Artmap Argyll is a network and membership organisation open to professional and aspiring artists alike. They help artists network with each other and to share their work and experience with a wider audience.
Artmap Argyll’s vision is to ensure that Argyll is recognised as a vibrant, creative hub. They deliver a range of events, public art installations and workshops that offer artists opportunities to collaborate on art projects, share ideas and exchange information.
The 2022 Open Studios event took place from Saturday 20 to Monday 29 August.
Also exhibiting were Deborah Gray and Val Hamilton at The Rockfield Centre, Oban Venue 09.
Holding Space
Gooseberry jam or holding space – it’s about the same thing. The gooseberries are just about ready to go. The blackbirds have found the bushes, so they must be ripe, and I better get out there and pick gooseberries. Job done, jam made, the Berry Police won’t come and take me away.
It’s not about the finished article , it’s about the journey that it takes to get there. That’s what you will find in this Safe space, enjoy the journey with me.
I’ll leave the key for the safe at the reception in the Rockfield Centre. If nobody is there, come upstairs and find me and I’ll give you the key.
Please lock the safe after you have been inside.
(Touch one, touch all.)
‘Better meddle wi the De’il than the bairns o Falkirk’.
Sole Space
Cherry Dancer
With this piece of cherry wood, I’m trying to bring out the harmony and the memory and the movement that’s all in the wood already.
I’ve recorded a story, (Cherry Dancer Story below), below that bring out the same sort of feelings in me.
More info on Cherry Dancer on The Process page
Ash Diver
An ash tree fell down onto the shore about five years ago and at the next storm a dead bird – a diver – got washed up behind it. A couple of years ago we started chopping this wood up and I started finding some interesting curves and shapes in the wood.
These pieces are a work in progress and are not for sale. I would like to take these shapes and make something much bigger that will reflect the diver and its life.
Myrtle
I have a SheilaTheShaper sculpture that sits upon my desk. Her name is Myrtle and she helps me think. She possesses landscapes of canyons, petals, fingerprints, skylines, deserts and, of course, tree. I hold her in my hand when I am thinking through it all, negotiating a contentious situation, exploring finger holds or otherwise stuck at a cold block cement wall in my mind. She fits there contentedly, within my palm, happy to unstick me and re-connect me. Myrtle is hewn by nature and in that, another helping hand.
Britt DGx
Waiting For Lignum Vitae
The elephant started his adventure on the bin lorry to the dump. Here it was picked up and thrown around by a JCB, before being run through the processor and chewed up a lot more. His adventure took him to the clamps where he nested in between 60 and 85 degrees centigrade for at least two or three months. He was discovered by a lone treasure hunter who saw the plight this poor elephant had found himself in and was then passed onto treasure hunter’s granny, who saw his inner beauty.
The Echoes of Uninhabited Places
This is the biggest piece I’m working on; it’s hard to photograph.
In this piece I’m trying to capture the echoes of uninhabited places. If you throw a stone into a loch you can see the ripples spreading on the surface of the water; the memories and echoes of St. Kilda are like that to me. I was also thinking of the paths that are still visible on St. Kilda and the muscle memory that stays with us when we’ve been so used to doing something.
The audio fragment below came to me when I was thinking about this piece, after seeing an artwork by Brian McHendry.
Photograph of The Echoes of Uninhabited Places by Rhona Dougall
Sea Oak
This piece is about new life and caves, among other things. I found this piece of oak on the shore; it came from a boat originally. Have a listen to the recording to hear more about it.
Gannet
This piece, made from laburnum, came from the memory I have of working on the Jean de la Lune and being up the mast, under the cliffs, at eye level with the gannets. The noise was extraordinary, and seeing them in formation was incredible.
Photographs of Gannet by Rhona Dougall