A calmer day the wind and hail has subsided, you really feel the weather in this booth, well in Shetland actually.
Continuing on with processing and sketching and some list writing, text gathering…… I imagine that text will feature somewhere in one of the 3 proposals, I love the boat names, they are interesting because they are quite relevant to their time in the history the modern ones are much less romantic and soft, some names have lasted and there have been several versions of the boat, the Serene is one. I find this an interesting way to illustrate the changes through time.
Continuing on with ink sketches looking at nets today and the circular idea started from drawing the way that herring were packed into barrels.
First day of really starting to process all of the information and experiences I have had in the past 5 weeks that I have been here in Shetland. Cleared out the studio downstairs this morning and set up working area. The studio space is down on the water level and the wind is still strong, can hear the waves hitting the stone wall and the wind rattling the doors. It is a cold and damp space, full of remnants of previous artists, two heaters on all day. Spent the rest of the day working on quick ink sketches trying to extract shapes and forms from the photos I have of boats old and new, also wanted to work in a quick and fluid way, to try and break through and loosen up the thought process. All the ideas and thoughts are still in my head and I need to get one out before I can move onto the next. Keeping this blog is quite unusual for me in the working process of a project, being more public about the work and showing drawings and images that would normally not get seen, the final artwork normally being the visible end result.
My new view……….moved into the booth, feels good to be in a space that is intended for making art and so close to the sea, it is a bit like being in a boat with water all around and immediately outside the window. I can watch the boats arriving in the harbour, and can see the restored Swan, the herring driftnet boat all feels appropriate.
Watched two forklifts moving these giant structures from a flat ladder shape laying on the ground they each lifted up an end, formed them into a circle and them laid them down again it was like a performance.
