Christmas Fair at Kelso-Ceilidh Barn.

The 'South West Ross Arts & Eats' 2011 Christmas Fair is underway, its on until Monday afternoon and has a mass of delicious hot food and snacks, foodie gifts and art work. Last year it snowed for a few of the days we had it on, sure enough tgis morning the snow had crept down the mountains- you can just see it to the left of photo below the clouds. The building there the the New lodge, the fair is in the Ceilidh barn next door. Here is more information on the Northings website. The event raises monies for the Hospice.

here is my wee corner display.

Lochcarron Games 2011

(Richmond manning the Balnacra Arts stand )

( a few spaces after a long day's selling )

( Bruno keeps his eye on the extra stock for us )

( some unusual competitors in this years hill race )

Lochcarron Highland Games was cancelled last year due to the heavy rain and waterlogged pitch. This is Lochcarron, in the summer we expect rain & midges, however today's games passed without too much of either. These were the best games in years and congratulations are due to the hardworking team who pulled it together. There was also the biggest crowd I've seen in years. The village swells for a couple of days as all the young folks and their new families come home for the games. Its sad & poignant to see how many people have had to leave- there simply isn't work, housing or opportunities here for them, its lovely to see folks when they do all come back together though.
As usual we took a stall to sell prints and cards of my artwork, strange to be away from the easel and out in public! Always good to get feedback about my work and a wee bit of cash! One lady who stopped for a chat reminded me of a pottery commission i did for her ...TWENTY years ago. scary! where does time go?

I wish i had time to take more photos, I am aware that the games are so normal & common place for us but for people outside Scotland must seem very strange, yes we do have hurling the haggis competitions, men in kilts, bagpipes playing, local venison & salmon to eat, and highland dancers, and the night before a village dance with traditional music and what you'd call Scottish country dancing... we just call it dancing. Culture matters. We shouldn't let these things become theme park parodies, its important to keep it alive and thriving.

Traditional Tales

this is quite big, ink on paper. disappointed in how it turned out, but its prompted a head searching in how to achieve the effect I want, loose stylized spontaneous decorative crisp lines. When i get a minute I'll play with different inks again and if it comes to it, investigate making my own textured version of 'scraper board'.

This picture is about a story my storyteller friend told during a recent visit. These traditional tales are so strange and primal, scary, non linear, something beyond what we understand or expect from modern narratives. I think to capture them in an illustration form requires a more intuitive non-linear approach, not sure how yet. But even though i consider this picture a fail, I gained a better understanding of the primal metaphors within the story while doing it. I'll not tell the tale, a) i couldnt do it justice b) its gruesome !

Community woodlands

There is a government supported scheme whereby communities can buy and manage their own land when it goes in the market. I don’t know much about the technical ins and outs but to me, community managed land is idealistically miles ahead of the archaic feudal system we currently have in place in Scotland. Part of this community idea is community woodlands, when forestry commission land goes for sale, community groups have the option of buying it first. Some communities are stronger and more pro-active than others. I am always struck by the differences when I read the minutes of all the different community councils in our area. Some are fairly diverse councils, forward looking and keen to take the initiative with schemes which develop the villages. Others are more negative in their outlook, aging and stuck in the past.

The village I have known as home since 1976, Loch Carron, has been through many changes in those 34 years. People like my family came to live here to build Massive Oil rigs, the village was a bustling workers village, large wages, fast cars, thousands of workers passing through. Us youngsters were provided with youth, club, BBQs, discos, a film club, school outings etc from the oil money. Mid 80’s the company went bust, the money ran out, the site at Kishorn fell quiet, people left. Slowly things built up again, the fish farms employed many local people, tourists started coming, B&Bs and small tourist based business sprung up. Then The Fish farms exchanged hands ( many many times ) they became mechanised, jobs were lost. The housing boom down south saw more and more local houses get sold as holiday homes or for folks from elsewhere to retire to. Prices spiralled out of locals reach. Tourism diminished throughout the 90’s. The crafts boom was over. BY 2005 I had to close my Pottery shop. Nothing stays the same, everything changes.

