Dunnet Beach today

You'll have to click on the photo to see the detail! Mary-Ann's cottage and my house are both visible. The detail below will help you out! My house is directly below the red dot (just touching it), and Mary-Ann's cottage is directly below the green dot (just touching it).

flour sacks in Scotland and New Zealand

Accordion fold book 130cm x 17cm.

Flour sacks in Scotland found in Mary-Ann's cottage, and at the opposite end, flour sacks Lynn Taylor sent me from New Zealand. I've incorporated my drawings of cooking related objects found in Mary-Ann's cottage.

solargraphy

Yesterdays storms have now passed, so managed to install my pinhole camera from the art dept of a college in Finland:

"The goal of the project is to create pinhole solargraphs all over the world and build a World Map of Solargraphs. It is not possible to do this alone. That is why the help of the volunteer ´can assistants´ around the world has been very important ............."

http://www.solargraphy.com/

Lynn has already done one in New Zealand, and the images are on the solargraphy website.........you'll have to wait till the summer to see mine! Fingers crossed they'll work!
One is fixed facing south on my patio (overlooking Dunnet Beach), the other is fixed at my parents house looking north to the Orkney Islands.

Why not try it yourself!?

Violent storm force 11 issued 0955 Sun 21st Dec area Fair Isle

Fair Isle : Gale warning

0955 Sun 21 Dec
Violent storm force 11, veering westerly soon

Shipping forecast
0505 Sun 21 Dec
Wind
Southwesterly severe gale 9 to violent storm 11, veering westerly or northwesterly 6 to gale 8.
Sea State
High or very high.
Weather
Rain or showers.
Visibility
Moderate or poor.

flat pack paper objects

After the paper boat images of Lynn's, I've been thinking about other paper objects which can be sent as 'flat packs' for travel or posting. Above is the layout for cake boxes I made as part of my Caithness Horizons residency inspired by baker/botanist Robert Dick. The boxes fold to make boxes for individual cake slices (8 traingles make a full cake). Almost like a compass.

These are 'flat-pack' paper horses. Paper offerings in I found in Taiwan. Each colour represents a different direction on the compass. There are 5 different horses They are for gods who need to travel. You burn the appropriate horse during lunar festivals.

Black: North
White: West
Green: East
Red: South
Yellow: To the centre of the earth.

Some 'flat-pack' objects for William Young to take with him in his seachest would be useful.

Paper boats - paper birds

Origami cranes I saw while in Taiwan. They all have personal messages written below on labels. Good wishes birds. They were used in two ways. You should think good thoughts and wish a friend well and safe while you are making your origami crane. The good energy would be in the bird. With the concentration of making the origami, your mind would be cleared of other thoughts. The other way they were used, is like in the pictures above. Paper tags were in a bowl with a pen beside for you to write your good will message on. you would then tie it to one of the origami birds.

paper boats

Inspired by the way Robert Dick contained his moss samples - combined with thinking how people came to N Z by sea I spent a day making paper boats - folding them after making etching plates and printing the paper with a 1879 map of Dunedin harbour and the Matthew's Westland passanger ticket. I used rice paper for transparency, as found the boats show both sides of the paper, so some text runs in reverse. My intent is to float these little boats in the sea and take a photo of them for the diary project. Maybe I will have to wax them to make them a bit more sea worthy? So at least I have time to go click with the camera.

Flour and Seed Sacks

While researching about Robert Dick (botanist/baker Thurso 1811-1866 ) for Caithness Horizons, I began to look at flour sacks. It was rather sad, that one of Roberts shipments of flour was lost in a shipwreck off the cost of Aberdeen. He wasn't insured, and in desparation even tried to sieve the sand and salt out of the bags which were salvaged. Photo above is a detail of an antique flour sack I bought and is now part of my display in Caithness Horizons.

Lynn Taylor sent me this flour sack from New Zealand. It is printed with Dunedin, the town nearest Port Chalmers where the Westland docked.

These other two sack, one for flour and the other seed, are both in Mary-Ann's cottage. I think they have some articles of clothing she made from the old cotton sacks. I'll have to have another look next season.

Sealgair (The Hunter)

Broken wooden fishboxes were used to make nestboxes in Mary-Ann's cottage. One piece of wood has the word 'Sealgair' on it, probably the name of the fishing boat it belonged to.

I found this on Caithness.org

http://www.caithness.org/caithnessfieldclub/bulletins/1984/october/wrecks_of_pentland_firth.htm
An extract from Wrecks Of The Pentland Firth 1934 - 1981W. Bremner and D. G. Sinclair.

I wonder if it is the same boat?

"3. 3.74 Trawler "DALEWOOD" stranded on Dunnet Head. Trawler "SEALGAIR" took 6 survivors off liferaft and tug "CYCLONE" another liferaft with 6 on board. "Cyclone's" survivors transferred to Thurso lifeboat and landed at Scrabster."

Dunnet Head

Research overlaps. Connections over land, sea and through time.

Accordion fold book 130cm x 17cm

5 week artist residency for Caithness Horizons.

Caithness Horizons

Over the past 4 weeks I've been the artist-in-residence for Caithness Horizons. I chose to study Robert Dick, baker and botanist of Thurso (1811-1866). His house and bakery is on Wilson St, behind Caithness Horizons. His collection is now on display in the Robert Dick room at Caithness Horizons. The building officially opened on the 1st Dec. It's fantastic. Too much to see on one visit. My paperworks are displayed alongside Robert Dicks plant samples. I'll be in their this week, drawing, and researching some more.




A collection of old newpapers, letters and documents Robert Dick used to wrap his moss collection in. Some newspapers have a date of 1882, so must have been re-packaged by someone else after Robert Dicks Death.






Robert often walked over 60 miles collecting plant samples, and this after his early start in the bakery too. One of his favourite places to visit was Dunnet Head. He would have passed Mary-Ann's cottage many times, as this was built in the 1850's.







It's the contrast of the epic journeys by two men which fascinate me: Robert Dick walking around Caithness looking closely a the plant life, while William Young (1856 - 1935) set sail on the Westland to New Zealand.