Getting into the feel of the island by taking Buttercup the Beetle (that’s my car) on an exploration of the west coast here on mainland Shetland. I drove to the end of one of the roads and chanced upon Melby, near Sandness, where I found a beautiful beach. Storm Malik had been at large the previous day and the waters were easing back off the land. According to Martin, who lives there with his charming dog Maisie, the sea had made itself quite at home in all parts of the hamlet.
Gravitating towards charcoal, and delighting in using the handmade paper that I brought along with me to Shetland on a whim, here’s my drawing of Melby beach:
(managed to get a mobile signal! The what3words location was: mute.massaging.candy)
I’m writing in the middle of a brisk rain and wind episode that makes the waves outside my window look like they’re about to hop up and step in for tea. Yes, it’s January in Scalloway harbour on Shetland, so I’m guessing this is pretty normal for the time of year. In fact, I suspect this is mild, snow isn’t forecast until later in the week!
Time flies when one is navigating a new place doesn’t it? And it seems to take me a while to absorb new energy in a way that activates me to create, especially when my anticipation levels were so high. I’ve been looking forward to the residency since I my application was accepted before Christmas, so that’s a lot of expectancy isn’t it? I’m lucky that I have a month here to learn a little of the energy and nature’s rhythms in this nook of Shetland.
I had a plan of the artwork I thought I may produce that I submitted to WASPS, who own this building prior to arriving. It’s taken until now to let the combination of my initial thoughts and inspiration to contemplate merging. I did an online workshop to invigorate my paint mixing. These are my twilight oil sketches which charted darkening skies:
Then I took some charcoal out on a windy day and this is my drawing of the Bay of Okraquoi on the east side of the island:
Further research and preparation is ongoing for future works – and a bit of a change is potentially in the offing as I’m responding to the change in environment! I’ll pop them on the next blog post when they’re done :)
