In the Loop 3.5: Making Connections is a knitting conference that takes place from 31 July to 2 August, exploring the contemporary potential of knitting with a strong Nordic theme. At the conference participants will hear speakers who are experts in the field of textiles, including artists, curators, designers, knitters, theorists, and historians. In the Loop 3.5 is the fourth in a series of acclaimed knitting conferences initiated and led by Linda Newington from the University of Southampton Library, this year run in collaboration with Shetland Arts. The price to attend the whole conference is £75, and day packages are available for £15 for day 1, and £30 for days 2 and 3. Places can be booked via Shetland Box Office and the conference is open to anyone interested in attending.

Saturday 3 August will see the public opening of Lighten, an exhibition of textile art at Bonhoga Gallery by a group of ten textile artists from Finland, Iceland, Sweden, Norway and Denmark, exhibiting along with two Shetland artists. Interested members of the public are invited to attend the opening which runs from 11am-1pm, and/or to visit the exhibition which runs from 3 August to 15 September. There will also be a gallery talk by artist Bente Saetrang on Saturday 3 August from 1-1.30pm. Bente is a well known Norweigian textile artist who specialises in printing on fabric. All events at Bonhoga are free to attend and all are welcome.

Also on Saturday 3 August is Meet Shetland Textiles – a drop-in, free to attend, textile networking afternoon. Come along to the Upper Cafe Bar in Mareel from 2 -5.30pm and meet textile artists and craftmakers living and working in Shetland. A unique chance to meet with and find out all about the amazing textile work going on in Shetland. The textile artists available to meet on the day are: Emma Blain, Julia Downing, Ella Gordon, Margaret Hamilton, Wendy Inkster, Barbara Isbister, Jo Jack, Pearl Johnson, Elizabeth Johnson, Niela Kalra, Wilma Malcolmson, Roxane Permar, Barbara Ridland, Helen Robertson, Hilary Seatter, Wendy Shaw, Suzanne Shearer, Nan Smith, Hazel Tindall, Andrea Williamson, and Julie Williamson.

Textile enthusiasts can also look forward to the opportunity to join two ‘Textile Tours’ on Monday 5 August – one to the West of Shetland exploring open studios and textile centres, from NielaNell and Laurence Odie Knitwear to Jamieson’s Spinning Mill, and one to the North of Shetland inlcuding a special visit to the Unst Heritage Centre for a lace knitting exhibition. Both tours will go on sale via Shetland Box Office soon.

Shetland Arts is also looking for local knitters to sign up to take part in Own Our Own Time, a participative outdoor knitting circle project taking place on Thursday 1 August. Basic knitting skills are required. Own Our Own Time will take place at the Shetland Textile Museum at the Bod of Gremista on Thursday 1 August from 6-8pm. Anyone interested in taking part is asked to email admin@shetlandarts.org.

Knitters can also attend a drop-in afternoon of Swedish 2 ended knitting at Shetland Textile Museum on Saturday 3 August from 2pm (participants are asked to bring size 2.5 or 3 needles), or take part in an Estonian Knitting workshop in Mareel’s Green Room on Wednesday 31 July led by Kait Lubja (places will go on sale soon).

A number of exhibitions across Shetland will also play a part in the festival: a Nordic themed exhibition of contemporary textiles by Shetland College Students being shown at Shetland Museum & Archives during July and August, an international textile collection being exhibited at ASF Shetland (Ann Sutton Foundation, Sellafirth, Yell) in July and August, a Nordic Textiles exhibition at Shetland Textile Museum running from May to October, and a lace knitting exhibition at Unst Heritage Centre from May to September.

The Living Lerwick Fair Isle Festival & Street Market will also get involved with textile window displays and a Fair Isle knitwear-wearing bike ride from 4 – 11 August.

Shetland Arts’ Marketing Officer, Lisa Ward, said: “Textiles have long been important to Shetlanders, and the International Textile Festival aims to explore their contemporary potential and future in relation to the wider world, particularly the Nordic countries. We’ve already had lots of interest and we expect, with the launch of the full programme of activities, we’ll see even more people getting involved.”

Shetland Arts’ International Textile Festival has a strong Nordic theme and will cover the broad activity of textiles; including art, knitting, design, education, and business. More information about the International Textile Festival and its associated events can be found at www.shetlandarts.org/textilefestival

Source: Shetland Arts

Wild Flower Workshop With Fibre Artist Joanne B. Kaar Talk by Dr Seona Anderson from Plantlife International

Exhibition—Friday 28th June until Sunday 28th July 2013 Workshop—Saturday 29th June 2013, 2.00-4.00pm Talk— Sunday 30th June 2013, 2.00-4.00pm

From Friday 28th June until Sunday 28th July 2013 Caithness Horizons will be exhibiting patches from Wildflower Europe’s Patchwork Meadow Exhibition.

Fibre Artist Joanne B. Kaar’s kids workshop on 29th June will include making paper from plants and string from daffodil leaves.

Dr Seona Anderson from Plantlife International will be giving a talk on Sunday 30th June entitled “Wild Plants, Science and Mythology and how they are related – Theophrastus, Linnaeus and Robert Dick”.

Workshop suitable for children aged 7-12 years old. FREE but pre-booking is essential. Priority booking will be given to members of “Peter’s Pals” – Young Curators Club.

Please contact Caithness Horizons on 01847 896508 or e-mail info@caithnesshorizons.co.uk to book your place.

Source: Caithness Horizons

The aim of the project is to increase the skill set of Scottish craftsmen, be they existing stone masons or those who are considering embarking on this career, with a view to increasing the pool of talent that is available in the Highlands.

Last year, Richard worked with 9 apprentices who come from all over Scotland to learn the traditional craft of stone letter carving. One of the apprentices said ‘This is such a terrific opportunity. Richard is a wonderful teacher and I’ve learned so much over the last 2 weeks which I’ll be able to use in my career.’

If you’re interested in this terrific opportunity, please get in touch as places will be very limited. Costs of the course is £495 which includes lunches and refreshments.

Accommodation can be organised if necessary.

Caroline Hewat

Arts Development Manager

Gail Stuart Martin

Administrator

Cromarty Arts Trust

Ardyne

19 Bank Street

Cromarty IV11 8YE

P: 01381 600354

W: www.cromartyartstrust.org.uk

See us on Facebook

Source: Cromarty Arts Trust

The all-ages workshop Structure, rhythm, form accompanies Julie Brook’s solo Made, Unmade exhibition in the main gallery at Bonhoga which opens this Friday. The Art in the Landscape season is funded by Scottish Natural Heritage and Shetland Arts and is part of Scotland’s Year of Natural Heritage. It also celebrates the Shetland Nature Festival.

Julie Brook is a landscape artist based in Skye and her exhibition is both indoors and outdoors at Bonhoga. Her show indoors is film and photographic work exploring the relationship between suggested and constructed sculptural forms in the desert landscapes of Libya and North West Namibia. This exhibition of work has toured to Shetland from the Dovecot Studios in Edinburgh. Outside the gallery in Weisdale, Julie has constructed a unique site specific piece of land art which will also be open to the public.

Clair Aldington of Shetland Arts, said: “It is a privilege to have an artist of Julie’s standing creating a new work especially for Shetland here at Bonhoga. The workshop she’ll be leading is a great opportunity for folk to work with her to develop their drawing skills, and to hear more about her work in other parts of the world.”

In the other areas of Bonhoga Gallery, local artist and ranger Howard Towll has a selection of sketches and drawings of Shetland’s wildlife and nature. The show, Sketches, is displayed in the Lower Gallery in the café area. Also in the café, the Craft Cabinet is showcasing the work of local furniture maker Cecil Tait in an exhibition entitled Shetlandmade. The Stairwell Gallery is showing Scottish Natural Heritage’s Four Corners photography project, which aimed to get schoolchildren from the four corners of Shetland out exploring their local environments.  Pupils from Fair Isle, Foula, Unst and Bressay made visits to their local nature sites (the isles of Fair Isle and Foula, and the National Nature Reserves of Hermaness and Noss), documenting their experiences through photography.

All the above exhibitions run from 15 June – 28 July with a public opening from 6-8pm on Friday 14 July which is open to anyone to attend. Shetland Arts’ Art in the Landscape season will continue with other events over the summer.

Source: Shetland Arts

22nd June – 21st July 2012

(including silent auction for VOYAGE 22nd – 24th June)

Open 10am – 4pm daily

Free entry

An Talla Solais, Ullapool Visual Arts is launching VOYAGE: a journey in tiny steps alongside its major solo show this year, Approaching The Verge by Andrew Mackenzie.

VOYAGE is an exhibition of over 100 miniature works of art with the theme of journeying and travel. Artists and An Talla Solais members across Scotland were sent a 10 x 10cm square of wood to transform in any way they chose to fit this theme.

The squares have been transformed into paintings, sculptures and even books, representing myriad journeys from a barrel over the Niagara Falls, the voyage of the spinning moon and the final journey of them all, over the River Styx of Greek mythology into the great unknown. Exhibiting artists include Marian Leven, Will Maclean, Jan Miller, Peter White and Susie Reade, as well as dozens of others including people working with artist Frances Fogg in a community workshop in Ullapool in early June.

The VOYAGE exhibition is a fundraising project for An Talla Solais, the community-run art centre in Ullapool. As a charitable organisation without core funding, ATS is much in need of funds to continue its work enabling local communities to get involved in art through classes, events and exhibitions. The miniature artworks will be for sale throughout the exhibition, starting with a 3-day silent auction from Saturday 22nd – Monday 24th June (10am – 4pm daily) at which people can bid for their favourite pieces.

Andrew Mackenzie: Approaching the Verge

Andrew Mackenzie was born in Banff, north east Scotland, and graduated with an MFA from Edinburgh College of Art in 1993. He lives and works in the Scottish Borders.

His work has been exhibited extensively. His most recent solo exhibition was “Silver Between the Falls” with Sarah Myerscough Fine Art in London in October 2012, accompanied by an essay by Robert Macfarlane.

Other solo exhibitions include “Still Surfacing” with Sarah Myerscough in 2010, “Delicate Ground” with Amber Roome Contemporary Art, part of the 2006 Edinburgh International Festival; “Sunlight on Grey-painted Steel, Watching Water Rise” at The Talbot Rice Gallery Round Room, Edinburgh, 2003, and “New work”, Yorkshire Sculpture Park, Leeds, 2002.

