Finishing off
Tuesday 15th 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.
