The dig is over for another year. The last two days involved packing up the Art Hut, while dodging in and out of the rain to draw and record the trenches being covered in sandbags, tarpaulin and tyres that will […]
No writing today but lots of drawings. Here are a few: Preparation for covering the Ness of Brodgar site. First rolling tyres to the side of the trenches. Next piling up the sandbags. While some of the archaeologists do paperwork. […]
Today is the last day available for excavation and planning continues all over the site. My drawing is of a young archaeologist doing a carefully measured drawing and balancing on a single stone to avoid damaging the delicate floor surface. […]
The photo of my corner of the Art Hut represents half the artists’ space. Yesterday was Open Day and we had 100 visitors. As we can only fit in two or three people at one time, it was a busy […]
The mood on site was sad today. The Director’s much loved dog Bryn, who I have drawn several times over the years, passed away after a long illness. There is a lovely tribute on the Dig Diary. Added to this […]
Today saw the world premier of my film: ‘Ness of Brodgar 5th edit – work in progress’, which is around half the intended length of the film. It was shown on site, projected on to the wall of the barn […]
Last year and early this season I followed the history of Trench Y, which was meant to be a quick excavation to find the wall surrounding the Ness of Brodgar. They didn’t find the wall – just a few bits […]
Today the main trench is being cleaned in preparation for aerial images from the drone. Everyone is involved bringing a distinct change of mood and pace. There is a lot to do. Every weed and bit of green bloom that […]
Feedback is always good value. At lunchtime I showed the current edit of my film to three supervisors who are leaving the dig today. As they are all experts in the field, I felt rather anxious and hoped there were […]
No writing today as I spent most of the time on this small oil painting. It is of some unusual stones, which are due to be removed next week. Plus one drawing of work continuing around the drain. More tomorrow…
One of the joys of a residency is sharing my work with the host organisation. For some time now it has felt like a very fruitful partnership with the archaeologists on the Ness of Brodgar. But on a more personal […]
The day began with a discussion on the Neolithic method of construction. It seems that they started with good intentions but when chaos intervened they made the best of what they had. How many of us artists identify with this […]