Although I have now completed an online version of my Orkney journal, I am having difficulties in getting it to work online. Another update will follow as soon as the problem is resolved. In the meantime, here is a drawing […]
The first two days of this week were spent at the Drawing Research Network conference, ‘Tracing The Bridge’, where I hoped to learn about projects that are using drawing as a ‘bridge’ to other disciplines. Although I did not find any […]
This week has been mainly studio housework in preparation for developing the material collected during the residency. In between clearing the decks, I have been re-scanning all my sketches as high resolution images on a flat bed scanner, and regaining the […]
Now that the residency is over, I am starting to analyse the material collected and prepare to develop work in my studio. This blog will be updated each week with a post about the progress of my project. So far I […]
Day 20 The weather kept the site closed all day so I used the time to get other things done. In the morning I went to the Orkney Museum in Kirkwall to measure up a small room, for an exhibition […]
There are now only three days left of my residency here at the Ness of Brodgar. We had fine weather today but the forecast is so bad for tomorrow that the site will be closed. In order not to lose […]
Saturday In the afternoon, I gave a talk about my residency at the Pier Arts Centre. The room was full, with a mixed audience of local people, archaeologists and others from the site. After giving some background to my work […]
This morning I visited Orkney Museum in Kirkwall for a meeting about a potential exhibition there next year. They have a small space next to the Archaeology rooms, which is ideal. It is great to be able to visualise a place […]
Bad weather meant people were more willing to give me 15 minutes of their time to come indoors and have their portraits drawn. But some intrepid archaeologists kept going. Today’s portraits Catriona supervisor in Structure 8 and Ben supervisor in Trench 10 Mark and […]
This morning the site was closed so I spent some time preparing my talk for Saturday at the Pier Arts Centre. It’s called Work in Progress and is quite hard to put together, as the work to date is really […]
Today I met two experts who showed me treasures. Pottery specialist, Roy, who let me draw a magnificent piece of a Neolithic pot and a small piece of fired clay, with what appears to be the impression of a finger. Afterwards, the ‘Rock […]
Two portraits this morning, with sound recordings explaining archaeological procedures, in the trench and for finds. While waiting to draw Anne, I was able to draw her being filmed with an expert examining a find. This afternoon, I made a number […]
Today was Open Day on the Ness of Brodgar Dig. Despite bad weather crowds of people came to see how the excavations are progressing. The rain limited my drawing time but I managed two drawings during the (almost) dry spells. […]
Today, the dig had a day off, because everyone will be working on Sunday for the Open Day. So I spent the day visiting old haunts and thinking about the project. The residency is half way through and I have begun […]
Rain stopped all action for the morning so I spent a few hours considering work to date and how it might be best to proceed. There is too much going on in my head to write about it here but I can say […]
A wet and windy day meant intermittent drawing, mainly in the shelter of the trenches. It was good to get in close to the action and see real traces of Neolithic human activity. A heap of burnt material piled up […]
High winds this morning made taking the tarpaulins off a bit of a challenge. The other side of archaeology – paperwork and endless measuring Excitements of the day – 1 Getting into a trench and painting a row of little red flags […]
A very windy day, with variable weather – so, unless I could find shelter from the wind, it was best to concentrate on quick drawings of people including the visitors’ tour If you are not a member of a-n, please leave comments for […]
A second portrait. This is Hugo – and his last day working in Structure 14 The first week in any new place is about getting used to the context and working out what is to be done – and in the […]
Fine weather and lots of work done, including my first portrait, another watercolour, and a view across from the Ness. Many quick sketches made. The first series was of a tour of the site to introduce newcomers and update proceedings for others. […]
A wonderful sky to begin the day. One watercolour and four drawings achieved during the morning, with accompanying sound recordings. By lunch time rain arrived together with a gale so all work was abandoned for the day. During my afternoon off […]
Fine weather all day and very hot. Lots of drawing, colour notes and recordings of background sound. Some drawings (not shown here) are across both pages of the sketchbook. These will be joined up with colour added later.
A wet start to the residency but, despite the rain and swarms of flies, it was good to begin getting acquainted with the site. I sat in my hire car to paint the weather and did some drawings of the archaeologists catching […]
Today I arrived in Orkney across a rolling sea. I have the weekend to settle in before starting my residency on Monday.
Packing to leave for Orkney this evening. Ready to start my Artist’s Residency on Monday. Hope I haven’t forgotten anything…