Group shows include “Wider Than a Postcard”, Breeze Block Gallery, Portland, Oregon, 2013; “Drawn Away Together” at the Talbot Rice Gallery, Edinburgh, 2013; “A Parliament of Lines”, Pier Art Centre, Stromness, 2012 (including David Shrigley, Callum Innes, Graeme Todd, Moyna Flannigan, Charles Avery and Paul Chiappe, and touring to RMIT, Melbourne); “Evaluation of Space”, Rochester Art Gallery, 2012; “The Secret Confession”, Edinburgh College of Art, 2010; RSA Annual, Edinburgh, 2011 (invited artist); Fleming Collection Summer Show, London, 2011; ”New Commissions from Edinburgh Printmakers” at Edinburgh Printmakers Workshop, 2009; “The Birthday Party”, The Collective Gallery, Edinburgh, 2004; “Viewpoint”, National Galleries of Scotland, Banff, 2005; “ArtFutures”, The Contemporary Art Society, London, 2003, and “Past Standing” at The Changing Room, Stirling, 2003.

He has also shown his work in many international art fairs, including fairs in New York, Toronto, London, Chicago and Paris.

Awards include several Scottish Arts Council awards, a Hope Scott Trust Award and an Arts Trust Scotland Award. In 2011 he completed a major commission for Crown House, a new office building on Kingsway in London.

He is curating his first exhibition this year, opening in August 2013, called “paper planes”, in Stow in the Scottish Borders, showing work on paper by Callum Innes, James Lumsden, Alan Shipway, Graeme Todd, Philip Reeves, Mary Morrison and Bronwen Sleigh, among others.

Collections include Stobhill Hospital, Glasgow; The Fleming Collection, London; Royal Academy, London; Edinburgh City Art Centre; Bank of Scotland; Bank of America and Mayer Brown Global Law Firm.

Opening event Friday 21st June 6-8pm

An Talla Solais is next to the Village Hall on Market Street, Ullapool IV26 2XE

01854 612310

www.antallasolais.org

Source: An Talla Solais

Julie Brook is a British artist who works with the land, where her response to the forms and materials to hand is expressed through her work. Over the past twenty years she has lived and worked in a succession of wild and remote landscapes, creating sculptures, paintings, drawings and films.

During 2008/09 Julie Brook travelled and worked in the black volcanic desert in central Libya and in the Jebel Acacus mountains in South West Libya. The stark landscape influenced a corresponding shift in the way she made large scale drawings and sculptural work in situ. This led to further exploration in 2011/12 in the semi-desert of North West Namibia where the absolute nature of the light and shadow is expressed in the new sculptural work.

The work is transient and changes significantly according to the light and time of day it is seen. Brook explores these changes through film and photography which become in turn the expression of the work.

Julie Brook’s first solo exhibition since her return has just closed at the Dovecot in Edinburgh and the work for exhibition in Bonhoga will be coming directly from there. It is a great addition to the project that Shetland Arts is able to commission her to create a site-specific work for Shetland.

Jane Matthews, Shetland Arts’ Exhibitions Officer, said: “We’re extremely grateful to SNH for their support, enabling this project to happen, strengthening and celebrating the connections between art and the landscape in the Year of Natural Scotland.”

Julie will also be running a drawing workshop in the landscape, also funded by Scottish Natural Heritage, on the 15th June from 11am – 1pm. For more details and booking visit shetlandboxoffice.org or call 01595 745 555.

Source: Shetland Arts

All the squares were knitted by members of the public, or a member of the monthly Mareel knitting group, and will vary from full patchwork knitted blankets to tablemats and chairbacks of stitched knitted squares, donated to the project in response to a knitting challenge for knitters of all ages in Shetland. After Dementia Awareness Week all the knitting will be stitched into blankets and donated to various Shetland charities.

Members of the public are also welcome to come along to Bonhoga Gallery on Saturday 1 June from 10am to 4pm to join in on a ‘Sewing Up Day.’

Ann Williamson, Alzheimer Scotland’s Dementia Advisor, said “The installation will hopefully get everyone thinking about Dementia. The number of people with Dementia is set to double in a generation and it is important that communities are dementia aware and talking about the illness in order to be well informed.”

Source: Shetland Arts

New work by Lisa O’Brien

8th June – 14th August 2013

“Putting a pencil to paper and making a line is unexpectedly, and thankfully, life affirming.

My dad died last year, followed by my friend Joanna and our family dog, all within weeks of each other.

This is an exhibition of how drawing helped me to keep my head above water. For a few months, drawing everyday became a very centring experience and has ultimately changed the direction of my work.”

For more information please visit www.rhueart.co.uk

Source: Rhueart

‘My studio looks out over the meandering burn flowing through the valley in Weisdale. It is water that flows constantly, sometimes slowly and trickling in high summer surrounded by greenness, sometimes in full flood in winter over-spilling onto the brown land. Still and flowing water have always been significant elements in my painting.’

Time of day and time of year have also been strong influences for Peter. Early morning and the hour before sunset are usually the best, when the sun, if it’s around, casts a strange light over the landscape. One of his favourite times of year is winter when the elements of landscape are at their most minimal, though the stillness and lasting light of summer is also very special.

Time and water are just two of the many important elements at work in watercolour painting. That’s why, for Peter, this medium reflects so well the characteristics of landscape. Watercolour is almost a metaphor, and a microcosm, of the natural world.

There are, of course, plenty of other variables at work in watercolour painting, which include the quality and quantity of pigment and water, the angle of paper, the size and quality of brush, the air temperature, and the drying time.

The paintings in this exhibition were painted over the last three or four years and chart not only seasons, places, weathers and occasions but also a personal journey from bleakness to new horizons.

The work is increasingly concerned with light effects and ‘representation’ though that’s not to say that the work is realistically topographical. However the images are abstracted from real places.

The title is a quote from Argentinian writer Jorge Luis Borges and refers to the creation of works of Art, particularly the flow of poetry, and how Art mirrors Nature.

John Hunter, Shetland Museum and Archives Exhibitions Officer, commented on the collection: ‘To have the confidence to work with watercolours, in what looks like such an understated and minimalist way is in fact incredibly difficult and takes experience and knowledge. These paintings are imbued with the freshness, light and air of Shetland and often hold a meditative calmness. They may not be instantly recognisable locations but by recreating the essences of Shetland they are more personal and familiar. ‘

The exhibition runs from 18th May – 30th June 2013. For further information please contact John Hunter at the Shetland Museum and Archives on 01595 741559 or exhibitions@shetland-museum.org.uk.

Source: Shetland Museum and Archives

The artist will lead an informal walk and talk at the Pier Arts Centre on Thursday 16 May at 7.30pm. Admission is free and booking is not necessary.

Shearer commented ‘I am pleased to be able to talk about my work in the exhibition. I will be discussing aspects of drawing and the development of ideas – how I document material and take it forward to the printing process through looking at sketchbooks, drawings and prints, as well as talking about the processes involved in printing.’

In addition, as part of the Pier Arts Centre’s focus on drawing this spring, Curator Andrew Parkinson will be giving a presentation entitled Hoy – Artists’ source, influence & inspiration at the Hoy Outdoor Centre, Friday 17 May, 8pm. No booking is necessary and admission is free. For information on ferry times contact Orkney Ferries on 01856 872044

Alongside Charles Shearer drawings ~ prints ~ paintings A Parliament of Lines, a touring exhibition curated for the City Art Centre in Edinburgh is on display. The exhibition showcases the work of 14 artists, working at an international level, who have all passed through the Scottish art school system.

A Parliament of Lines and Charles Shearer drawings ~ prints ~ paintings will be on display from until 8 June 2013. The Pier Arts Centre Collection is on display all year round. The gallery is open Tuesday to Saturday 10.30am – 5.00pm. Admission is free.

The Pier Arts Centre
Victoria Street
Stromness
Orkney
www.pierartscentre.com

Graeme Taylor moved to Shetland with his family after gaining a degree in Fine Art in Wales. Since then he has been working to develop artworks reflecting the forces of nature that have shaped Shetland’s unique backdrop.

Shetland Arts has been working with Graeme in conjunction with Moving On Employment Project, to help him develop a body of work for exhibition. This is his first solo exhibition and will be displayed upstairs in Mareel outside Cinemas 1 & 2 until the end of August.

Shetland Arts’ Marketing Officer, Lisa Ward, said: “It’s been a privilege for Shetland Arts’ to work with Graeme and the Moving On Employment Project to display his work in this Forces of Nature exhibition at Mareel.”

The Moving On Employment Project is a charity-based organisation offering support to anyone over the age of 16 in Shetland with any barrier to employment. This can include physical and mental health problems, disabilities, or lack of confidence. It is based at Market House, Lerwick, however offer support, where possible, in all rural areas. For more information visit www.moep.co.uk or contact 01595 743926.

Source: Shetland Arts

Joan Fraser graduated with an MA in Art & Design at Gray’s School of Art and has worked for a number of years at the University of Aberdeen, leading learning technology design projects. Returning to Shetland she studied knitwear design at Shetland College and is currently setting up her textile business and developing a range of accessories in lambswool, cashmere and Shetland wool. Fair Isle patterns influence her designs for the infinite variety of combinations. Her favourite patterns are the old fillers, such as ‘seeds’ and ‘peerie’s’ which were traditionally used between the rows of larger motifs.

Monica Pothecary has been busy working on her own range of printed designs since graduating from the Shetland College with a BA in contemporary textiles last year. Her collection of cards is inspired by a collection of photographs taken over a number of years while riding her scooter around Shetland. She conveys a unique view of tradition with a fresh colour palette in a contemporary style combining hand drawing and digital techniques.

Angela Smith of Bonhoga Gallery said: ‘We are very excited about having the opportunity to launch the work of these two very talented designers and the response so far suggests they are going to do very well.”

Source: Shetland Arts

The Highland Institute for Contemporary Art’s current project is an extended exhibition/residency project with Liam Gillick, running from April – October 2013.

The project will be open to the public from 1 September and until 6 October. Further details will be issued nearer the time.

