Orkney Museum

Secrets of the Sea

Is the current exhibition at the Orkney Museum and runs til the 26th February.

It gives a fascinating insight into Orkney`s maritime heritage so if your interested in shipwrecks or the lost skills of the days of sail you should head down to the Orkney Museum.

All the items inside this case were made by Mark Shiner (Nav School, Stromness)

Sea chest handle known as a `Becket`.
This was such an intricate and beautifully made piece
 with great skill involved to produce such an ornate item.
(No wonder they were a status symbol in days gone by!!)

More examples of how rope and whipping twine were used.


Found on the German wreck SMS Karlsruhe these postcards were
probably used by the crew of the ship to write home. 

I was really intrigued by these postcard remnants and 

 the feelings and questions they could evoke.

( Interesting concept for future reference!!)

We Are Our Journey (de-installation!)

Today marked the end of my exhibition

We Are Our Journey

with the de-installation of the works!

Mark wrapping up the pictures, ready to take home!


And what goes up..................

......................must come down!

Mark rubs down the wall lettering ........

.......and masks of the floor, ready for painting!

And in a few hours this will be painted white again, all clean and fresh for the next exhibition!

All good things come to an end and this has been an incredible journey for me!
And to everyone who `embarked on this voyage` with me, I`d like to say a very BIG thank you!




The next exhibition is being curated by Lauren Henning called
`A Total Experiance` 
for more info on that follow link below
http://www.pierartscentre.com/current-upcoming-exhibition/27/2/2016/a-total-experience-modernist-landscapes-from-the-pier-arts-centre-collection

We Are Our Journey (P5 Workshop)

17th February 2016

I thought it would be fun to invite Thorfinn`s class to see my exhibition,

 as part of the visit they participated in several workshops!

Mapping

In the Brenda Robertson room the pupils got a map of Stromness, 
each of them had to draw the route they took to get to 
school everyday showing them the meandering path of their journey.

Plotting

Using the idea of navigational plotting, the pupils had to `chart` their journey
 to the PAC with pins & thread! Cool!

Art Critics

The pupils had to write a paragraph giving their opinions on what they
 thought about the exhibition. This was to be informed 
by looking at the art, reading the text labels and asking questions.


Twenty two pupils armed with clip boards, each with their own
 individual response to the exhibition..........

...... they asked some great questions and
 had some very interesting ideas!!

To find out more about what they thought click on the link below
 http://p3sps2014.blogspot.co.uk/2016/02/we-are-our-journey.html

I had a really fantastic time with the P5 class and as a special 

thank you each of them got a `goodie bag` to take home!!

We Are Our Journey (Artist talk!)

16th February 2016

I gave an artists talk to the BA & portfolio students from the Orkney College UHI.

With a group of 18 students this was quite a nerve-wracking experience

 but it was good practise to talk and answer questions on my art 

and the processes behind exhibiting work in a gallery.

It will come to them all soon enough!! :)

We Are Our Journey (Opening Event)

We Are Our Journey
opened on the 13th of February.

It was a glorious frosty day and with feelings of excitement and trepidation I headed down
 to the Pier Arts Centre to set up the nibbles and drink for the opening event.

At 2 o`clock people started to arrive............

I was overwhelmed at the amount of people that came and at

all the wonderful comments made, it was such a memorable day for me!

This was all made possible by the lovely PAC staff, some willing helpers and

 my fantastic husbands support!

We Are Our Journey (Curation & Interpretation)

Curation and interpretation work together to help enhance the viewers experience of an art installation. It`s how your works are presented using visual and thematic links that provide a relationship between pieces with the text panels supporting these connections to give the viewer a deeper insight behind the artists concepts.

 Carol Dunbar from the PAC said "it is an unfolding story, one built in layers where the audience decide how they what to interpretate it, people need to be allowed to imagine."

Preparing a solo exhibition can be a daunting experience but it also allows the freedom to curate your work in the gallery without compromising it with other artists but a flexible approach is essential as you have to consider the space itself!!

And so it begins.......................

 Painting the back wall a dark grey was a major decision but I`m so glad I did, it
became the focal point for the whole exhibition.

And the circular shape was reflected in the intaglio plate and collographs. 

Title  `Family 2016`

Titles from L-R `71*10'.24, 98*11'.23, 06*11'14, 72*08'.03`

(The titles a play on navigational co-ordinates and represented my families birth dates.)

Situated on opposite walls the dark line of the wall stencil echos the line

 through collographs and represents the horizon!

Hand stenciled lettering

Using traditional sisal rope on the large floor sculpture (Voyage) was a last minute decision...

..........but contrasted nicely with the wall sculptures 

Title `We Are Our Journey` (steel & monofilament)

The museums traverse board displayed with an old navigational map are

 two pieces of maritime history and are here to complement my works!

Lauren made a superb job of  making my `ramblings` legible for the

 text panels accompanying the art pieces....

....with these in place the exhibition is complete!!

And finally an overview of installation...............

Ready for the opening event.

We Are Our Journey (Creating the works)

Of course before you can even have an exhibition of your art works you need to have
 some art to show!!

Photos showing some of the techniques used ......................

Welding the sculptures

Framing the collographs

Making & cutting of wall stencil

I like to get involved in all the processes of creating artworks, for me this is an important part of learning and informs future projects!

