The writings of Gavin Maxwell, naturalist and conservationist, spurred my travels to Scotland, including a pilgrimage to the Isle of Skye where Maxwell wrote ‘Ring of Bright Water’. The allure of wildness, islands, history (and possible otter sightings) compelled me to explore Scotland further so I applied for a residency in the Shetland Isles and in 2015 was awarded my first -a month on water’s edge in Scalloway. The following year I was awarded another residency, this time living in a lighthouse keepers‘ quarters on top of a cliff.
Shetland (Shetlanders don’t like it when you call it ‘the Shetlands’) stands apart from the rest of Scotland and not just on the map. It used to be part of Norway before being offered up as a dowry. The community, dialect and place names reflect this Norwegian connection.
I think we all experience a sense of place outside the places we live and it is in Shetland that I feel this. Here, I am IN the sea, IN the hills, IN the skies. There is no dividing line, no objectivity-just a divine surrender to a place in time.
I made most of these paintings of and with the wild sea- hunkered on high rocks. The wind took some from me-some I got back;-)
still no otter sighting
Shetland (Shetlanders don’t like it when you call it ‘the Shetlands’) stands apart from the rest of Scotland and not just on the map. It used to be part of Norway before being offered up as a dowry. The community, dialect and place names reflect this Norwegian connection.
I think we all experience a sense of place outside the places we live and it is in Shetland that I feel this. Here, I am IN the sea, IN the hills, IN the skies. There is no dividing line, no objectivity-just a divine surrender to a place in time.
I made most of these paintings of and with the wild sea- hunkered on high rocks. The wind took some from me-some I got back;-)
still no otter sighting