Documentation will be added to HICA’s website, as the project develops: www.h-i-c-a.org

HICA is a rural and remote artist-run space, located in the Highlands of Scotland. Its programme, through series’ of exhibitions and annual publications, re-examines ideas of Concrete Art, in order to consider their influence in current practice.

Since the late 1980s Gillick has developed a discursive approach to the making and understanding of artworks. His diverse output, ranging from objects and texts to film and music, is often seen as significant in Relational Art. Nominated for the Turner Prize (2002) and Vincent Award (2008) his numerous exhibitions include the Guggenheim Museum, New York; Museum of Contemporary Art, Chicago; 8th Shanghai Biennale, Shanghai, with solo exhibitions including The Whitechapel Gallery, London (2002); Palais de Tokyo, Paris (2005); and German Pavilion, Venice Biennale (2009). His works are held in many collections, including Arts Council, UK; Guggenheim Museum, New York; Museum of Modern Art, New York; Museum of Contemporary Art, Chicago; Tate, London.

Source: HICA

In The Loop 3.5 takes place in Shetland from 31 July to 2 August 2013, as part of Shetland Arts’ International Textile Festival which will run from 31 July to 5 August. Conference goers will hear speakers who may be artists, curators, designers, knitters, theorists, or historians. In the Loop 3.5 starts in Mareel then conference days 2 and 3 will transfer to Shetland Museum & Archives.

The official opening of the Shetland Arts’ International Textile Festival happens with the commencement of In the Loop 3.5 on 31 July. In the Loop3.5 is the fourth in a series of acclaimed knitting conferences initiated and led by Linda Newington from the University of Southampton Library, and run this time in collaboration with Shetland Arts, as part of the Festival. The conference will focus on making connections and the way textile cultures may develop in the 21st century, with a strong Nordic theme running throughout the conference and the Festival as a whole.

The Shetland Arts’ International Textile Festival is a festival for everyone, and will cover the broad activity of textiles including art, knitting, design, education and business. The Festival is about exploring the contemporary potential and future of textiles, making new connections, and learning from other textile cultures.

As part of the Festival, Shetland Arts will welcome a group of ten textile artists from Finland, Iceland, Sweden, Norway and Denmark, exhibiting along with two Shetland artists, in Lighten, an exhibition in Bonhoga Gallery from 3rd August to 15th September. The exhibiting artists will take part in the public opening of Lighten on Saturday 3 August from 11am to 1pm, and give gallery talks. The exhibiting artists will also be attending In the Loop 3.5. Three of the artists; Agneta Hobin, Gudrun Gunnarsdottir, and Ulla-Maija Vikman; are responsible for originating the international exhibition in collaboration with Shetland Arts.

The Festival will also include textile tours, gallery talks, and Meet Shetland Textiles, a free networking event for the public, textile makers, artists, knitters, designers, the exhibiting artists and delegates.

Over the International Textile Festival weekend, events will take place in Mareel, Bonhoga Gallery, Shetland Museum & Archives and other places in Shetland.

Tickets for In the Loop 3.5 went on sale yesterday, and in the coming weeks tickets for more Festival events will also go on sale. Tickets for the conference cost £75 for the full three days and are available to book now via Shetland Box Office in Mareel & Islesburgh, over the phone on 01595 745 555, or online here: http://www.mareel.org/learn/workshops-talks-masterclasses/shetland-arts-textile-festival/

For more information, including the programme for the Festival, see: http://www.shetlandarts.org/whats-on/festivals/international-textile-festival/

Source: Shetland Arts

We aim to make at least 171 special knitted patchwork pieces, stitched from sets of knitted squares of any size, or completed blankets. The 171 objects will be installed during Alzheimer Awareness Week in surprising or obvious places in and around the Foyer and Café in Mareel. The total of 171 represents the number of people in the Shetland community who have a diagnosis of dementia.

Ann Williamson, Alzheimer Scotland’s Dementia Advisor, said : “The number of people with dementia is set to double in a generation. It is important that communities are dementia aware and talking about the illness in order to be well informed. Knitting for Alzheimer Awareness will hopefully get everyone knitting and thinking about Dementia.”

Last summer the Shetland community responded to our first knitting challenge and generously donated enough squares and finished blankets to make a total of around twenty six knitted patchwork blankets, in only six weeks.

Squares and blanket pieces were knitted by people of all ages and delivered to Shetland Arts from all parts of Shetland. The completed blankets were sent from Shetland to Glasgow to contribute to Alzheimer Scotland’s successful attempt at breaking the world record for the biggest knitted blanket of 91,400 squares or 914 blankets measuring 1metre square. The individual blankets were donated to various charities.

For anyone wanting to join us in knitting squares, Shetland Arts and Alzheimer Scotland hold informal knitting afternoons on the last Thursday of each month in the Upper Café in Mareel, from 2- 4.30pm. Some knitters take their own knitting along or knit squares for the challenge.

Craft Development Officer at Shetland Arts, Hazel Hughson said: “Anyone can join us to knit, or to stitch squares together and for the challenge, Bonhoga Gallery Café will have yarn and needles available for anyone wanting to knit squares there. The knitting challenge is part of the various arts projects Shetland Arts are involved with or help facilitate for Alzheimer Scotland.”

Alzheimer Scotland and Shetland Arts welcome donations now of knitted squares of any size, in any type of yarn or colour, stitched together in strips or in bundles of loose squares. The collection points are Mareel Reception and Bonhoga Gallery.

Source: Shetland Arts

Saturday 27 April – Sunday 9 June 2013. Public Opening: Friday 26 April 6-8pm

Opening at Bonhoga Gallery on Friday night is an exhibition showcasing 4 very different artistic journeys that have taken place over the past year. The winners from the 4 categories of the Shetland Open Awards 2012 were given the opportunity to develop work for a group show, and Four Journeys from Blue is the result. Each came to the project from a very different standpoint, some with a wealth of exhibition experience, some with none, all with enthusiasm to create a new collection of work representing both a connectivity and development in practice.

The 4 women; Ria Moncrieff, Gail Harvey, Diane Garrick and Rachel Ross-Smith; have worked together from the outset, on the theme of journeys. They decided collectively to start by exploring the theme using film, a medium new to all of them. Shetland Arts provided a small hand-held camera to each and they went their separate ways.

Gail Harvey, a well-established painter, chose a whole new direction for her work and began crafting puppets that she used to create a film telling the story of a fairy called Fen. Rachel Ross-Smith used the camera to reflect changing colour in the seasons, Diane Garrick used hers to chart physical journeys she has made in the landscape, while Ria’s journeys are subjective and reflective, symbolic of her journeys through motherhood. These films are the glue that binds the exhibition together, a platform from which to view the very different styles of work on display in the gallery.

Gail explained that the exhibition gave her the opportunity to experiment: “In many ways this project has been waiting to surface since my childhood. Ever since I was able to use scissors (I remember those strangely useless plastic ones), I’ve been making little people and animals from all sorts of scraps of things. There were so many surprises.”

Jane Matthews, Exhibitions Officer at Shetland Arts said: “It has been a treat to work with such an enthusiastic group with such varying styles and experiences. Everyone has embraced the aim of the project wholeheartedly, developing their work in different ways and taking inspiration from each other. The result is a captivating exhibition for all ages.”

The exhibition preview is this Friday, 26 April, from 6-8pm and everyone is welcome. The exhibition runs until 9th June, complemented by the Bairns Open in the lower galley and new craft ranges in the cabinet.

Source: Shetland Arts

Saturday 18 May & Sunday 19 May 2013

From 10.30 am and throughout each day

Sligachan Hotel, at the foot of the Cuillins, Isle of Skye

Booking – essential

Launching Alec Finlay’s new work

còmhlan bheanntan | a company of mountains

Contributors to the weekend will include; Hanna Tuulikki, Alison Lloyd, Caroline Dear, Meg Bateman, a musical performance by Wounded Knee and 7VWWWVW: Here is Where, a tribute to Tom Weir and performance lecture on volcanoes by Ilana Halperin, Karen Holmberg and Andrew Patrizio.

Followed on Saturday evening by Ian’s Ceilidh in aid of Marie Currie

SAVE THE DATE – REGISTER INTEREST – BOOK NOW at e-mail below.

For full event details contact admin@atlasarts.org.uk or call 01478 617017

Source: ATLAS

3rd May – 28th June 2013

Opening Night 2nd May 6-8pm

Fred Schley speaks to us through the subtle settling of the light – its colour and its shadows – on the colossal and mysterious animistic creatures,

as mountains and rocks transformed and interpreted by his interior world, appear to us.

From; The Visible and Hidden Presence in the Work of Fred Schley, By Lidia Palumbi

In Gallery II – Sam Jones

POSSESSION

An Exhibition of Monochrome Landscape Photography of the Isle of Mull

3rd May – 28th June 2013

Opening Night 2nd May 6-8pm

Who possesses this landscape? –

The man who bought it or

I who am possessed by it?

False questions, for

this landscape is

masterless

and intractable in any terms

that are human.

It is docile only to the weather

and its indefatigable lieutenants –

wind, water and frost.

From A Man in Assynt, Norman MacCaig

Everyone is welcome to attend the opening night, refreshments will be served.

Source: An Tobar

Invited artists include Paul Barnes, Eduard Bersudsky, Colin Brown, Helen Denerley, David Kemp, Michael Forbes, Henry Fraser, Robert Powell, Ronald Rae, Ingebjorg Smith, Alan MacDonald, Illona Morrice and George Wyllie.

The show ends on the 1st June

http://www.kilmorackgallery.co.uk

Source: Kilmorack Gallery

Travelling Light is the exciting new exhibition opening at An Talla Solais (Ullapool Visual Arts) on 19th April 2013. The exhibition will show new work by seven artists invited to respond to the idea of the sailor’s ditty box, or traditional travelling bag. Each artist comes from a place in Scotland in which seafaring has long been a part of its culture: John Cumming, originally from Shetland, now lives on Orkney, as does Frances Pelly; Will Maclean in Dundee is originally from Coigach; David Cass is based in Edinburgh; Ian Stephen and Christine Morrison are from Stornoway on the Isle of Lewis and Peter White, working with poet Jon Miller, is from Ullapool.

Supported by Creative Scotland, this exhibition will be a unique opportunity to see the work of these acclaimed artists exhibited together. The work on show will include sculpture, painting and printmaking and will reflect on the idea of the ditty box as a focus of identity, departure and travel. Ullapool is the perfect venue for this show, being a thriving port with fishing and seafaring central to its history and its current culture.

