Art from the Isle of Skye

Many artists and makers living in the Northern Highlands and Islands consciously interact with what the landscape provides, responding to their rural, often remote context with a a determined self-sufficiency. On Skye, this has led some to experiment with unorthodox techniques, unusual mediums, and re-purposed or salvaged materials.

Following this trail, you will find a menagerie of whimsical animals at Chapel Croft Creatures, made from driftwood and plastic that washes up on the shore. Heather MacDermott’s contemporary jewellery (Aird Old Church Gallery) shares a similar source, utilising the shapes and colours of wind- and wave-shaped objects discarded from the urban environment. The sculptural ceramic pieces by Patricia Shone have gained texture from her clay pressings of the shoreline, driftwood for tea pot handles, and even an iron-oxide stain derived from an algal bloom which grows in a nearby spring on the hill. Caroline Dear of Studio Fanks uses local plants, peat and stones, alongside digital photography, to explore the natural world and our relation to it.

If you fancy A Walk Around Portree then follow J Maizlish Mole’s maps, drawn partly from memory and the result of his intensive study of the island’s rivers, mountains and roads by foot and by car. Elsewhere it’s pedal-power that drives Skye Weavers, who weave woollen products and tweed with their unique, off-grid weaving machinery.

Aird Old Church Gallery

Sleat | Isle of Skye 01471 844362

Small gallery displaying dramatic, atmospheric watercolours of Skye and Lochalsh by Peter McDermott, and contemporary jewellery and artwork by Holly McDermott.

Patricia Shone - The shore at Phort na Fhion, 2007

Patricia Shone Ceramics

Ardvasar | Isle of Skye 01471 844321

Hand built and thrown, raku fired and wood-fired ceramics. Highly textured vessels inspired by the land of Skye, mostly sculptural with forays into domestic ware.

Chapel Croft Creatures

Caroy | Isle of Skye 01470 572772

An outdoor menagerie of animal sculptures or ‘Garbanimals’, made from the copious quantities of plastic rubbish that washes up on the north-west coast of the Isle of Skye. Also, ‘Flotsanimals’ – creatures made from driftwood, shells and bones – on display inside a crofthouse.

Workshops for children and adults also available, indoor or outdoor depending on the weather.

chapelcroftcreatures@hotmail.com

Skye Weavers

Glendale | Isle of Skye 01470 511201

Weaving workshop situated in a croft house and stone barn in Glendale, north-west Skye, where the weavers use of an eclectic and ‘unusual-looking’ mix of bought and purpose-built weaving machinery.

Makers of tweed and a variety of woollen products, including scarves, blankets, throws and wraps, which are woven on a bicycle pedal-powered loom.

Guided by the principles of provenance and quality, all of Skye Weaver’s products are woven and sewn on location.

Caroline Dear - Dandelion Mantle, 2013. © The artist

Studio Fanks

By Portree | Isle of Skye

Studio Fanks is a small working studio featuring the work of Caroline Dear. Contemporary photography, basketworks and artist’s books. Commissions are welcome; Caroline enjoys making work specifically for particular places, both indoor and outdoor.

caroline@carolinedear.co.uk

J. Maizlish Mole - A Walk Around Portree, 2012.

A Walk Around Portree & Every Road on the Isle of Skye

Portree | Isle of Skye

In May and June of 2012 the artist J Maizlish Mole walked and drove around Skye, committing its roads and features to memory and collecting local oral histories along the way. He then combined his own interactions, associations and points of interest with drawings, memories and existing maps to produce two accurate maps that are also pieces of art. ‘A Walk Around Portree’ and ‘Every Road on the Isle of Skye’ can be seen in tourist information displays around Portree.

The maps were commissioned by ATLAS Arts and the Portree Area Community Trust.

To see more images of the maps, click here.

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