Rhythms of Skaill

When I started this artwork back in April I fully expected to be finished by July at the very latest, but that quickly went out the window. It has been a difficult year to be honest and my artwork had to take a back seat for a few months while my energy was directed elsewhere. Abandoning an artwork half way through wasn't ideal but I knew it would wait for me. Eventually I returned to it in ernest in September and pushed it over the finishing line. Better late than never.

 "Rhythms of Skaill" *sold*
Handwoven tapestry
Materials: cotton, linen, rayon and wool woven on cotton warp.
Size: approx. 88.5cm x 35cm (35" x 14")

 

 

My artwork is continuing with the exploration of ripples within the landscape: how they repeat and reflect one another and their rhythmic flow across the landscape. This particular artwork is based on Skaill beach, below the neolithic site of Skara Brae on the west coast of Mainland Orkney.

The light was overcast the day I visited Skaill beach, creating soft colours and an almost hazy atmosphere.  In contrast to the muted subtlety there was a strong visual progression of ripples: frothy tidal traces left behind on the sand from the ebb and flow of the tide, moving up to rolling waves and gently undulating sea which then met expansive banks of clouds. I was immediately drawn to this careful balance of subtlety and strength. 

 

  detail - in the distance is the Hole o' Rowe, a sea-worn hole in the cliff at Skaill.

 

I knew I wanted to play with texture in this artwork, both for visual interest since the mood and colours were gentle and subtle, but also to pull out the rhythmic flow of the ripples. The detail photographs above and below show the variety of textural surfaces in this piece: single and double weft, half hitch knots and carpet knots (the tufted pile.) From the very beginning I had an inexplicable, strong urge to create a tufted wave. I love its boldness in form and how the low relief naturally creates a shadow, adding to the sense of depth in the wave.

 

detail - wet sand and tidal lines.

 

detail - wave and sea.

 

detail - sky.

This tapestry is now sold, has been delivered to its new owner and is happily hanging in its new home. Now that I've settled all the post-artwork admin (which always takes up a surprising amount of time) and had a much needed break I can fully settle into exploring some other ideas which have been bubbling in the background. Here's to a productive winter of drawing, painting and most likely weaving!

Reverberance of nature

I see I had started a post in December called "winter working" but that clearly fell by the wayside. We're now in April the following year, the gallery has reopened for the 2025 season and my latest tapestry, which has taken up the majority of my time over winter, is now finished and hanging in the gallery.  

Reverberance of nature

Handwoven tapestry: cotton, linen, rayon and wool

size: approx. 120 x 53cm (47 x 21")  

"Reverberance of nature" explores the idea of interconnectedness through a series of echoes: wet sand mirroring sky and sand ripples reflecting headland and island forms, cloud formations and bird flight. These harmonious connections and repetition create a sense of ambiguity, energy and rhythm under subtle shifts of light.

I've been mulling over the concept of interconnectedness within nature and gathering research related to it since winter 2023 but the visuals for this particular artwork only fully formed towards last spring. I then delayed starting it until the latter half of the year when the gallery shuts for winter (October-March) as I knew it would require my full attention without interruption.

 In progress, November 2024.

 

In progress, December 2024.

As suspected, it did indeed require my full attention due to all the complex subtleties in tone and texture. Initial progress was fairly steady, reaching half way by the end of the year but I hit a massive mental block in January. I felt like I spent more time head scratching and undoing weaving than weaving for the best part of a month.

In progress, February 2025.

I spent a lot of time in January feeling uncertain whether what I was creating was actually working and communicating what I had envisioned. It felt like a precarious balance of wanting the artwork to be delicate, ambiguous and tonally and texturally subtle but not so subtle that it looked flat and uninteresting. Somewhat nerve-wrackingly it took until moving into the blue tones before I felt I could really see that my idea was coming together. 

In progress, March 2025.

As a result the upper 1/4 of the composition came together much quicker. "Finishing fever", as my Mum referred to it, kicked in as I wove most of the last quarter in just over a week. Another wonderful example of why it's impossible to say how long it takes to create a one-off painting or tapestry artwork; there is no fixed template for creative thinking and decision-making as it can vary wildly from piece to piece or even within one artwork. It took me the whole of January to progress a meagre couple of inches and everything felt like a slog, compared to towards the end of the artwork when I wove around 1ft in about a week as I was in a good decision-making flow. (It also depends on other variable factors, but I'm resisting going off on a complete tangent.)

Cutting off the loom mid March, 2025.

I'm aware many people will be asking if this piece is for sale and I'm afraid the answer is no for the time being as I'm still trying to build up a body of larger artworks (you can read my reasons behind this in a blog post here.) Realistically I only make one bigger tapestry artwork a year so it'll take at least 2 more years before I can consider parting with any of them. At present they're worth more for me to keep for display at the gallery than to sell. However I will continue to produce smaller tapestries and other artworks for sale throughout the year. I have two preparatory studies for this artwork and they will be listed for sale soon at the gallery and on the gallery's website. 

Once all my post-artwork admin is complete it'll be back to the drawing board for new artwork. Time to dig out the sketchbooks and paints and see where my creativity takes me.