The inaugural Scottish Landscape Awards opening night at the City Art Centre in Edinburgh, organised by The Scottish Arts Trust was a very special night for everyone. I for one was very proud to have two pieces shortlisted and just pleased to be included. We all felt part of something exciting and the exhibition work did not disappoint. I’m going to go back to Edinburgh to visit again, to read all the write ups for each piece which enhances the experience of such a diverse show, the catalogues are £15 and definitely worth buying. The night was so overwhelming with a feast of creativity to absorb that I only scraped the surface and can’t wait to go back.
My work ‘At The Junction To The Hill Of Forss’ was created on a handmade scratchboard using acrylic, then encaustic wax, then Indian ink, which as you can imagine is not an easy medium to cover wax. The ink had to be rubbed continuously until it ‘took’ then cured for 48 hours before scratching into it.
The picture was created from a photo I took in the summer of an unusual piece of wall that’s quite close to my home. I’ve been drawing the construction of these ancient walls, there is no less than 30 miles of drystone wall surrounding the fields in just one farm near my home and the hours of back breaking man power blows my mind.
Below is a photo of work in progress.
The title is a humorous nod to the conversation I had online, where I had posted the image with the question ‘why is it constructed like this and I wonder if cows can reverse if they get stuck at the narrowest point? But no one had noticed this wall before so I had to pin point its location exactly and realised how local people need to have details of locations - but also, on other artworks I’ve had people question is there really that piece of wall in that particular stretch of road, as they’ve never seen it before. These conversations are interesting to me, they continue in the same line when discussing people, houses, schools and locations and the comfort folk have reminiscing in deep rooted.
‘On Burn Road’ was created this year as a study of derelict crofts that I have continued on and off since the start of my college years, making sketchbooks from 1995. I realised that many created back then no longer exist and since then I’ve made a point of seeking out as many as I can before the roof collapses and they become empty shells.
This one is in Scarfskerry near John O’Groats, where there are a number of beautiful examples, every one with a family connection. I’m interested in the construction of the crofts, the hand made nails that hold the flagstone tiles in place, the wooden trusses the traditional shapes of the croft, the distinct flagstone fences surrounding the kale yard. I all makes for a ‘Caithness look’.
I’ll write about the winning artworks at a later date but wanted to congratulate my friend Magi Sinclair who also comes from Caithness who won the Environmental award for her large artwork ‘Flow Mist Rising’, a worthy winner for sure.
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