Landscape, Interrupted. Mixed media, 2022.
You can never un-know what you know. In the midst of extraordinary beauty at my artist residency at Cove Park, I discover that just over the peninsular is the UK’s largest nuclear submarine facility. It is almost as if, in the midst of beauty, we need to scar the landscape in the most spectacularly catastrophic way. How to make art to reflect this?
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The lodberrie which features in the BBC series Shetland
Each place and landscape has its own story, but it is relative to who is the storyteller. Shetland for me is about knitted jumpers and the BBC series Shetland. As I walked along the streets of Lerwick, rain shimmering on wet concrete, I felt like I was a character in the this story of place and identity.
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Every time I get nervous or feel under pressure to perform, I remember to let the work develop itself, to find its own story that needs to be told. This is what happened when my photograph of two chimneys became a metaphor for dispossession in a series of artworks devised at my artist residency.
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Argyrotype print In the washing out tray - Callanish Stones, 2022.
Stone Circles, houses of stone and hills of ancient rock form a narrative of time, place and human interaction with this animate landscape in the Outer Hebrides. They are the beginning of my Stone Stories project.
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Hebridean landscape 2022 mixed medium
It is surprising what art you make when asked to express your emotions, starting with anger. I hadn’t realised how angry I am with a government that denies climate crisis. My art started with bushfires and floods and ended with the happiness I felt being in this Hebridean landscape.
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Exploring Eriskay, Outer Hebrides, with the wind in my face.
How do you challenge ageism, live an adventurous life and inspire other women to live their dream? Creating a passion filled life is an act of courage. As an artist travel is one way to create passion and inspiration.
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Brothershipstudios curator and artist Emma, from @cherrypiemakes
Art plays a huge part in community building. In Hertford, just north of London there is an artists’ initiative called Brothership studio.The Brothership's philosophy is about 'Tribe' - artists working together, collaborating, sharing their knowledge and making art accessible and valued by the local community.
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Alice Kettle (right) presenting her talk at the Collect Craft Council Fair, Somerset House, London 2022.
Art and war, chance and serendipity. Intertwining themes for me this week as I attended the Collect art fair at Somerset House in London. How do you make art when all around you is in turmoil.? What role do textiles play in helping to mend the world and disrupt the narrative?
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The rocks and stones are calling me again - at the NES artist residency in Skagaströnd, Iceland in 2019.
The first part of any residency is always reconnaissance, getting to know the lie of the land. Much of the work is site-specific, responding to the new environment with your own ways of creating. Ideas emerge as you walk the landscape. Lots of photos, sketches and writing. As I write, I right my path and find my way forward.
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Boots made for walking + stone inspiration + maps for collages
In order to apply for an artist residency you have to be prepared to pay. The costs could include flights, residency costs and living allowances. Which is why many artists apply for grants to help offset the costs.
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