Originally drawn to the subject through voyages around the Outer Isles as part of the Sea Change project by Cape Farewell in 2011, John Cumming has been reflecting on the relevance of the ditty box to the contemporary world for some time. He says: On the deck of a boat the sky is immense, the horizon uncluttered. The individual seems small and the ocean infinite. By contrast, below decks there is no private space, everything is commonly owned and occupied. For seamen it has always been thus, hence the need for a small token of one’s own individuality; one’s history, maintenance and hopes sealed within a hand-sized box. The ditty box became an artists’ space in which to explore these themes.

Alongside the exhibition, An Talla Solais is running a series of community activities to explore the connections between the sea, voyaging and art. These will include art workshops led by Eleanor White, a sketchbook walk exploring Ullapool’s seafront, a box-making workshop using boatbuilding skills, a night of film screened at Ullapool’s Harbour and opportunities to sail on the sgoth Jubilee, the 1935 fishing vessel that will sail over from the Isle of Lewis during this project under the auspices of the Falmadair (the North Lewis Maritime Society). The artwork made during these activities will be added to the exhibition to create a growing display of work inspired by the theme.

Exhibition opens Friday 19th April, 7pm for a walk round the show with John Cumming and Ian Stephen (free)

Exhibition runs 20th April – 19th May, open 10am – 4pm daily; free entry; all welcome

For information on all activities related to the show including how to book, see our website http://www.antallasolais.org/travelling-light-activities.

Source: An Talla Solais

As previously the exhibition will be held in windows throughout Stromness. The windows are sited along the main street from the Pierhead to the Museum. Stromness Museum will hold a display about Open Windows exhibition in their foyer. Northlight Studio in Graham Place will once again act as the informal hub for the two weeks.

Last time artists did not work to any exhibition title, the 2013 exhibition will be different – the artists will interpret the John Rae inspired exhibition title– No Ordinary Journey. They hope this will offer artists a stimulating theme, with room enough for wide interpretation and giving the exhibition a connection between the artworks. Artists need not make work about John Rae necessarily, but they are asked to interpret the wider theme suggested by the title – No Ordinary Journey.

Open to visual arists living in Orkey. Contact openwindows@btinternet.com for details.

Stromness 1-15 September 2013 VISUAL ARTS EXHIBITION

No Ordinary Journey

Open Windows – The Street is the gallery.

Register your interest by 25 April to take part.

Source: R Marr

The event will showcase local craft makers working together to showcase their skills, talents and creativity and their will be a wide variety of hand-made crafts for sale – all created in the Forres area. The work will include various textile arts, paper, glass, jewellery, weaving, polymer clay, local wool, candles and others.

There will also be craft demonstrations and storytelling at 12noon.

Tea & coffee served by Forres Friends of Guiding.

Source: Forres Area Community Trust (http://forresarea.org/)

Caithness Horizons Spring Summer newsletter 2013

Source: Caithness Horizons

Kilmorack Gallery Director Tony Davidson describes the journey he has been on to curate a show on the theme of humour in art:

How do artists use humour? A year ago this appeared to be a simple and original brief for an art exhibition. I had already curated well-received shows on drawing and the word in art. Humour, I foolishly thought, was mostly a soft thing, a sugar pill to make life better. I envisaged sheep on stilts, rocket dog, cartoons of cats and other funny animals. This would be an exhibition to cheer people up in hard times. It would be entertainment like a classic Hollywood film, Errol Flynn slapping his thighs with a grin. But something more interesting and more human has appeared. Humour is the sugar pill that lets us look at life… and death.

A big misconception about art is that it looks to the future, creating the world that will be. It doesn’t. Good art is a looking glass to its time, reflecting back what is important. Picasso painted modern paintings that reflected the angst and change of the 20th century. Hieronymus Bosch did the same for a time where religion, death and the afterlife were never far away. And humour? Without it their work would be almost forgotten.

I asked how do our contemporary artists use humour and what are they reflecting? I ignored Saatchi artists, with their cult of personality and penchant for found objects, for I don’t think that is art. That is art democratised to an extent where anyone can do it, and this is a joke that’s not funny. I was seeking skilled virtuosos on a journey, looking for something profound, and I had to ask myself ‘is that funny?’

First up for the humour test were dogs cobbled together from ladies’ leather boots, called ‘well-heeled bitches’ by the Cornwall based artist David Kemp. Of course these are funny. And a chess-set made from scrap? The queen has three breasts, so Helen Denerley’s chess set goes into the show too.

How about a kinemat? A sculpture that tells a story with mechanical monkeys pulling chains. I won’t reveal the end of its tale, but it had to go in. This work is by Eduard Bersudsky (of Sharmanka Theatre) and he will also lend us his powerful drawings made while surviving Soviet Russia. Much of his work will make you cry and laugh at the same time. He is an important world artist.

The show is looking to be very strong. Is a dead mummified cat and rat (cast in bronze) locked in an eternal ‘Dance of Death’ funny? It’s like a twisted but beautiful children’s tale and I had to trust my instinct and admit that I found it very amusing, in a troubling way.

And then I needed painters. Is a painting in the style of a Dutch master but with surreal undercurrents funny? It can be. The first paintings into the show were work by Alan Macdonald and I’ve put his oil of ‘A Pessimist in Hell’ onto the invitation. Pop–art and its newer sister Pop-Surrealism are by their nature amusing. To take a popular icon and change it in a way that is fun for the artist has to be good. Michael Forbes’ work went into the show. In the catalogue I put his piece where Elvis, a Burger King crown, and a skull are fused together. Another painting of Elvis, by Henry Fraser, became available and that had to go into the show too.

When people think of humour in art, they think of cartoons. Immediately, the incredible work of young artist Robert Powell sprung to mind. They’re not cartoons, but intricate ink drawings and etchings that take on the tradition of James Gillray and run with it, updating it for our century. We couldn’t miss out on the much-missed George Wyllie who died last year, so we will have some of his etchings too.

Blimey, I thought, looking at all the images and names on my desktop, that’s a lot of work by some of the most interesting artists around. This subject – the Art of Humour – has brought together a band of artist and a bounty of art that is far from just a sugar pill. It had become a unique collection of work, by artists that will be remembered. Humour filtered out something very special, an under-rated tool in the armoury of an artist. If you want to find out exactly what it can do, you will have to come to the exhibition and let the works tell their own funny stories.

Tony Davidson
Gallery Director

The Art of Humour shows at Kilmorack Gallery from the 19th April until the 1st June 2013. There will be over forty works. Exhibiting artists include Paul Barnes, Eduard Bersudsky, Helen Denerley, Steve Dilworth, Michael Forbes, Henry Fraser, David Kemp, Alan Macdonald, Illona Morrice, Robert Powell, Ronald Rae and George Wyllie.

For more information contact Ruth or Tony on 01463 783 230 or art@kilmorackgallery.co.uk

Kilmorack Gallery
by Beauly
Inverness-shire 
IV4 7AL
www.kilmorackgallery.co.uk

Art graduates have been chosen by exhibition convenor Francis Convery RSA, with assistance from members of the Royal Scottish Academy and representatives from the five main colleges of art. This year the six schools of architecture in Scotland have put forward candidates to work with architecture convenor Neil Gillespie RSA (Elect). The graduates are given the opportunity to launch their career at the prestigious RSA galleries by exhibiting a substantial body of new work; including painting, sculpture, film making, photography, printmaking, architecture and installation.

“The artists we selected this year were all chosen because their degree shows were outstanding in their respective degree shows. From almost 400 graduating artists, we selected 55, who are joined by 5 graduating architects, nominated by their respective schools.

The selecting panel were choosing work that would represent the best of current practice and we responded mostly unanimously, where we could identify a combination of the visually compelling, the use of intelligent skills and materials, where there was a tangible contemporary relevance in the work (or its complete absence in some cases), where there was ambition, energy, courage, humour and subtext, all essential elements of the best contemporary art.

The selection was not about ‘the most hip’, the ‘latest thing’, the ‘most shocking’, it was not about fitting any specific theme or agenda , it was primarily what visually interested us, what skillfully held our attention, made us curious. In some cases the work seemed fully formed but others we thought showed greater potential given the extra time this show would provide. So we did take some risks when selecting those, alongside the more unanimously nominated presentations. However, in spite of our open agenda, a loose theme did emerge from the selection and a ‘unity of diversity’ would appear to accurately reflect the zeitgeist.”

Francis Convery RSA, Exhibition Convenor

Works will be for sale and the exhibition offers a wonderful opportunity to invest in Scotland’s up and coming talent. The RSA is part of the Own Art scheme, allowing buyers to spread the cost of an artwork over ten interest free monthly payments!

RSA NEW CONTEMPORARIES represents the RSA’s commitment to supporting and presenting the best contemporary work in Scotland. The RSA team works closely with the artists and architects towards developing a lasting relationship in the lead up to the exhibition and beyond. With over £11,000 worth of monetary prizes in addition to residency, studio and purchase prizes, the development of this exhibition is an important initiative for emerging artists in Scotland, enabling a ‘first exhibition’ opportunity for some 50+ emergent artists annually. The RSA are delighted to announce that Walter Scott will be Exhibition Patron and, for the fifth consecutive year, The Skinny will be our Media Partner.

“The RSA is to be commended for providing recent graduates with the opportunity to show their work in such a high-profile venue at the start of their careers.” Jim Birrell, Head of Painting & Printmaking, Glasgow School of Art.