Research is another significant factor for creating not only the art but how you will present your artwork for public viewing. A lot of my knowledge was acquired through searching the web into navigational aids, lunar tides etc but a visit to Stromness museum proved an invaluable experience......

The `traverse board` an old navigational aid that uses time, space and the line
 as a charting device to record sea journeys!
I was very privileged to borrow this item as a thematic link in my exhibition. 

We Are Our Journey (Marketing/PR)

There is 3 key elements to consider when organising an exhibition for public viewing.

1- Marketing & PR, this involves advertising the event on social media, posters distribution, press release and radio interview.

2 - Curation, this is how the artworks are displayed within the gallery space with thematic and visual links.
3- Interpretation, this is how you would like the viewer to experience the installation without being to explicit about it, this includes the thematic/visual links in relationship with text panels.


So first things first poster design!
This was a steep learning curve for me, one where I got `lost` in the world of Photoshop and it`s FX! Four days later and with over 50 versions I finally realised the poster had to be kept simple so this was the final design!

There was over 60 of these distributed round Orkney, I even put them on the Isles & Northlink boats!!



With the launch of the poster this also meant the start of the social media advertising!




First time I`d ever been `tweeted`!



I was told that 80% of the advertising was done through social media and because I personally don`t do Facebook or Twitter I spoke to everyone I knew that did and asked if
they`d `like & share me` as part of my own advertising strategy! And it worked, over the next 2 weeks  I was `tweeted, liked & shared` on a regular bases (which just sounds rude now!!) but at the time was quite amazed at the response to it all.

The PAC and Orkney College also put it on their web sites.......

In the photo with me is Lauren Henning who is on a year long traineeship with the Pier
 and was my main point of contact during the exhibition process.



Next was to put out the invites to the opening event, again a bulk of this was done through social media but I also made some personal ones to be delivered by hand (I`m just old fashioned that way)

My own invites using image from poster with details of event on back.

PAC e-invites

Orkney College also sent out e-invites on their Facebook page.

Press release for the local paper!

This included quotes from myself, PAC and Anne from OC.

Online version

Weekly paper (11.2.16)



And I was featured again in the following weeks paper which was a real bonus as the exhibition was still running and served as a reminder to the public not on social media!

Weekly paper (18.2.16)

This interview was probably the most nerve wracking experience of all

 and hats off to Fionn McArthur who interviewed me for editing it so well!

I was also lucky enough to be featured on Radio Orkney arts programme the `Tullimentan` show.

You can listen to both interviews on the links below

https://soundcloud.com/radio-orkney/around-orkney-friday-12th-february-2016
https://soundcloud.com/radio-orkney/tullimentan-february-2016


And this is some other social media links I was featured on
http://kwish-art.blogspot.co.uk/2016/02/we-are-our-journey.html
http://sarahwylieart.blogspot.co.uk/2016/02/we-are-our-journey.html
http://visitorkney.com/events/we-are-our-journey
http://www.northlinkferries.co.uk/your-holiday/guide-to-orkney/orkney-in-february-2016/
http://www.stromnessorkney.com/members/events.php?y=2016&m=2&d=13
http://www.pierartscentre.com/current-upcoming-exhibition/13/2/2016/we-are-our-journey
http://www.emergents.co.uk/2016/02/new-exhibition-opens-at-the-pier-arts-centre/
http://www.orcadian.co.uk/2016/02/stromness-art-students-exhibition-opens-at-the-pier/
https://www.orkney.uhi.ac.uk/news/student-exhibition-opens-at-the-pier-arts-centre
https://www.facebook.com/31395967167/photos/a.222229797167.114824.31395967167/10152873043447168/?type=1&theater

Professional Practice 2

A large part of PP2 is curating an exhibition with the Pier Arts Centre in Stromness. This is usually a team effort with a number of students putting on a group show but as I`m the only student in Level 3 it turned into a solo event which meant I had a lot of work to do!!

The first thing I had to do was think of a title, I wanted one that was a bit of a statement, that was open to interpretation and not overly suggestive to what the exhibition was about. This proved to be quite a difficult task but with Bruce`s help we came up with this...

We Are Our Journey

........... I love it because for me a journey is not only of the body but of the mind and soul too. As with any journey in life there is always a beginning and end but one we never travel alone. It is between these two points we gain knowledge and experience, influenced by the people we meet and lives circumstances; it is an unpredictable voyage of discovery.
In my artwork I use the line as a connection between time and space, visual and symbolic references are drawn from a nautical theme but this also incorporates the idea of heritage, culture and identity.

And so my journey has begun into the world of how to put on a public exhibition at the Pier Arts Centre!

Creative Practise 3

Inspiration comes in many forms and such is the case with my Creative Practise 3 module! 

I`ve been looking at the line as a connection between time and space

 with the sea and it`s navigation forming a narrative to this.

The starting point for this was the small sculpture I made for Professional Practise 1 as seen below, 

and my families sailing holiday back in August 2015.

By the end of Semester 1 in December this is what I`d produced.......

College set up

 An important element is the shadows cast

Collographs representing my family

This was also the preliminary set up for the Pier Arts Centre exhibition happening in February 2016 which is part of  the Professional Practise 2 module but more on that later..........