Shetland Art Residency

Turning our attention towards Scalloway village centre now, we return past The Booth and down the steps and round what I initially thought was a water tower (it’s actually the sewerage plant!):

There are steps down to the sea just by the tower. This is looking back towards Blacksness Docks, incorporating The Booth.

(what3words location: gong.sponge.leafing)

Our first slipway. There are several along the harbour wall. This is behind the youth centre.

(what3wordslocation: armrest.sprint.glimmers)

Continuing up Main Street, this slipway looks out towards Trondra and East Voe.

(what3words location: hopefully.comforted.crafts)

The Sketchbook Project is the world’s largest collection of artist sketchbooks and is housed in Brooklyn, New York. Many are digitised and available to view from wherever you are, and the actual sketchbooks are often taken around the States on tour of educational establishments. I’ve noted each exact location with the what3words app in case you fancy looking them up.

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Continuing our meander round to Blacksness Docks, here are the next three drawings from Scalloway:

I can see this rather sizeable boat tethered to the corner of the dockyard from my window. It marks the entrance point of the docks where fishing boats arrive with their catch.

(what3words location: contexts.tickling.winds)

Moving to the pier where the fishing boats arrive and unload. The boat in the foreground is Scalpa Lass.

(what3words location: twisty.reviews.willpower)

I rather liked these iron works so secure on the edge of the pier, oblivious to the waves boisterously bouncing around behind them.

(what3words location: files.update.apprehend)

The Sketchbook Project is the world’s largest collection of artist sketchbooks and is housed in Brooklyn, New York. Many are digitised and available to view from wherever you are, and the actual sketchbooks are often taken around the States on tour of educational establishments. I’ve noted each exact location with the what3words app in case you fancy looking them up.

(if you’d like to have my blog posts appear magically in your inbox, just sign up with ‘bloglovin’ here and they’ll do the magic for you)

I’ve been staying on the harbourside in Scalloway, Shetland during this art residency, with the winter tides splashing up to the windows. Walking around what was once the capital of Shetland, I noticed that access to the water through nooks and crannies between the seafront buildings was a constant theme. History was apparent amongst the many stone corridors of steps and slipways at the back of buildings – I bet those steps and slipways could tell a story or two!

Wandering down those seaweed covered steps, exploring the slipways and pottering round Blacksness Docks, each angle giving a different outlook, a spark of inspiration emerged, and so did a new sketchbook. I brought a batch of Sketchbook Project sketchbooks with me, so this seemed like the perfect opportunity to share my explorations.

It may in retrospect have been logical to start at one end of the harbour and circle round to the other, however I instinctively started the sketchbook with the space and steps by The Booth (marked ‘here’ on the map below) Here are those initial charcoal drawings:

Drawn from the corner of the studio, looking out to the neighbouring island of Trondra.

(what3words location: tenure.thrashed.cattle)

There are steps down to the sea on right of the studio looking outwards. I discovered that the sea often sweeps it’s waves up the steps at high tide, especially during feisty weather.

(what3words location: refrained.infects.cools)

Moving round from The Booth towards Blacksness Docks, there are steps down to the water before the next house along the harbour. I love the rusted buoys lolling in the front yard of the neighbouring house.

(what3words location: dose.recliner.remember)

Here’s a map of Scalloway, Shetland to enable you to get your bearings:

The Sketchbook Project is the world’s largest collection of artist sketchbooks and is housed in Brooklyn, New York. Many are digitised and available to view from wherever you are, and the actual sketchbooks are often taken around the States on tour of educational establishments. I’ve noted each exact location with the what3words app in case you fancy looking them up.

(if you’d like to have my blog posts appear magically in your inbox, just sign up with ‘bloglovin’ here and they’ll do the magic for you)

Heading back down the A970 after exploring the Nesting area on mainland Shetland, these contours caught my eye and so I pulled over to draw them. Not so much of an official parking place as much as one of the somewhat typical random large flat areas that appear at the side of these roads over time. Lots of traffic rocking Buttercup the Beetle as they sped past whilst I was relishing those dramatic hillside shadows.

(the what3words location is: regard.embedded.pesky)

The rather fabulously named Mavis Grind is a narrow joining piece of land that links the mainland of north-west Shetland to the Northmavine peninsula. I didn’t know that this was where I was until afterwards, I’d just found a place that I found interesting sculpturally. The road is cut out of the rock and I rather liked the look of it’s lumps and bumps. The way the light touched the land meant that it looked delightfully floaty.

Continuing my charcoal on handmade paper theme, here’s my drawing with the (also fabulously named) Bight of Haggister as the water to the right:

(there was no mobile signal, so I looked up the location afterwards – the what3words location is roughly: tree.hobble.head)