Artists:

Duncan of Jordanstone College of Art (Dundee University)

Ruth Aitken, Khalid Alsayed, Heather Anderson, Rachel Badger, Hayley Fisher, Sylvia Law*, Eilidh McKay, Madeline Mackay, Liam McLaughlin, Miriam Mallalieu, Tim Sandys, Kevin Smith, Harriet Yarrington (13)

Glasgow School of Art

Rhuaridh Allen, Andrew Black, Stephanie Burt, Ming Chen, Flora Debechi, Rebecca Edgar, Steven Grainger, Alice Jacobs, Philip Longstaff, Alexander Miller, Theresa Moerman, Andrew North, Emma Reid, David Sampethai, Lisa Schmalstich, Nick Thomas, Sally Webber, Petter Yzell (18)

Edinburgh College of Art

Sarah Louise Alexander, Katy Anderson, Georgina Bolton**, Nicola Brennan, Lucinda Cook, William Darrell, Justine King, Kathryn Lloyd, Fiona McGurk, Polly Mills, Owen Ramsay, Claire Simpson, Liam Walker, Lendita Xhenaji (14)

Gray’s School of Art (Robert Gordon University)

Ibraheem Adeyemi Adesina, Katarina Chomova, Laura Duncan, Amy Gear, Rachel Grant, Mike Hughes, Sophie Radcliffe, Katie Shambles (8)

Moray School of Art (University of the Highlands & Islands)

Caroline Inckle, Naomi Ojima (2)

*Sylvia Law’s presentation will be supported by the Dewar Arts Award.

**Georgina Bolton’s presentation will be supported by Marlyn Metal Craft Ltd and Duchy Interiors.

Source: RSA

Peter Ferguson, who is in the second year of the course at Lews Castle College UHI, submitted a portfolio of three images on the theme of “Winter Machair” to the 2012 Scottish Nature Photography Awards.

Speaking about his portfolio, he said: “I didn’t have far to look for the photos as they were all taken from my garden, though at different times of the year! They show the machair land of North Uist: a strip of flat, fertile, sand-blown crofting land which runs along the west coast of the island, with long views down to the sand dunes on the horizon.”

The winning images in the 2012 Scottish Nature Photography Awards showcase Scotland’s nature in its diverse and fascinating forms. Some were captured as a result of arduous and ambitious expeditions and others practically on the photographers’ doorsteps, but they all share the qualities of photographic excellence combined with an appreciation of our natural environment.

The judging panel selected their winners from over 2300 entries from around the world to the Scottish Landscape, Scottish Wildlife, Scottish Botanical, Natural Abstract, Environmental, Student and Junior categories.

Lorne Gill, a photographer for Scottish Natural Heritage who was on the judging panel, explained why Peter’s work stood out: “Anyone that has been to the Outer Hebrides will have been struck by how flat the western seaboard and machair grasslands of these islands are and how the sky totally dominates the scene. Peter Ferguson submitted three striking images with mood and contrast that convey that feeling perfectly and that transport the viewer into another world where the land meets the sky.”

James Fraser, University of the Highlands and Islands principal and vice-chancellor, welcomed the news, saying: “The University attaches enormous importance to its fine art courses in the Western Isles and Elgin, and is justifiably proud of Peter for his magnificent achievement.”

Sophie Morrish, Peter’s course leader, added: “On the fine art BA course based here in North Uist, we actively encourage students to engage creatively with the unique and inspiring environment of the islands. We are really pleased that one of our students work has been acknowledged at a national level and congratulate him on his achievement.”

An exhibition of the winning images from all the competition categories will tour Scotland from July 2013 and will be published in a Portfolio Yearbook. A full list of winners is at www.scottishnaturephotographyawards.com

Source: UHI

AN ANNUAL installation by the students on the Art, Space and Nature masters course at Edinburgh University has now become part of the An Lanntair calendar.

COURSE tutor Donald Urquhart established the Western Isles connection. It is possible this will alternate with course visits to Orkney. The pattern is that a group of students first visits as a field trip. They then have a period to continue their investigations and research.

When they return to the Island, they install a group show, exploring responses to what has struck the individual artists and sparked off further work. The first installation, three years ago, was in the corridor and bar area but the quality of work led to last year’s offer of installing in the main gallery. I felt it was a show brimming with ideas so was not surprised to see the space offered to this year’s students. Sadly it is only on show for a week.

It’s fortunate that Northings is still active, just long enough to draw attention to a body of work that might otherwise hardly be noticed. And I’m glad to be able to sign-off from a happy long-term relationship with this excellent forum, on a positive note. But where will we find its like – a skillfully edited and well presented Journal, fairly presenting comment across all the arts, as they relate to the Highlands and Islands?

This is a body of work brimming with a sense of adventure. Pieces vary from provisional expressions of a developing idea to pieces which seem to me to have already found a satisfying form for the ideas behind them. The range of media is wide but all works do home-in to our small geography. But there is an implicit sense of comparison – our context in a wide world.

Take Stephanie Getta’s Dic | Seanphacail | Sayings. It is a work in three languages. A simple but well-designed pamphlet gathers the proverbs of an area in the Dolomites and those of the Isle of Lewis. The work is the gathering and comparison, diligently researched, quietly presented and likely to be ongoing. A small group of plastic cups for the ear are suspended as an offer to listen to the languages of Gaelic and Ladin.

Tanja Geis represents the luxurient sea-foam which has been such a feature of recent storms. The meeting of ocean and shore is recorded in photography but this becomes two large scale long rectangles, inviting comparison. They are like positive and negative images, richness come from sheer energy. She sets this by a “haleidoscope” where salt crystals turn inside a hand-shaped cylinder carved from a piece of discarded shipyard oak. The timber, from a decommissioned fishing vessel, has been giving a new life. Both pieces are beautiful objects but are also part of an exploration.

Sara Ockland - Walk Away

In contrast, the exploration of possibility seems more to the fore than a finished presentation in the work shown by Sara Ockland. She continued the group’s relationship with the traditional boat society, Falmadair. The whole group sailed the last of the original north Lewis lugsail boats, sgoth Jubilee, during their field trip. Sara was taken back out into the approaches to Stornoway harbour by skipper Jim McWhir. A series of like discs were painted with a fairly wild shade of red to enter the water, but tethered together so all could be recovered. Although they did not present enough surface area to be affected by wind, the drift induced by tidal current and small waves sent them drifting in divergent lines.

For me, this is an idea that could continue to be explored. The discs themselves looked startling on the grey gallery floor and led you to a small, simple image of their distribution on the sea. But it’s surely part of a Masters Degree course that there is room to set an idea in motion. Perhaps some artists work by forming the idea and thinking out its practical representation in advance and others have to try this and try that till it all seems right. It’s interesting too that some artists on this course come from a background in architecture or in landscape architecture and others from fine-art. For some it may be the first time they have exhibited a made work, outside a formal commission.

Luskentyre beach has proved a draw on all the course field-trips. It’s character is caught by Javier Vidal Aguilera, who exhibits 99 small prints. They are derived from photographs of seaweed traces. It reminded me of Helen Douglas’s work, gathered in one of Alec Finlay’s pocketbook series in the sense that it is a subtle, sustained study of a simple but beautiful found thing. But something mysterious happens here, in the translation from digital photograph to monochrome print on semi-transparent paper. The whole series taken on one day (another number 9 in the date) adds a shamanistic element. The observed natural debris has become a mysterious calligraphy.

Sandra Teixera - 32000 Folds

This work naturally chimes with Sandra Teixera’s “32,000 folds”. It is a prayerful commitment – representing 1,000 salmon, in small origami models. These are suspended on monofilament line and allowed to move to any air-currents. They ask more then they tell – perhaps there is a native North American parallel to the Gaelic tradition of the salmon of knowledge. Perhaps there is an implicit comparison with the free-swimming wild fish and its densely-farmed, genetic cousin.

Flavia Salvador has observed what Robert Livingston once called “the zen of passing places” in a Northings blog. You look ahead and show courtesy, guaging your speed so perhaps you might not even need to stop. The idea uses the space offered by the particular gallery to meditate on an observed tradition of passing a waved greeting across the space outside the nearly-meeting cars. One text is carefully painted on one wall and you look twice to see how it corresponds with the answering phrase, opposite. The work is a poem. It is gentle but depends on wit to express the observation.

Flavia Salvador - The Passing Place

A direct quotation catalogues the work of Zhongying Ren: “Man is ruled by land, land is ruled by heaven, heaven is ruled by Tao, and Tao is ruled by nature.” In one sense this work relates to the seafoam wall, round the corner of the L-shaped space. Crumpled metal foil replicates the strange natural phenomena in a contrasting material. It’s like a metaphysical conceit in poetry – where an extravagant or daring metaphor brings you to study one thing by likening it to another. I had to stoop low to see the foil reflected in a floor-level band of uncrushed foil on the wall. Perhaps this is another work where the present visual form is not the final result of a developing idea.

There is a turning point in any L shape and Jonathan Hemelberg probably unwittingly follows his tutor, Donald Urquhart, in carrying a work around that corner. Urquhart’s last show here, really did play music with the opportunities of the space. Drawing has returned, big time, to the art world. This artist draws a simple, alternative map. Significant features – a lighthouse, a broch, are placed in a landscape of swirls that could be contours. Written diary-like comments note a personal reaction to our landscape. But you could argue that any phrase in common use was someone’s personal reaction once. To quote from the lore of a region in the Dolomites:

“Då lå Madònå dei Chèrmin i òrjes doveså ˘spièr.”

“On the day of our Lady of Carmel the barley should start to spike.”

It’s good to know there’s a summer of some kind coming.

© Ian Stephen, 2013

Links

• An Lanntair
• Art Space and Nature Programme
• Ian Stephen

THE CHAIR of An Talla Solais, Dave Falconer, has been working towards this exhibition for years.

IT CELEBRATES the art of the print, by showcasing work produced by a wide range of artists at two institutions: the Highland Print Studio, in Inverness, and Hot Bed Press, in Manchester. The resulting exhibition is eclectic and enthralling.

Untitled (collograph) by Jan Breckenridge

There are many different printing techniques on display, and linocuts sit next to much more high tech prints, without explanation or apology. The show is therefore not an introduction to the methods of print, although if that is your interest, there are workshop opportunities at the gallery while the exhibition is on.

The work of both studios is blended without making it obvious which artists are from which area. Arguably this means that the exhibition misses the opportunity of allowing comparisons to be made, but the result is pleasingly diverse.

The stand-out print is an extraordinary seascape of the Shiant Islands, which is actually formed through clever use of greyscales on a printout of a traditional Hebridean story as told by Ian Stephen in a collaboration between him and artist Emmanuelle Waeckerlé and printer John McNaught. Another Ian Stephen story forms part of a print of Fair Isle, created in collaboration with Christine Morrison.

John McNaught’s own work is also story-based, with brightly coloured cartoons of footballers with associated bizarre tales. These are works that take substantial time to absorb.

