Open Day Report from the Ness of Brodgar

For the OPEN Day on 15 July, over 200 folk came into the artacabin!

For the past 3 years, maybe even 4, I have been helping with all the activities at the Stenness School when the Ness of Brodgar has its OPEN DAYS.  Due to being one of the artists in residence this year, I stayed at the Artacabin to receive visitors.  My fellow artist, Karen Wallis, was counting and so it was my surprise to find 200 people had come in to talk and see what we were doing.

In addition to working in oil paints, I also use a print process described as watercolour whiteline woodcut, aka, the Provincetown print.  I have been sharing this method within the UK since 2004 and still offer workshops.  I brought some samples of my early work in for the OPEN DAY.  Two prints are part of the summer exhibiton at the Stromness Museum. http://www.stromnessmuseum.co.uk/

I am finding it interesting to introduce visitors to the two different ways that Karen and I use to express our artwork.  Next week, Elizabeth Holder arrives and has another interpretation.

I have begun to develop a strong interest in some rectangular shapes that appear in mounds of earth inside the trenches.  These areas of bulk  are called sondages and are left intact because they expose layers of life, and/or use of something.  Inside Structure One there is a strong hearth and careful effort is being made to save the layers for greater examination. In Trench T and in the middle of Trench P are some long bridge-like dirt structures.  These exposed layers of dirt are called SONDAGE.  I am fascinated by”Sondages in my Montage” and I believe I will be doing something with the rectangular shapes cut out of them in my painting.

In the Sondage, rectangular blocks are removed.