recommendation as well as by chatting to them when they visit the gallery.

On selecting the actual work, its a joint decision between Mark and I, we have to both like the artists work and see the potential for our customers to like it too.

Our aim is to offer for sale accessible and affordable art so the scale and pricing of the work is important.

The Gallery is currently exhibiting the work of four local artists, it is important for us to showcase local artists work but likewise we also think its important to introduce new artists to the local buyers and we hope to do more of that into the autumn.

How do you plan your buying for the gallery?

In the upstairs Gallery we aim to have three full re-hangs a year, while always changing and updating the exhibits as pieces sell.

In the downstairs shop where we sell design led gifts the stock is updated monthly but planning for this is done at several key times of year.

Do you attend Trade and Craft Fairs and/or do a lot of sourcing online?

We do attend trade and craft fairs but the majority of our sourcing is done online. Living in Shetland with two small children doesn’t make the big trade fairs all that accessible and I find sourcing new stock online means we are stocking items not found in every other gallery shop.

North Rock Gallery

Tell us about your new website which launches this summer.

We were keen to build on the success of the Gallery by making our products available nationwide and beyond. We have had a lot of visitors to the shop asking us if we had a website so they could buy our products when they get home and when people continually say the same thing then it’s silly not to listen.

The website will be selling a large range of the design led gifts and homewares we currently stock in the shop as well as giving people information about the artists currently exhibiting in the upstairs Gallery space.

We’ll have a blog attached to the website so people can keep up to date with the goings on at North Rock Gallery.

The website has been designed by local company NBCommunications, its now nearly ready and we think it looks great, I’m really excited about its launch.

Do your use social media such as Facebook & Twitter to promote the gallery?, and if so, how successful do you feel it is in promoting what you do and generating income for you?

Yes, I think social media is a great promotional tool, it’s a quick, cheap and easy way of keeping people up to date with the changes and new stock arriving in the gallery. Also very importantly it keeps us in touch and connected to our customers, Facebook especially allows for a great two way dialogue and almost instant feedback on a new product or designers work.

North Rock Gallery

When are your busiest periods?

The summer tourist season is busy, we’ve recently had the Hamefarin (Homecoming) celebrations here in Shetland and with that we have seen many new visitors to the Gallery from all corners of the world. The run up to Christmas is especially busy, there was a great buzz in the shop during December and last year we were glad to shut the doors at 5 o’clock on Christmas eve and have a few days to rest and recuperate!

Do you feel it is important to promote and sell the work of emerging makers/designers as well as established one?

Yes, it is good to provide people with a mixture of both established designers, so people can purchase work they are familiar with, and new designer/makers so people find something unexpected when they visit the gallery. Hopefully these new designers will become established favourites for our customers too.

You are a textile designer, and also run PhatSheep Textiles in Shetland, could you tell us a little about that?

I started phatsheep textiles in 2002, initially focusing my output on machine knitted Shetland wool fashion accessories which proved to be successful. In 2004 after completing a qualification in experimental printmaking I was converted to printed textiles. I love the crisp quality of printed images and using digital printing techniques allows me to play with many colour options for my designs. I mostly print on to cotton and linens and create fashion and baby accessories as well as homewares. The built and natural environment and the unique heritage of the Shetland Isles are a major influence on my textile designs. Croft Houses, Fair Isle Jumpers and Seabirds all feature in my work.

What are your plans for the gallery for 2010/11?

Looking ahead to the latter part of this year we are busy sourcing more artists work for the upstairs Gallery, I’m particularly interested in stocking more ceramics and glassware. I’m looking for new designers work to stock in the shop, I’m particularly loving Scandinavian design and those influenced by the current love for Mid Century Modern design.

It’s degree show time so I’m hoping that some emerging new artists and designers will be discovered over the next few weeks in time for our planned Christmas showcase.

Whose work are you coveting at the moment?

Lots of people, but I’m loving the new designs coming out in the autumn from Sandra Isaksson of Isak. The Hickory Dickory Clock we have in the shop by Andrea Williamson makes me smile everytime I see it and I have been adoring Ken Eardley’s Ceramics for some time now.

Suzanne Shearer, July 2010

Details:

North Rock Gallery

133 Commercial Street

Lerwick, Shetland ZE1 0DL

Tel: 01595 694644

Email: mail@northrockgallery.com

Website: www.northrockgallery.com

Facebook: www.facebook.com/northrockgallery

Twitter: http://twitter.com/NorthRockGaller