Drowned, Drained, Swamped & Bogged Down:
Initiating A Creative Exploration Of Mythterious Scottish Marshes & Wetlands
CREATIVE: HARRIS, LEWIS & SCALPAY, OUTER HEBRIDES
I was an island.
The sand-grain wind was stinging my cheeks and ringing against my eardrums.
But I was warm.
And it was beautiful.
I had pulled myself through.
So I breathed out and let something go.
On this land wherever I roam.
I this life whenever myself lost.
A calling - wait for it…
In the sky and in the pond.
In that sunken face I know.
In the silver blowing of the sand.
A calling - wait for it…
As the stillness holds me from the ground.
As the silence carries over sound.
In the blinking eye of every scene.
A calling - wait for it…
As the season stole me on the wind.
And the coldness centred all within.
When surrender echoed in the din.
A calling - wait for it.
I’m not a landscape painter, but I felt drawn to try and capture the essence of this place. I was interested in the huge slabs of gneiss rocks and the strata in the landscape punctuated by clusters of bright yellow. The mood of the wind blowing across the short cropped vegetation.
I also wanted to create a “spirit” of this place. Partly from the sea. Partly from land. Something that felt old but alive and moving. I drew together found objects - shells, driftwood, wire, feathers, wool, wind-blown dry moss, pieces of Harris tweed - to create a freestanding sculpture-mask. The “eyes” are carved discs of gneiss rock - a nod to Suzanne who so kindly shared her home, studio, knowledge and creative spirit.