Other pieces are much more immediate. My favourites are Katy Spong’s wildlife prints, of which there are two in this show. Roebuck at the Forest Edge is a beautifully atmospheric dusky image, appropriately hung in the corner of the big room in the gallery, as if about to vanish from sight. Arrival is marvellous image of geese landing, their splashing almost audible and their bright red feet making best use of the limited range of colours in the print.

Presumably because of the inking methods used to produce the prints, the use of colour is often limited and several of the artists make wonderful effects with a narrow palette. I particularly enjoyed Carolyn Murphy’s linocuts; the stark green Fern is an effective study of form, Morlich a dramatic black and white shore scene, and the demonic Scottish Shee captures the essence of ram in a few brilliantly chosen marks.

Brian MacBeath uses a few vibrant colours in his starkly simple, strangely beautiful abstracts, and Jane Frere achieves an explosion of raw emotion in her questioning What’s the colour of betrayal?

A piece I kept returning to was Elisabeth Shepherd’s Four Pansies, apparently the same image printed with four different colour combinations, the result a meditation on petal shape and shade. Another piece of hers, In the Country, is also mesmeric, with its delicate ferns, butterflies and orchids in a composition with surprising depth, while Josephine’s Poppies is a stunning burst of red. These are subjects with a real risk of being merely pretty, transformed into pieces that use colour to achieve affects that are both arresting and contemplative.

Some of the artists do amazing things in black and white. Samuel Horsley’s work features strange creatures with mammalian skulls and four legs, but their wiry hair and weird proportions and postures make them somehow both insect-like and full of feeling. Anne Campbell’s screenprint I never enjoyed anything as much as the sheiling is an evocative piece reaching back in time, the printed images and space giving the sense of both memory and forgetting. Irena Przby captures the essence of tree in Frosty Tree, and of water in Flow, and her apparently simple illustrated books of legends and myths use imagery that seems timeless, making best use of print techniques connecting back to early woodcuts.

The show is a fine demonstration of the diversity of effects that can be achieved by transferring images from one surface to another. The constraints of colouration and of the marks possible on the engraved surface often seem to be transformed into methods of achieving emphasis and style. This is an intriguing exhibition. Anyone interested in the potential of print should make their way to Ullapool to see it.

© Mandy Haggith, 2013

Links

• An Talla Solais

INSPIRED by Scottish and Italian landscapes, Sam Cartman’s first solo exhibition at Kilmorack Gallery represents a significant progression in the artist’s work to date.

THIS IS a show of absolute clarity in the skilled handling of paint, distillation of visual language and command of composition. Characteristically the relationship between elements of nature and human architecture create a sense of immediacy and tension, with linear draughtsmanship and gestural brushwork exquisitely balanced throughout. Moving more deeply into abstraction has arguably strengthened the artist’s composition, and there is new verve and dynamism in this latest body of work, taking Cartman’s practice to a whole new level.

Towards Glenshee

The artist’s acute understanding of the essential crafting of images through line, form, colour and texture is resoundingly evident. Driven by paint handling and with the element of design less consciously visible than in earlier work, formal elements of structural deliberation become fully integrated with the most articulate and subtle handling of paint. Bold planar treatment of oil on board, strong lines and a magnificently controlled palette are tempered by a variation of mark that can only be fully appreciated in viewing the original work. Cartman draws the eye and mind of the viewer into the image with remarkable consistency, a confident rhythm which is sensed and felt from the smallest scale work to the largest in the exhibition.

Towards Glenshee (Oil on board) is a beautiful example of finely tuned pictorial, structural and human elements within the landscape. A pure, bold expanse of aqua sky, undulating interlocking hills and geometric forms are punctuated by singularly decisive marks of russet. Warm accents of colour, typically rust, ochre or flashes of vibrant orange sit in contrast with a predominantly cool, contemplative palette. This restrained use of colour gives Cartman’s work a distinctive edge.

In Towards Glenshee the striking crescent of white feels like a signature and a sense of unexpected depth is created by larger forms in the far left foreground receding into a curvature of seeing and perceiving the landscape. On closer inspection the plane of sky reveals gentle stippling of paint, this together with areas such as a triangle of fluid layers in blue, green and smeared charcoal, encourage consideration of the qualities of the medium from flattened almost industrial treatment to delicate stains. Allowing the white ground to emerge beneath the horizon line creates an impression of luminous, Northern light often glimpsed behind a curtain of sky or dense seemingly immovable cloud. Human dwellings are suggested but largely subsumed in a complex arrangement of abstracted form. It is the feeling of pure blue that immediately draws the viewer and like a great piece of music the underpinning structure of the composition is seamless in its execution.

Usan Diptych

The large scale Usan Diptych is another superb example, an expanse of sky and scattered semi industrial/residential buildings that brings the eye masterfully to the centre of two equally balanced halves. The imprint of palette knife and roller in a geometric cascade create unexpected nuances in the dominant sky; comprised of two blue variations separated by a jagged band of white ground emerging from beneath the painted surface. The loose treatment of the foreground, opaque or stained pigment and animated gestural marks cleverly add to the viewer’s sense of perspective, while the sparing use of eye catching warm colour: ochre, yellow, russet and orange, placed with the utmost precision and instinct, achieve a perfectly balanced composition. In his Single Panel Tryptich Cartman presents a complex arrangement of interlocking man made architectural and semi organic forms testing the structural and compositional boundaries of the image. This exploration of the picture plane, paint quality, density and mark, allows the artist to create a multi-layered response to humankind in the environment.

Temple 5

Temple 5 is a fascinating work in the suggested relationship between human architecture and nature. The jutting apex of the building suggests a stark purity of intent and aspiration in its heightened perspective. The sharply defined vanishing point adds to the sense of human presence in the landscape; the outline of stone walls, tiny darkened window and shaded solidity contrasted with the more ephemeral smears of charcoal and ever present blue/grey sky. Delicate textures of drizzled turpentine and a light touch of ochre path invite closer inspection while sharp geometric accents of purple and linear orange trace the eye’s movement to the horizon line.

Castle Road

Stylistic contrast in works such as Castle Road where drafted, precise lines of architecture and tonal definition meet fluid paint handling and pure abstraction are convincingly balanced in visual counterpoint. This dynamic between design and spontaneous mark is exemplified in the reaction between pigment and board creating a shifting sky of bled ultramarine in Roccasecca. Here the white architectural façade of the building is juxtaposed with liquefied sky. Sharp linear perspective guides the eye into the image but it is colour and paint density that governs our emotional response to the image.

Outpost

Another highlight of the exhibition is Outpost, an image divided by a serpentine line between foreground and mid-ground. To the left of the composition, hard-edged abandoned structures in greyish blue and black contrast with large boulders, stones and viscerally sketched grass in ochre, tinged green, russet and orange. Treatment of the sky is poetically distilled and immediately tactile, stained grey beneath white, with a curvature of thickened paint bringing movement of cloud to the profound stillness and isolation of the scene. Human habitation and its figurative absence in Cartman’s compositions remains poised and enigmatic, an eternal dance between natural and human marks in the landscape. Throughout this latest body of work the artist delivers a sustained and potent exploration of the plastic elements of image making and his chosen subject, creating finely balanced compositions of expansive depth and insight.

© Georgina Coburn, 2013

Links

• Kilmorack Gallery
• Sam Cartman

SITUATED in the plaza of the Sir Duncan Rice Library, University of Aberdeen, a magnificent newly commissioned sculpture by artists Marian Leven and Will Maclean draws its inspiration from ancient standing stones in the landscape and the graceful precision of naval architecture.

Waterlines is an inspired visual statement; a significant cultural marker reflecting the continuity of visual traditions and rich maritime history of the region. It is also a celebration of the collaborative work of two of Scotland’s most respected artists.

Artists Marian Leven and Will Maclean

Multidisciplinary lines of enquiry; aesthetic, archaeological, historical, scientific and architectural are displayed in the exhibition, bringing together contemporary Visual Art; sketchbooks, paintings and box constructions by Leven and Maclean with objects drawn from Aberdeen University museums, collections and archives. The result is a wonderfully fluid dialogue between the Waterlines sculpture, the exhibition and the inner architecture or aspiration of the library as “a luminous landmark for the community”.

Within the library building The Sir Duncan Rice Library Gallery and expansive ground floor entrance hall provide an on-going opportunity to showcase works from the university museums’ collections and for creative collaborative exchange between different disciplines or ways of seeing. The Waterlines sculpture and exhibition powerfully illustrate the ways that contemporary art can inspire deeper examination and rediscovery of our history and ourselves.

Peter Davidson’s poetic response to the sculpture as “a lasting presence”, “seamark and landmark, anchor, metaphor” is extremely apt. The presence of this sculptural diptych, two monumental forms punctuated by a beautifully defined negative space through which the library tower beyond can be viewed, is almost figurative. The Waterlines sculpture integrates traditions of seeing; the human eye and mind perceiving the Northern landscape as land, people and memory and it is fascinating to see the evolution of its design in the visual practice of Leven and Maclean together with original source material in the exhibition.

Waterlines sculpture and library (photo by Kate Sutherland)

Sculpted from Kilkenny blue limestone, Waterlines responds to rain, wind and sunlight with an entire spectrum of tonality and mark; from bleached white grey in frozen winter sun to deep blue, stained by rivets of rain. Its elegant curvature contrasts and compliments the linear asymmetrical designs of the library’s glass facade. The choice of Kilkenny stone echoes beautifully the subtle qualities of Marian Leven’s paintings which in their textural, tactile rendering capture the nuances and intricacy of Northern light.

This shifting perception and human vulnerability is sensed and felt in the paint handling, beautifully balanced by expansive, abstract form. Summer Memory II (Watercolour 2011) is a fine example, harnessing the natural fluidity of the medium with formal compositional/design elements. The pigment feels residual, applied in layers like misty rain and naturally random patterns of mark, while the dominant form to the left is defined by a singular edged stroke of paint. Characteristic of Leven’s work there is ambiguity between seemingly organic marks emerging from the ground of greenish grey and the deliberation of staccato brush marks of vibrant orange.

