I have been commissioned to work with the community of Voe to create a permanent piece of artwork for their school playground. This is a collaborative commission organised jointly by Creative Links and Olnafirth Primary School, both part of Shetland Islands Council Schools Service.
Leaving
My last couple of days were spent packing and finishing everything off, including writing this up!
I was lucky that a major event in Shetland’s diary, Flavour of Shetland, was happening this weekend. It is a food festival, but the main attraction is a big marquee with music on the pier.
After the annual “staff night oot”, which I was very lucky to included in – perfect timing! – we went to check out the music, which was traditional Shetland fiddle music and everyone was up dancing. Great fun.
I feel lucky and honoured to have met so many wonderful people. Shetland is a very special place, extremely welcoming and full of so much beauty in so many ways.
Let’s hope some more work pops up and I’ll be back! And if not, I’ll be back anyway hopefully.
Grand opening
The evening of the 16th arrived and the guests started arriving well before the start time of 7.30pm. And they just kept on coming. We were thrilled to have a very full house. People really did make an effort and there was a huge mix of parents, children, members of the local community, council members, contractors, personal guests, etc. In all, it was very well attended.
I had put up a display of the children’s design work and my final designs, and a selection of photographs showing the whole process, which was a good idea because it got a lot of attention and people were obviously interested in seeing how it had all come together.
After a while it was time to start the ceremony! The sculptures were concealed, with a little posse of children holding the fabric coverings down around each one. Frances made a speech and I did too, then it was time to do the unveiling, which the children did admirably, and everyone crowded around to have a look. The response was very good; everyone seemed to love them. I think the subject matter – Fair Isle knitwear – was a good choice. Everyone here can relate to it and most people seem to be proud of this part of their heritage. It is also a sensitive issue politically right now because Shetland Council has announced huge cuts within education and one of them has been to cut knitting classes, which have been a feature in primary schools for decades. I am pleased that in a small way this piece of work may help to raise the profile of knitting in Shetland, as it is a hugely important industry.
One lovely outcome of this project has been that one of my designs has been knitted into a beret by Mary, the mother–in-law of one of the teachers, who comes from Unst. Mary did me proud and rendered my design very accurately in Shetland wool, after translating it into a knitting pattern. Although she has been knitting her whole life, she has never made a beret before, but grasped the challenge and did it very successfully. I am thrilled and wore the beret for the first time for the opening, which Mary attended. She showed an interest when I asked her if she might consider translating all the other designs into knitwear, so that remains to be seen, but is very exciting nonetheless!
Children’s opening
In the afternoon of the 16th , we held a celebration for the children in the school. They had been so patient since the sculptures were finished the day before, because we told them they could not play on them until today.
It was so brilliant to see them using the space. Within a few minutes, they had developed a game whereby after 5 seconds they had to move on to the next one, and there was much hilarity and obvious enjoyment. I was very happy to to see that the sculptures are very interactive and promote active use of the space.
We also asked them to come up with some names for each sculpture and chose the best ones.
The press came to this event; the Shetland Times, which has been following the progress of the project form the beginning, I’I magazine and Shetland radio, who interviewed the pupils and staff as well as me.
Completed sculptures!
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.
I trained in public art and design, specialising in ceramics, graduating from Chelsea College of Art in 1995. For over 20 years, I have been producing public realm works around the UK and internationally. In 2011, I launched an evolving project, The Ceramic House; my home, gallery, and a living work of art, which I am covering with permanent ceramic and glass installations. Every May, I curate exhibitions of international contemporary ceramics at The Ceramic House during the Brighton Festival. In addition to working on public and private architectural ceramic commissions, recently I have been developing large-scale ceramic installation pieces for exhibitions which have been exhibited nationally and internationally.
