PICTURES: Keep an eye out tomorrow for Caithness artist in residence Shelagh Swanson in her little red van
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Pop-up art workshops are set to go ahead around Sinclair Bay tomorrow as the start of a new art project gets underway celebrating the safety of the area.
Through Lyth Arts Centre's Caithness Artist in Residence (CAIR) project, artist Shelagh Swanson is working in collaboration with Sinclair's Bay Trust and the community to explore the area as a 'safe harbour'.
Shelagh, who started her residency earlier this month, is keen to gather and explore stories through a series of mixed media workshops and hopes to encourage participants to share ideas and find connections.
"I am really delighted to be involved with it," she said. "I want to do quite a wide spread thing to gets lots of people involved."
She explained that with the theme of harbours in mind, the residency was being kicked off with a project called Safety Net – a collaborative community art piece celebrating what makes Sinclair Bay a safe place to live.
"It is just things that make you feel good, your own personal safety net, and gets people to discuss that," said Shelagh, who did her first workshop with Killimster SWI last night (Thursday).
"Tomorrow (Saturday) if the weather is good I will head out and do some pop-up workshops in my little red van," she said. "People can come along and make their own pieces of the net."
The local artist hopes to start in Staxigoe, then head to Reiss and Keiss, but is also happy to go along to different locations if people ask. "Because it is collage based, if there is a wee bit of wind it might be tricky," she explained.
People can use stories and photos of what their safety nets are or words and colours, there will be an assortment of medias used. Shelagh is also making packs for people who are not able to go along to the events and she will arrange for the work to be collected.
She said: "It will be put on display in the Sinclair Bay area for everybody to come an see. This is just the first project."
In addition to this she has been busy organising activities to explore the other themes and is hoping to get some participants to be part of a more focused creative group.
Shelagh, who returned to the county during lockdown, said: "It has been great, there seems to be so much going on. There are lots of creative people in the county – it is great to be part of."
A workshop will be held in Reiss and Killimster Hall this Sunday (May 15), from 10.30am to 1pm, with another on Thursday, May 26, from 2pm to 4.30pm. Dates for Keiss Hall are Monday, May 16, 7pm and Sunday, May 29, from 2pm to 4.30pm. All workshops are suitable for both adults and children, and are free.
Materials and advice on how to decorate a small diamond shape will be given and once finished will be connected together with all the other pieces to create the final collage.
Those attending are invited to bring along photos or pictures of things which represent their own safety net.
There is a big focus on reusing and recycling in this project – the diamond shapes are made using recycled milk cartons and there will be a range of recycled papers and imagery available to further embellish designs.
More information and updates can be found on the Sinclair's Bay Trust Facebook page and on the artist's page – Shelagh Swanson, Painter and Glassmaker.