In larger scale paintings this quality is distilled and transformed from an intimate frame of reference; the fleeting and ephemeral quality of human memory /perception to the timeless and monumental presence of nature. Northern Light (Acrylic On Canvas 2011) is a prime example, the division of the canvas providing both compositional structure in terms of the crafting of the image and a dominant feeling of the sky as both an emotive physical presence and an idea within the work. The delicate, almost plaster-like surface and palette of subtle variations white on white create a contemplative space; a mindscape in direct response to the landscape.

The sense of movement in this work is achieved with incised, drawn and textural marks and minute tonal shifts. An adjacent work Meltwater (Acrylic On Canvas 2011) explores this idea further in textural layers; from the speckled sand-like texture at the top of the composition to the horizontal white bar division of the canvas and stained movement of water with drawn charcoal marks beneath. Each shifting strata has its own texture and rhythm; a microcosm of minutely observed change of matter and consciousness. This awareness of the picture plane in abstraction, skilful handling of the artist’s chosen materials and the ever present expressive human mark, define Leven’s visual language and inform her sculptural collaboration with Maclean.

Will Maclean - The King's Fish (University of Aberdeen Museums Collections)

John Stuart’s Sculpture Stones of Scotland (1856), including an illustration of The Maiden Stone (Chapel of Garioch), is juxtaposed with Leven’s sketchbooks in the exhibition, providing insight into the design process and inspiration behind Waterlines. The spatially divided stone fragments as formal elements of design, like the diptych arrangement of the dogfish in Will Maclean’s large scale etching of Traditional Story: The King’s Fish, are part of a shifting frame of visual perception. Part of the Night of Islands series inspired by Gaelic poetry and prose, The King’s Fish contains many visual frames of reference in its delineation and its internal narrative. This indigenous understanding of visual traditions or language linked to the natural environment is central to the work of both Maclean and Leven in its reverence and insight. It is also part of a wider movement of cultural reappraisal acknowledging a continuum of visual traditions in the North of Scotland from ancient standing stones to the present day.

Revealing that which is hidden and prompting rediscovery of original visual sources, Leven’s contemplation of ancient standing stones in a series of line drawings takes on a luminous quality, with the shaded background defining form. This presence through white space illumination evokes the inherent mystery of the stones and a spirit of enquiry in exploring their potential meanings. The display of the Fairy Green Stone, a Class I Pictish Symbol Stone, found in Perthshire in 1948 and now part of the University museums’ collections, is a cultural marker of knowledge and understanding in its making and design.

Maclean & Leven's Waterlines (photo by Kate Sutherland)

It is also an object representing rituals and meanings that for all our technological advances and “civilization” remain unknown to us. Like Einstein’s statement that “The most beautiful thing we can experience is the mysterious. It is the source of all art and science” Leven’s drawings highlight the human need for creative enquiry. The artist’s practice, the Waterlines sculpture and the inner architecture of the library building, are all potential meeting points for human aspiration, discovery and knowledge.

The inclusion of a ship’s model, a gift from Marian Leven to Will Maclean, references their personal and creative partnership; the vertical inversion of line and form in this small scale wooden model providing the initial spark of inspiration for a permanent sculpture of two equal and complimentary halves. The fusion of ancient markers in the landscape with the sheer elegance of naval architecture can be seen in the incised marks on the Waterlines sculpture, reinterpreting the draughtsman’s lines for the Thermopylae, one of the fastest clipper ships constructed in 1868 by Walter Hood & Co, Aberdeen. This blurring of lines between disciplines; functional engineering with the aesthetic in drawing and draughtsmanship, together with the implication of directional lines of navigation, create a fascinating dynamic or imaginative trajectory in the work and in the curatorial scope of the exhibition.

Thermopylae (Aberdeen Art Gallery and Museums Collection)

The poetics of visual language in Will Maclean’s work with its use of found objects and multi-layered box construction, informed by family maritime history, seafaring stories and poetry is exemplified by Fear-bata The Boatman (Found objects, construction on board 2012). A weathered boat fragment belonging to the artist’s Grandfather takes the form of a cross section of hull, reimagined as the figurative form of an angel or totem inlaid beneath the picture plane. A tracery of drawn marks on the predominantly white ground casts the totemic object beneath the waterline of our collective unconscious. The interplay of shadows cast by the three dimensional construction of the central figurehead heightens the sense of an object spiritually unearthed. It is a powerful work in its conception, transcending personal associations and ancestry to connect with the universal archetype of the boat. Fear-bata The Boatman is a statement of creative resilience and a potent investigation of the crafting of images in its evolutionary use of box construction.

Voyage of the James Caird I, Elephant Island (Mixed Media on Board 2011) is similarly a journey of heightened perception with the suggestion of a monumental artic landscape of opaque and finely textured tonality, shifting like the ocean under sheets of ice. The curvature of drawn marks and their trajectory feel like a descent beneath the surface of the picture plane; a cut away revealing leaden contours of land and nailed wooden fragments. With the clarity of a draughtsman and the tactile physicality of a sculptor Maclean creates a multi-layered work of poignancy and grace. This frozen vision references a monumental voyage undertaken by Shackleton in a small open boat between Elephant Island and South Georgia. Voyage of the James Caird I, Elephant Island is an expansive mindscape of visual association, a testament to human endurance and a superbly balanced abstract composition.

It is inspiring to see the work of Marian Leven and Will Maclean represented permanently on site at the University of Aberdeen and in this temporary exhibition, acknowledging contemporary art and visual literacy as an important means of re-examining and illuminating cultural histories. It is equally encouraging to see vision in the fabric of an institutional building; incorporating spaces for research, learning, conservation and imaginative contemplation from which all knowledge ultimately stems. In many ways the architecture designed by schmidt hammer lassen embodies this creative engagement with public space. Striking asymmetrical designs together with the ever changing Northern climate animate the 760 glass panel façade of this striking contemporary building. Inside, the spiralling oblong atrium illuminates seven floors of study and collection space, with the lower ground floor beneath the building housing the Special Collections Centre. Significantly the centre contains learning, reading and seminar rooms for conferences, research, and outreach work, the university collections of books, manuscripts, photographs and archives dating back as far as the 3rd century BC and the Glucksman Conservation Centre specialising in the preservation of works on paper.

The design of the building as a meeting place and site of discovery for students, academics and the wider community is reflected in the Waterlines exhibition, providing different points of entry to contemporary visual art and in the scope of its accompanying programme of talks and events. Representation from different disciplines including Social Anthropology, Contemporary Visual Art practice and Archaeology together with creative events for adults and children working with box constructions, collage, sculpture, boat craft, stories and Pictish symbols will continue throughout March and April. Marian Leven and Will Maclean’s Waterlines is an exciting new marker in the Northern cultural landscape, signifying The Sir Duncan Rice Library, Gallery and Special Collections Centre as an emerging site of creative thinking and learning.

Public Talks & Events Accompanying the Waterlines Exhibition. Free Entry, Booking advised Contact: scc.events@abdn.ac.uk

As By Line Upon the Ocean Go with Professor Timothy Ingold, Chair in Social Anthropology, Thursday 14th March 6-7 pm

Thinking Visually with artists Will Maclean and Marian Leven, Sat 16th March 2-3pm

Standing Stones and Circles, Thursday 21st March with Dr Elizabeth Curtis 6-7pm

© Georgina Coburn, 2013

Links

• Sir Duncan Rice Library
• Video introduction to the work by Will Maclean and Marian Leven

Harry Papadopoulos was a photographer with the weekly music paper, Sounds, from 1979 to 1984. His images provided countless front covers that captured the post punk era in Britain. This exhibition focuses particularly on a selection of photographs that document a golden age of Scottish music including Orange Juice, Billy Mackenzie, Clare Grogan of Altered Images, The Bluebells and a number of other luminaries of the pre-punk, new wave and post punk period such as The Clash, Bowie, Special AKA and Gil Scott-Heron.

The exhibition has been curated by Street Level Photoworks and Ken McCluskey.

Exhibition Open: Friday 29th March to Saturday 15 April 2013 12noon to 3pm (closed Sundays).

Burgh Hall
195 Argyll Street
Dunoon
PA23 7DE
T 01369 703302
http://burghhalldunoon.com/

Source: Dunoon Burgh Hall

Lasting Impressions: Contemporary Printmaking
Opening night Friday 15th March 2013,  6-8pm; show continues 16th March – 14th April 2013 (open daily 10am – 4pm)

Please join An Talla Solais for the opening of this show, featuring work from printmakers near and far in partnership with HotBed Press, Salford and Highland Print Studio, Inverness. There will be a brief talk on printmaking techniques at around 7pm during the opening.

Winter Gallery: Printmaking by Kate Mackay
From 15th March the Winter Gallery will be showing prints by Kate Mackay – viewable during daylight hours.

Hot off the press…

See below for chances to learn printing techniques at An Talla Solais with inspiring tutors. And later in the year John McNaught from Highland Print Studio will run courses in wood engraving and polymer photogravure.

Drypoint etching masterclass – Monday 18th March, 1-4pm
Local artist and tutor Eleanor White will do a brief introductory talk to the exhibition before doing a masterclass in drypoint etching. Suitable for beginners as well as those with more experience.
£20 per person, all materials included. Please email sian@antallasolais.org to book.

Make a Hard-Backed Book
Weekend of 23rd and 24th March 10am – 4pm each day
A course taught by Jan Breckenridge for those who already have some knowledge of bookmaking techniques (folding paper in particular). You will make a hard-backed book from scratch, learning technical skills that will enable you to develop your bookmaking potential in versatile ways. Course costs £90 including all materials. Places are limited: to book please contact Sian on sian@antallasolais.org.

Intro to printing
Saturday 16th March, 1-5pm
Printmaker Tiril Planterose will lead a short walk around the exhibition before introducing participants to a variety of traditional and contemporary printing-making techniques using stencils and a printing press. All materials included.
£23 per person; or concession rate for 14-18 year-olds £18. Please email sian@antallasolais.org for information and to book.

an talla solais
Ullapool Visual Arts
Market Street, Ullapool IV26 2XE
Office : 01854 612310
antallasolais@btconnect.com
www.antallasolais.org

Source: An Talla Solais

THANKS to Helen for these photos from the current London exhibition.

READ Ian Stephen’s review of the show at An Lanntair and view the catalogues (see links below).

The exhibition runs at Art First in London until 6 April 2012.

