archaeology - a-n The Artists Information Company

The weather continued wet and windy, the latter particularly strong and biting, which limited my work on site this week. There is a sheltered spot where the supervisor of Structure 12 has set up office.  I sat there to draw […]

It has been a cold and very windy week, with frequent heavy showers. So it has not only restricted time on site but also been difficult to keep warm. Where the archaeologists are mainly in the relative shelter of the […]

Having torn up my plan last week I have now decided to not only concentrate on what appeals but, realising that people are my primary interest, to focus on human activity. This brings me back to the original purpose of […]

Some better weather and I’ve torn up my plan. Having tried to make a list of things to do, which was beginning to make me anxious, it seemed sensible to simply go out on site and record, both visually and […]

In coming weather – clouds on the hills of Hoy While diggers continue in nearly all weather, drawings cannot happen in rain. Two days of bad weather has limited my activity on site but given time to think and access […]

Monday A visit to Martha, the Rock Lady, who gave me another ‘sweety’ – a lovely piece of crumbling silt stone that makes a great ochre pigment Over the years my collection of these pigments has grown substantially – all […]

Thursday morning was spent getting some good sound recordings, in particular an explanation of Structure 8 for the visitors’ tour. His voice is loud and clear and the information is gold. There are also some good background voices of work […]

This photograph, taken by Jo Bourne, archaeologist and talented photographer, was the view the public got of me painting on Monday, when the weather was fine.  Jo takes all the best photos of me on site, including the one at […]

At last a dry day with some sunshine meant being able to get a painting done. It was not the easiest of sessions. The image is essential to my new project, being an overview of Structure 8, but it necessitated […]

The weather today was extremely windy and although I managed one drawing and a watercolour, the wind blew straight through me so I had to give up to go and get warm. The two studies of Structure 8 below will […]

The last day of this year’s residency. Three weeks have flown by too quickly. This is the shortest time I have spent at the Ness of Brodgar but on the other hand it is my first time away from home […]

Many hands helping with cleaning the floor for Drone photography in Structure 10. Meanwhile the cinema in a hut has been taking shape for tomorrow’s world premiere for the archaeologists. Pictures of the event tomorrow.  

Today the wind has dropped to a modest breeze – but as a result the clouds are almost static making the sky an overall light grey with just an occasional glimpse of blue. So while the normal strong winds create […]

Most of the day was spent gathering materials to convert a small hut on site into a cinema for Friday’s world premiere of my film about the Ness of Brodgar. This afternoon I made it into Structure 10 for a […]

Today was mostly spent doing a final edit for the world premiere of my film about the Ness of Brodgar on Friday. So just the one drawing today. In Trench J they have reached ‘the natural’ – the earth that […]

Following on with the story of the big pot. Here is a piece now dry enough to be turned over, revealing its decoration. It was removed from the big slab of pot (from the top right hand corner of the […]

After the excavation of the big pot comes the paperwork in meticulous detail. Just one drawing as the day was mostly was spent sourcing technology for my film show next week. Later on with the return of Orkney winds, I […]

This morning there was a gentle breeze, pale sunshine, and big black clouds on the horizon – standard Orkney weather except the wind is usually much stronger. After a personal tour of Structure 10, I drew some of the diggers, […]

There are two sides to my work, practice and reflection. Here at the Ness of Brodgar there is much to draw, paint, and many sounds to record. But I also feel a need to keep a handle on the thinking […]

Previously I have said that human activity is my primary focus. But that is not the whole story. To clarify, it is the place in which people, including myself, are located that is the anchor for my work. That to […]

The first part of the day was spent putting up pictures to advertise the Artists in Residence, in the hope of sales – directing people to my website at karenwallis.co.uk. This was followed by a trip into Kirlkwall in search […]