ARTISTS TALKING

# 47 [21 June 2010]

Leaving

My last couple of days were spent packing and finishing everything off, including writing this up!

I was lucky that a major event in Shetland's diary, Flavour of Shetland, was happening this weekend. It is a food festival, but the main attraction is a big marquee with music on the pier.

After the annual “staff night oot”, which I was very lucky to included in – perfect timing! – we went to check out the music, which was traditional Shetland fiddle music and everyone was up dancing. Great fun.

I feel lucky and honoured to have met so many wonderful people. Shetland is a very special place, extremely welcoming and full of so much beauty in so many ways.

Let’s hope some more work pops up and I’ll be back! And if not, I'll be back anyway hopefully.

# 46 [17 June 2010]

Grand opening

The evening of the 16^th arrived and the guests started arriving well before the start time of 7.30pm. And they just kept on coming. We were thrilled to have a very full house. People really did make an effort and there was a huge mix of parents, children, members of the local community, council members, contractors, personal guests, etc. In all, it was very well attended.

I had put up a display of the children’s design work and my final designs, and a selection of photographs showing the whole process, which was a good idea because it got a lot of attention and people were obviously interested in seeing how it had all come together.

After a while it was time to start the ceremony! The sculptures were concealed, with a little posse of children holding the fabric coverings down around each one. Frances made a speech and I did too, then it was time to do the unveiling, which the children did admirably, and everyone crowded around to have a look. The response was very good; everyone seemed to love them. I think the subject matter – Fair Isle knitwear – was a good choice. Everyone here can relate to it and most people seem to be proud of this part of their heritage. It is also a sensitive issue politically right now because Shetland Council has announced huge cuts within education and one of them has been to cut knitting classes, which have been a feature in primary schools for decades. I am pleased that in a small way this piece of work may help to raise the profile of knitting in Shetland, as it is a hugely important industry.

One lovely outcome of this project has been that one of my designs has been knitted into a beret by Mary, the mother–in-law of one of the teachers, who comes from Unst. Mary did me proud and rendered my design very accurately in Shetland wool, after translating it into a knitting pattern. Although she has been knitting her whole life, she has never made a beret before, but grasped the challenge and did it very successfully. I am thrilled and wore the beret for the first time for the opening, which Mary attended. She showed an interest when I asked her if she might consider translating all the other designs into knitwear, so that remains to be seen, but is very exciting nonetheless!

# 45 [17 June 2010]

Children's opening

In the afternoon of the 16^th , we held a celebration for the children in the school. They had been so patient since the sculptures were finished the day before, because we told them they could not play on them until today.

It was so brilliant to see them using the space. Within a few minutes, they had developed a game whereby after 5 seconds they had to move on to the next one, and there was much hilarity and obvious enjoyment. I was very happy to to see that the sculptures are very interactive and promote active use of the space.

We also asked them to come up with some names for each sculpture and chose the best ones.

The press came to this event; the Shetland Times, which has been following the progress of the project form the beginning, I'I magazine and Shetland radio, who interviewed the pupils and staff as well as me.

# 44 [17 June 2010]

Completed sculptures!

# 43 [17 June 2010]

Finishing off

Tuesday 15^th June.

The day before the grand opening. I arrive to find the tilers already at work. They work over each sculpture, chipping away any unruly bits of cement with a chisel and scouring pads until each is clean of any interruptions to its smooth tiled surface. Then the “painting” begins. I finally discover what they mean. They apply two coats of a sealant over all the tiles, which protects the surface.

Once they have finished and the sealant is dry, each sculpture gleams with perfection and newness. And we have finished! Yippee!

I celebrate by taking a few hours off in the afternoon.

North Roe

I went to visit Iwona, my erstwhile volunteer, who lives on a croft in North Roe; as the name suggests, the most northerly village on the mainland of Shetland.

Their croft is open as part of the Hamefaring – every ten years (I think) Shetland hosts a Hamefaring, a celebration when emigrant Shetlanders from around the world come “hame” – and I was her first visitor! So I got the full treatment, and inspected all the animals: the geese, ducks and their numerous peerie ducklings, sheep and their teenage lambs, dogs and chickens. I was also shown the fruit and vegetable gardens, the polytunnel and the gorgeous front garden, which has been developed through hours, months and years of toil. Unsurprisingly, it is incredibly difficult to coax anything to grow here exposed to such ferocious winds and harsh winters; however, once plants do succeed, there is a very intense growing season in the summer because there is so much light and the growth is almost uncontrollable. 

Iwona is a textile artist and works with various media. Not only does she spin her own wool, but the wool comes from her own sheep! And then she felts it and turns it into a variety of gorgeous things.