At present we have a school roll which has halved in the last 5 years. The oldest average population. Our village seems to be somewhere tourists drive through rather than a destination in itself. I had virtually given up with local groups and committees as every time I hit the same brick walls of negativity, apathy, cynisism, fear of change, fear of youth, xenophobia. Incomers complaining about the ‘crafting mafia’ locals complaining about the ‘white settlers’ / Sassenachs, the community council complain about Bikers and young people.

Now the opportunity for the community to buy or lease the forest behind the village has come up. This project could only work with the community support and effort. Now  have for years followed keenly the progress of other community woodland projects, In this day and age when life seems to become a treadmill which people struggle to find joy or meaning in, when money becomes everything. When young people are alienated, everything is pre-packed regulated, designer, consumer branded, when children are afraid to play outside, when the fear of being sued, or violating health and safety keeps everyone locked indoors watching a parade of mindless sequin clad drivel- now is exactly the time we should stand up, stand together, take the lead in our own lives, o2wn communities and create the sort of villages our children and grandchildren could thrive in. A pensioner village is not sustainable, a holiday village is not sustainable. The Kirkton Woodland could be a rare opportunity to create work, amenities, recreational facilities, arts , youth , play, nature, culture activities.

There is a Kirkton Woodland and heritage Group, they run the monthly producers days in the village hall which provide delicious home cooked lunches and raise funds. This group now own the Smithy Heritage centre, where they hope to build additional craft workshops and get the heritage centre back up & running again. They have managed to get funding for a development officer who is working closely with HIE the government development agency to find ways to develop Lochcarron.

Friday 8th October there will be a public consultation meeting about the proposed community woodland development . Sadly I am away so will not be able to argue against the NIMBIs ( Not In My Back Yard ). But my artwork will be. I was tasked with sketching up some of the ideas, to help people visualise potential projects that could take plece in the woodlands if the community choose to buy it rather than allow it to go to sale to a private deveolper omn the open market.

I’ll blog up the images after the meeting. All of the above is just my opinion, just as the drawings are just some of my ideas. I have spent a lot of time over those 34 years wondering those woodlands, the trees were just 1foot tall when I arrived here, now they are a dense tangled in places impenetrable forest. Nothing stays the same, everything changes, I wonder what it will look like ten years from now ?

Lochcarron Producers days

Attended the monthly Lochcarron Producers day today, I usually try and attend as many as possible, as its a good chance to a) get out of the house b)sell my wares c) catch up with people d) get feedback on my latest work. As well as a few local crafts makers there is always a good value lunch provided by the village ladies to raise funds for the Kirkton Woodland and Heritage Group. This group is looking into development proposals and a community buy out of the woodland behind the village, which would open up many possibilities for the  development of the village rather than if the sale went to a private developer.

Some people see any changes or development in the village as a bad thing, but we have a village with the oldest average age in the region ( or beyond? correct me if I'm wrong ), there is a chronic lack of affordable housing for young families and the school roll has halved in the last four years. Something needs to be done to prevent this village becoming solely a holiday and retirement village, even if the retiring holiday home owners disagree.

( heres my latest crocheted hat, sported by the lovely 'Britney' )

( my wares on display )

( Paul Swan, local wildlife expert and wildlife photographer with his work )

( Terry Hitchen- woodturner, polishing one of his mirrors )

My camera batteries ran out before I could snap any of the other usual suspects! Its always a pleasant day out and handy for me as I don't have a studio or shop front any more, to meet the public and show my work. Folks were full of questions about my Russia trip after seeing it in the paper so I had my notebook running with theYelabuga photos.

Stags & Snow

After a very long, very slippy, very snowy, very beautiful drive to Inverness today, I painted 8 of these staggy pictures.