On Open Day there are so many visitors to the Art Hut that there is little chance of getting on site for more than a hasty sketch.
However late in the afternoon, when a shower had thinned out the visitors, it was possible to go out and witness the end of an experimental firing of a replica Neolithic pot, using sheep dung as the fuel.
More thinking than artwork today – at least to start with. I’ve been trying to get to grips with the rhythm of the dig and my place in it. Having tried various scenarios for various people – management, supervisors, students, and myself – I have come to the conclusion that we all are in a similar position. We begin with intentions, then the unexpected happens – and then, as one of the supervisors succinctly expressed it, it’s like trying to turn a tanker around and finding we can’t stop it.
So having got that into perspective, I got out to do some drawings. First the excitement of a very long orthostat (standing stone) being revealed.
Then an approaching rain storm.
A stone being examined for decoration.
And finally the Director’s dog in pensive mood.
No blog tomorrow as we have a day off in lieu of the Open day on Sunday.
A busy morning starting early making a series of rapid sketches of the start of the archaeological day collecting kit from the store.
Tea break provided a chance for a pair of studies.
Just before lunch there was the excitement of a very large slab being lifted to reveal – nothing. Further rapid, very sketchy drawings, which I hope will be compiled later into something more comprehensible.
In the afternoon it rained… I hope for more considered drawing and thinking tomorrow.
Some days I start out with particular intentions and one by one they fall by the wayside. My first aim this morning was to draw the start of the archaeological day, but although I made a great effort to arrive early, it had already started.
So instead of drawing lots of people getting kit from the Barn where it is stored, I managed a few fleeting figures and had to make do with a study of the location, to act as a background for future drawing.
The second aim was to take advantage of the good weather to do a painting – but I got distracted. There was a large group of students learning the art of scraping with trowels, which I wanted to draw for the film.
This was followed by a visit to Structure 26 to see some interesting features not usually found on this site – a quern (the stone used for grinding grain) in situ beside the hearth.
Back in the Art Hut for teabreak there was an influx of visitors, some of whom had already been buying my postcards in the shop. By this time the weather had changed. The sun had gone in, it was cloudy with shifting light – and it was really too late to start a painting…
This ongoing residency requires a long view. The film I’m composing is not a final outcome. It’s a good way of collating my findings but I need to think beyond its development to wherever the project takes me. So while I continue to collect material to fill the gaps in the film’s narrative, it is necessary to remain open to other threads in my artist’s research – whatever that may be…
There is also a persistent ‘problem’ of making a better drawing or sound recording that covers an aspect already in my film. So I must not be precious and will have to allow earlier material to end up on the cutting room floor if necessary.
Today’s drawings focussed on mattocking and shovelling top soil in the extension to Trench X. This is an aspect already covered in my film but today’s sound recordings, if not the drawings are better than the ones already in the film.
There is a new edit in progress but last year’s version is available on Vimeo. It is also worth following the progress of the archaeology in their daily Dig Diary at www.nessofbrodgar.co.uk