# 42 [17 June 2010]

Trondra

I went to visit friends of a buddie in Brighton; Trisha and Chris Brown, who have been here for 16 years. They live in a spectacular location on an island within view of Scalloway, Shetland’s second largest town.

When choosing where to live, their criteria included sunset side, therefore west. Good choice. I think I would do the same. So every clear evening the setting sun streams directly into their living room; so much so the blinds have to be drawn. At this time of year there are so many hours of sunshine, if it indeed makes an appearance. It barely gets dark.

After the sun had set, I continued down to the end of Trondra and over the bridge to Burra. I am so pleased I made it to Burra. Everyone has been telling me for months how bonnie Burra is and they were not exaggerating. Burra consists of two fingers of land that stretch into the Atlantic and at practically any location within Burra the view is composed of constantly shifting vistas of mounds of gentle rolls of land in front of mounds in front of mounds: peninsulas, islands, tombolas, beaches, cliffs and water everywhere. There are so many “grounds” – fore, mid and back-grounds, that the eye is overwhelmed, and each one a variant of the same shade. Absolutely stunning. If only photography could capture this.

# 41 [17 June 2010]

Grouting 2

Monday 14^th June

Yes! It is sunny today. Perfect weather for grouting. I arrive at 8 and the tilers have already uncovered the tarpaulins and tents we put up to protect the structures on Friday.

They work throughout the day, grouting first the tops, then the sides after peeling off the backing paper. It is interesting to note that they use the same cement for grouting as they used for adhering the tiles. It is quite difficult to ask them technical questions, because of the language barrier, but I think I understand that Peter uses the cement in a situation like this because the gaps between the tiles are quite big and it is the same colour, and will therefore look the same as any exposed cement, which matters in areas where the cement has come right up to the surface in between the tiles. This is particularly true of the sides, where it oozed up beneath the backing paper.

By the end of the day all the grouting has been done and they tell me they are coming back tomorrow to do the cleaning and the painting. Painting?! I nod and smile and hope for the best.

# 40 [17 June 2010]

Yell

Yell is the island in between Unst and the mainland and one of the teachers in the school, Rachel, lives on Yell, so I went to visit her on my way through.

It was a lovely afternoon and we set off for The Old Haa, a community museum in Burravoe, where I learnt all about Yell’s history and checked out the local knitwear. At least I feel I have a pretty good excuse to get really excited about the knitwear!

Following that, we went for a walk to the top of the Ness of Burravoe, which was stunning and one of the most delightful walks I have done in Shetland. The shining sun probably helped!

We went back to Rachel’s for a delicious dinner that had been slow cooking in the rayburn for hours and went for an after-dinner walk along West Sandwick beach, where we watched the sun set over the water.

A wonderful weekend.

# 39 [17 June 2010]

Unst

Frances, my coordinator, invited me to Unst, where her partner lives. Unst is the most northerly island in Britain, save Muckle Flugga, a rock just off the north tip of Unst, which is home to Britain’s most northerly lighthouse.

After two ferry rides from the mainland to Yell, then over to Unst, we went to eat at “The Camp”, otherwise known as the ex RAF base of Saxa Voord. Gorgeous food. There are several places to eat in Unst now, all of which serve very good food, but I was interested to find out that this has only been the case for the past few years. Before then, there was takeaway café or something similarly paltry. So I felt privileged to have the choice.

Saturday morning Frances and I set off for Hermaness, one of Shetland’s nature reserves, famous for its puffin colonies. We had been told by a reliable source only the day before that very few puffins were to be seen the week before, and having had similar experiences on Ness and at Sumburgh Head, two other places known for puffins, I did not have high hopes. But luck was on our side and we saw loads! They are so cute, especially when they fly, with their little orange feet sticking out!

So that was brilliant. I then went to visit the Heritage Centre and spent most of my time inspecting (and purchasing) the knitwear. I’m hooked now! (‘scuse the pun).

The following day we went to visit a few beautiful beaches before catching the ferry over to Yell.

# 38 [17 June 2010]

Grouting 1

I arrived at 8am on the Friday to find the tilers scratching their chins and looking at the sky and muttering. It wasn’t raining. Eventually I managed to coax out of them that it had been raining in the night and so the cement would be wet and therefore we could not grout. The night before I was about to cover the structures in plastic, but they stopped me saying it wasn’t necessary. I bet they wish we had now. Hey ho. What surprised me was that they thought it was necessary to put it off. If it had been me, I would have considered it fine to grout. This just shows that the professionals know their stuff. These guys are very good and very thorough. I trust that they really do know what they are doing. It makes sense that if the cement is completely dry, the grout will adhere better and the whole thing will be stronger. So although it was annoying that we had to wait until Monday, I was happy that the job was being done properly.