© Helen Macalister, 2013

Links

• Catalogues
• Ian Stephen review

Cartman finds inspiration by getting off the beaten track to ‘the end of the road’, where nature is reclaiming the landscape. Careful composition, an instinct for colour and a gutsy use of paint make for an optimistic reverence for both the hand of man and that of nature. His work has proved popular with collectors and critics in mixed shows.

15th March – 13th April 2013.

Source: Kilmorack Gallery

Heather is an artist based in Shetland and the pieces she has on display in the Lower Gallery café area are exquisite embroidered patches, which explore where modern woman fits into culture and where she herself can be represented within the stereotypes of modern society. The artist strives to “shift the dynamics of accepted female representation by making new cultural symbols”. Heather’s embroidered patches are created from sketchbook images in response to everyday experiences. They are personal and confessional images, transferred to material and then industrially manufactured, thus reversing the traditional link of women and craft.

Heather said: “The work exposes the rigidity of the prescribed belief system where we are expected to fit into the shape moulded by society, rather than creating an individual cast. Roles and meaning are rendered flexible, altering cultural perceptions which previously may have prevented engagement with new avenues of thinking.”

International Women’s Day (IWD) has been observed since the early 1900s and its theme for 2013 is The Gender Agenda: Gaining Momentum, complementing the UN’s International Women’s Day theme of A promise is a promise: Time for action to end violence against women. Each year on March 8th, and throughout the month, thousands of events occur all over the world to mark the economic, political and social achievements of women whilst supporting and recognising the need for further sustainable change.

Heather Wilson’s show is part of Shetland Arts’ wider celebrations for International Women’s Day which includes a special screening of Jane Campion’s The Piano at Mareel on Friday 8 March at 6.30pm.

Where She Resides accompanies the work of Sheila McDonald, jeweller, whose work is on display in the Lower Gallery Craft Cabinet. In the Upper Gallery, Shetland Arts is delighted to present Reflections on Shetland, a solo show by renowned silversmith Rod Kelly. Many of Rod’s prestigious commissions have been inspired by Shetland.

All three shows open on Friday 8 March at from 6-8pm. Everyone welcome. The exhibitions will run until April 21st.

Source: Shetland Arts

Oil and Glass was opened in May 2012 after being selected for funding through Aberdeen City Council’s “Retail Rocks” initiative; a regeneration through retail scheme where winning businesses were awarded free rent periods and financial assistance to open. Almost a year on, the move into a retail premises has proved positive for Shelagh and she is now in the process of signing contracts to continue trading in Torry. The Retail Rocks initiative itself has been recognised for it’s successes by being nominated for a Local Government Chronicle Award. Shelagh will be attending the awards ceremony at Grosvenor House, London on the 13thof March.

This new exhibition showcases the work of a number of artists – mainly at the start of their promising careers. This includes 2012 Gray’s School of Art graduate Katrina Chomova who has just been selected to show her work in the Annual Society of Scottish Artist’s Show at the Royal Scottish Academy in Edinburgh. This accolade adds to her selection for this year’s New Contemporaries Exhibition, which will again see her work being shown in the RSA. Katarina will be Artist in Residence in Oil and Glass in April. Other Gray’s Graduates represented in the exhibition are painter Hannah Beresford, who now has a permanent studio space at Oil and Glass and designer Levi Bunyan who completed a residency at Oil and Glass in October 2012. Two current Gray’s Students are also represented – 3rd Year Painter Aileen Paton and 3rd Year 3D Design Student Lucy Jamieson. In December last year Lucy used facilities at the studio to develop designs for a range of glass corporate gifts. Rossyln Oman, a Campbeltown based 2011 Painting graduate of Duncan of Jordanstone, Dundee will be showing her work for the first time in Aberdeen. Rossyln will be taking up the opportunity to spend time in the studio in Torry later this year.

Complimenting this array of up and coming talent are paintings by already well-established painter Richard Colquhoun who will be showing a range of his sought-after atmospheric landscapes. During his career Richard has exhibited widely in many prestigious exhibitions including at his own gallery on Fonthill Road which is soon to be re-launched as the Richard Colquhoun Gallery.

The exhibition continues until the end of March.

Source: Oil and Glass

BETWEEN October and December 2012, as part of her Museums Galleries Scotland and Creative Scotland funded “Iconic Artists in Iconic Places” residency at Caithness Horizons, the Fibre Artist created a “Portable Museum of Curiosity” inspired by the hand-made moss collection box, which belonged to Thurso baker and botanist Robert Dick (1811-1866) that is on display at the Museum.

Joanne B. Kaar's Portable Museum of Curiosity

The “Portable Museum of Curiosity” is available for schools, community groups and other heritage organisations to borrow in order to learn more about the life and work of Robert Dick. The “Portable Museum of Curiosity” is already going out on loan to the St. Fergus Gallery, Wick and Mull Museum. It has been featured in a paper entitled “The Herbarium as Muse: Plant Specimens as Inspiration” by Maura C. Flannery, Professor of Biology, St. Johns University, New York at an American Association for the Advancement of Science Conference in Boston, which was attended by over 8,000 people.

If you would like to borrow the “Portable Museum of Curiosity” please contact Joanne Howdle, Museum Curator on 01847 896508 or e-mail: joannehowdle@caithnesshorizons.co.uk

The “Portable Museum of Curiosity” will be on display at Caithness Horizons from 21st February until 10th March. During this period the “Portable Museum” will be taken off display for a few hours each day for groups to use.

© Caithness Horizons, 2013

Links

• Caithness Horizons
• Joanne B. Kaar

Between October and December 2012 as part of her Museums Galleries Scotland and Creative Scotland funded “Iconic Artists in Iconic Places” residency at Caithness Horizons Dunnet-based Fibre Artist Joanne created a “Portable Museum of Curiosity” inspired by the hand-made moss collection box, which belonged to Thurso baker and botanist Robert Dick (January 1811 – 24th December 1866) that is on display at the Museum.

The “Portable Museum of Curiosity” is a stunning piece of contemporary art and a travelling exhibition complete with activity suggestions. It is available for schools, community groups and other heritage organisations to borrow in order to learn more about the life and work of Robert Dick. The “Portable Museum of Curiosity” is already going out on loan to the St. Fergus Gallery, Wick and Mull Museum. It has been featured in a paper entitled “The Herbarium as Muse: Plant Specimens as Inspiration” by Maura C. Flannery, Professor of Biology, St. Johns University, New York at an American Association for the Advancement of Science Conference in Boston, which was attended by over 8,000 people.

If you would like to borrow the “Portable Museum of Curiosity” please contact Joanne Howdle, Museum Curator on 01847 896508 or e-mail: joannehowdle@caithnesshorizons.co.uk

The “Portable Museum of Curiosity” will be on display at Caithness Horizons from 21st February until 10th March. During this period the “Portable Museum” will be taken off display for a few hours each day for groups to use.

Source: Caithness Horizons

Artist Kevin Dagg said “I am interested in perceptions of Nature and man’s longing for the sublime effects of wilderness as an antidote to the stifling confines of civilisation and the digital age. The preservation of wilderness is necessary in face of wide spread habitat destruction but it is also valued for cultural, spiritual and aesthetic reasons. My original intention for the show was to present sculptural work but on my return to Edinburgh I embarked on a series of large-scale canvases. This exhibition offers a glimpse at how I see the world both as an individual and as a member of society. The landscape is local but the conversation is global.”

Dagg travelled to Shetland to cycle around the islands to get a feel for the landscape. He was astonished by the amazing colour combinations of the moss and lichens found on the rocks and peat moors. In contrast the sculptures are a direct response to the bewildering bombardment of reportage photography. By selecting iconic images from the public domain and then translating them, they become tangible. The resulting work questions our conditioned responses and searches for the humanity in these daily images of socio-political conflict. He’s looking for the individual, the non-idealised body which through its very ordinariness can convey a sense of compassion and communicate a universal truth which transcends the original news-bite story.

Kevin has participated in numerous exhibitions and residencies both in the UK and abroad. He has won several awards for his sculptures including the ‘Guthrie Award’ and the ‘Benno Shotz’ prize at the Royal Scottish Academy and the prize for sculpture at the Royal Glasgow Institute. In 2001 he was selected for a major award from the prestigious Pollock-Krasner Foundation in New York. He currently lives in Edinburgh and lectures part-time at Edinburgh College of Art.

John Hunter, Shetland Museum and Archives exhibitions officer: ‘While setting the fire with old newspapers my attention is sometimes caught by a photograph of a past event. Important enough to mark at the time, now an ideal base for the kindling. But occasionally an image holds on and becomes more than a transient highlight. Photographs can be vessels for personal memories while others fasten to the collective psyche. ‘Surface Tensions’ is an intriguing exhibition where the artist has explored attributes of digitised photography to look deeper than the skin. In the paintings surfaces are pixelated, making a constructed landscape, creating a more evocative, sensitive and personal image while the sculptures give fleeting images solidness and permanence that news stories cannot. These are stunning works by a skilled artist.’

The exhibition runs from 23rd February – 31st March 2013.

Da Gadderie, Shetland Museum & Archives, Hay’s Dock, Lerwick, Shetland, ZE1 0WP.
www.shetland-museum.org.uk

Source: Shetland Museum & Archives

Roxane wants to help raise awareness about Alzheimer’s and dementia because she is experiencing firsthand how Alzheimer’s affects not only those afflicted by dementia but also everyone around them.

She was inspired to make numbers games for her contribution to the Veer North exhibition at Bonhoga because she plays Dominoes and Bingo with her mother, who suffers from dementia.

Number games are an art form in their own right, involving not only luck, but also skill and creativity. Furthermore, they can be played by people of all ages, including those who suffer from dementia. They are good for people with dementia because they exercise their mind while also engaging with others in a social situation.  Everyone can have fun.

Alzheimer’s and dementia are equally devastating for families, friends and even whole communities.  Alzheimer’s will affect all our society even more greatly in future because our population is aging rapidly. We can find ways to live with Alzheimer’s gracefully, through a combination of continued research into effective treatments, increased knowledge and awareness, and active support for families and carers.

You can help raise awareness about Alzheimer’s by attending the Bingo event. Everyone is welcome – no previous experience is necessary. You can have an enjoyable while supporting the leading UK care and research charity for people with Alzheimer’s disease and other dementia, their families and carers.

Source: Shetland Arts