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Sunday 6 November 2011

Apologies for absence...



..... but I've had a lot of work on this week, plus during my free time I've been making the most of the glorious weather we have had over the last few days!  Above is the sun low in the sky - this is about 10am. Beautiful light and shadows, but a nightmare to drive in!

Yesterday I went over to Kirkwall for the day as there were a couple of exhibitions I wanted to see. I met a friend in Stromness and drove through to Kirkwall which is about 15 miles East of Stromness. We had lunch in The Reel cafe before going along to the exhibitions. One at the Orkney Museum was by Ian Scott of North Ronaldsay - a selection of his water colours painted this summer. He paints "at the scene" and his work is an interpretation of the landscape, weather and mood. North Ronaldsay is one of the most Northerly of the Orkney Islands and is very low lying. One side of the coast is very rocky and there are some wonderful geologic formations there which make great subjects for painting. (The photo doesn't do justice to the pictures but I'm never quite sure of the etiquette of taking pictures of art exhibitions without the artist's permission! So this is a kind of oblique shot).



I then went on to see Diana Leslie's exhibition, which was also in Kirkwall, this time at the "Wool and Wine Shop" (what an inspired combination...!). Diana is Orcadian and lives in Stromness. Much of her work is of Stromness and the West Mainland. I really like her style of work, particularly the "townscapes" of Stromness, the harbour and environs. She works in a variety of mediums, etchings, pencil drawings, oils. Diana was there herself so it was good to chat with her, and others were gathering to see the small exhibition, with wine on hand to make it a very sociable gathering!

I had a little time before the boat left for home so I played with some of the settings on my camera, having felt inspired by the various artist creations I'd seen!

Stromness skyline as the sun sets behind the hills


Fish boxes piled up at the harbour (I used a red accent setting washing out the colour on these photos)


Buyos at the harbour wall
Stromness harbour


And when I got home, the moon was rising as the sun set (just regular camera setting for this one!).


A lovely end to a relaxing day.

9 comments:

  1. Super photos, Sian. Glad to know it's just pressure of work plus good weather that's kept you from your keyboard. See, you're missed when you don't post :-) Just to let you know that I made you one of my five nominees for the Versatile Blogger award. Hope you don't mind.

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  2. Great photos I am going to have try harder to keep up. I hope to have more time now the festival is over.

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  3. Beautiful shots! The first one and the one of the buoys are especially striking.

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  4. What a fabulous way to spend a day.
    with creative juices flowing you have produced some lovely photos.

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  5. Perpetua - well I've been trying in vain to leave a comment on your blog! Will try again later...sigh. Thank you so much for nominating me for the Versitile Blogger award! I'll have to take a day or two to think of five quirky things!

    Walrus21 - well I've been very remiss over the summer in keeping up with YOUR blog! Now Winter is here i'm hoping to keep more on top of things....


    DB - Thank you! i enjoyed playing for a while! Must do more of it.

    CP - thank you too!

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  6. Sian, not sure what browser or version you're using, but since the Blogger crash back in May I can't post comments using Internet Explorer 8 unless I leave the "Keep me signed in" box unticked when I log into Google. It became such a nuisance that I finally downloaded Google Chrome and use this for reading blogs and commenting.

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  7. How inspirational is 'wool and wine shop'

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  8. Perpetua - Google Chrome is wonderful!! It's made blogging SO much easier. I passed on your suggestion to another friend who had almost given up blogging because of problems and is now back online thanks to you and Google Chrome!

    Celia - oh yes it is a wonderful shop. I don't knit but all the creative supplies are wonderful to browse, as is the wine and cheese selection. And of course art exhibitions - all in one small space! True inspiration!

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  9. Glad it worked, Sian. Forgot to mention it before, but a wool and wine shop sounds like my idea of heaven. :-)

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