Shetland

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 won't like it if 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.
In 2018 /19 I had the privilege of an extended residency in Shetland-this time living in the North Mainland for four months.

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 sightings....

“To stand at the edge of the sea, to sense the ebb and flow of the tides, to feel the breath of a mist moving over a great salt marsh, to watch the flight of shore birds that have swept up and down the surf lines of the continents for untold thousands of years, to see the running of the old eels and the young shad to the sea, is to have knowledge of things that are as nearly eternal as any earthly life can be.”
― Rachel Carson,,

February -May 2019:

Artist in Residence at the Weaving Shed Gallery, Shetland
with thanks to Geoff Jukes and the North Mavine Community Development Company
works made outdoors in dialogue with weather and tide

*for coinciding project, please view:
'Da Waander-migration, litter, climate change

Please scroll down for image info and pricing.-

, May (murmur), oil, cold wax on paper, 6x12in, 2019, £97

Purchase info:

Paintings are priced in GBP. Payment can be made securely via Paypal and shipping to North America, Australia, New Zealand, Europe and the UK can be arranged.

Works are unframed unless otherwise stated ,They are shipped within three days once payment has cleared.

Please connect with the artist to purchase
janyatesart@gmail.com

Little May (seeking signs), oil / beeswax, 4x6in, sold

April(walk 90) oil/ cold wax on panel, 5x7in, sold

May, remains of the day, oil / beeswax on paper, 9x12in, sold

April (Sumburgh), oil/cold wax on paper, 8 1/2x 11 1/2in, 2019, £190,

April (walk 67), oil /cold wax on paper, 9x12in, 2019,£190

April 3, (simmermal) oil, cold wax, 12x12in, 2019,.£200

, March(walk 52) oil /cold wax on panel, 12x12in, 2019, sold

,March, walk 48 ,oil/cold wax on paper, 6x12in 2019, sold

March (walk 42) oil /cold waxon paper,6x12in,2019, sold

March (walk 38) oil / cold wax on panel, 4x6in, 2019, £60

March (walk 33), oil, cold wax on canvas, 12x12in, 2019, private collection

March (walk 29) oil /cold wax on paper, 9x12in, 2019, sold

February( Hillswick walk 24-‘raem calm’) oil on paper, 9x12in, 2019, £190

February (Hillswick walk 18 /2 ) oil on canvas 12x12in 2019, £200

February (Hillswick walk 13) oil on panel, 8x10in, 2019, private collection

February (walk 12) oil on panel, 8x10in, 2019, sold

‘Da Nort wind is blaan’ (February, walk 3), oil on panel, 8x10in, 2019, £160

Shetland 2016-2018

It Cannae Last, oil/cold wax, 6x12in, 2018, sold

June, Sumburgh walk 10, oil / cold wax, 16x20in, $700

Purchase info:

Original paintings are listed in Canadian dollars.
Payment can be made securely via Paypal (you don’t need an account to purchase securely with Visa or Master-card) and shipping throughout North America, Australia, New Zealand, Europe and the UK can be arranged.

Paintings are shipped within three days once payment has cleared.

Please connect with the artist to acquire your painting: janyatesart@gmail.com

Sumburgh Walk (with 'tammie norrie'), June
oil, cold wax
30x60in, 2018
available at the Jordan Art Gallery

Sumburgh Walk 19
oil on canvas
6x6in, 2017
sold

Sumburgh Walk 18
oil on canvas
6x6in, 2017
sold

Sumburgh Walk 20
oil on canvas
6x6in, 2017
sold

July
It cannae last
(Eshaness)

oil / cold wax on canvas
20x20in, 2017
sold
inquire here

18th June
oil on paper
12x12in, 2017

sold

11th June

oil on paper
12x12in , 2017
sold

inquire here

direct encounters in mainland Shetland and Fair Isle

Drawing ( and listening to) Seals in Fair Isle

direct-encounter workshop at Sumburgh Head Lighthouse

but it cannae last

oil / beeswax
40x48in
2017
$1900
available

sea level cam
January 24

oil, cold wax
(beeswax)
16x20in, 2017
700
inquire here

a coorse day

oil / beeswax
16x20in
2016
available at the Jordan Art Gallery

but it cannae last

oil / beeswax
16x20in
2016
sold

Der Little lea an under a lang-backit sea (4)
oil / cold wax on canvas
12x16in, 2016
sold

Der little lea an under a lang-backit sea ( 3)
16x20in
oil on canvas
700
inquire here

Simmer Dim oil / cold wax (beeswax) on canvas, 24x60in, 2016
private collection

5th June
12PM
#sumburghhead
6x6in
2016
sold

Migration Path (Fair Isle) oil on panel, 5x7in, 2016. available.

Out-from North Haven (Fair Isle) oil on panel, 6x6in, 2016, sold

19th June, 3pm
oil on panel
6x6in, 2016
private collection

1st June
4PM
#sumburghhead
6x8in
2016
sold

3rd June
10PM
#sumburghhead
8x10in
2016
sold

4th June
1PM
#sumburghhead
8x10in
2016

available

9th June
12PM
#sumburghhead
8x10in
2016
sold

10th June
12PM
#sumburghhead
8x10in
sold

11th June
12PM
#sumburghhead
8x10in
2016
sold

Shetland - 2015-2016

I’m finally feeling connected between the parallel worlds of Niagara and Shetland, falling into a rhythm of making work in response to the different lands. The searching is constant. Work intersects. The ‘making’ process has now opened up an overlapping dialogue in the physicality of application - the tools I use for the Shetland seas are being applied to the escarpment trees. There are few trees in Shetland- Niagara has no seas…

I will be going back to Shetland for a June residency, this time in a lighthouse perched way up on a cliff....!

Shetland 22, oil & cold wax on masonite, 12x24in, 700.

Shetland 21 (a day with Anne & Mike), oil/cold wax on canvas, 30x30in, 2015

sold

oil /cold wax on canvas,9x12in, 200

oil /cold wax on canvas, 8x10in, private collection

Mirrie Dancers, oil /cold wax on canvas, 8x10in, 150

Shetland 19, oil /cold wax on canvas, 8x10in, sold

Shetland 20, oil /cold wax on canvas, 8x10in, 200.

This body of work is new and I will be delving into it throughout the year-probably much longer. The series is evolving out of a recent (April 2015) residency in the Shetland Islands, of which I thank the Ontario Arts Council and those of you supporting me by purchasing paintings via the 'Wild in Shetland' crowd-funder. Those paintings were made looking out to the sea, listening to the laughing gulls and lapping waves and breathing in the heady sea air-some were supervised by a seal.

Scalloway walk 4 encaustic on found panel 4x12in 2015

Shetland 24 (Annes sheep) encaustic on found panel 6x14in 2016

The plein air paintings below were made for those who sponsored me through the 'Wild in Shetland' crowd-funder, of which I am deeply grateful.

'This residency is very different from the time in Ireland. Then, I was an objective outsider and in analtogether different state of mind. That residency was deeply profound and still affects my work,it is just a different experience than this one. In Shetland, 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.'
Jan Yates, April 2015, Shetand