After the schools we wandered down to the boating club for dinner and as we were basking in the glorious sunshine spontaneous tunes broke out down at the shore giving a few of the cars in the ferry queue a real musical treat.

Baked haddock for dinner was very appropriate, as Whalsay is an isle famed for its fishing heritage. We then set off in our busses, some heading back to Lerwick for the Singing concert, others like myself headed to Voe village hall for the “An Evening With…” concert.

Host Davie Gardner interviewed the performers after their sets. Its great to find out a bit about the history of some of the groups like The Shetland Fiddlers who will have their 50th anniversary next year, or catch up with Andrew Gifford, who has a wide musical life outside playing with Fiddlers’ Bid. The evening went from strength to strength, and our dance band Da Fustra were cooking; the floor was never empty. It was a warm summers evening but the heat of the hall didn’t prevent highly energetic Strip the Willows’ , Dashing White Sergeant’s and, Shetlands favourite, Boston Two Steps interspersed with a few waltzes.

Shattered but happy is the only way to describe everyone as they headed back on the bus, arriving in Lerwick about 1.30am

More fun for today; Phil and Aly have just arrived and the concert is a sell out. Another great night in store for us all.

Yesterday our first full day went fantastically; the feedback from our students is that they are delighted with their classes, the trip to Scalloway castle and Tingwall Kirk with the storytellers went down very well and the addition of a visit to Cecil Tate’s workshop and talk in the fisheries college over coffee added another aspect to the story of Shetland past and present.

It was an early start for our students today after their late night session in the club. Our two busses left Lerwick at 8.30 and headed north. It’s a lovely bright but fresh day so the 35 minute ferry journey, although not rough, was a new experience for many of our students. Several of them have come up to me specifically talk about the set by Bryan Gear and Violet Tulloch at the concert last night, from his playing technique to Bryan’s Shetland made fiddle. “Gobsmacking” has been a phrase used on many occasions.

So back to today. The storytellers are walking round Symbister this morning with our guests and Lee Jamieson our bus driver has the delights of touring our them round the rest of Whalasy in the afternoon. Then it’s dinner before we head back on the ferry to Voe for tonight’s concert.

And here’s Helen Whitham’s thoughts on Monday’s activites!

“Well it’s fiddle frenzy time again and I thought I’d maybe ease myself in to the week gently with, what I though would be a nice, fairly quiet, easy going family dance…no chance!! When I arrived the floor was filled with folk whirling and birling and wheeoochin! as they danced a Strip the Willow to the Jim Halcrow Dance band. It was a great night and the dancers continued to fill the floor with each dance that was called, a Pride of Earn, Boston Two Step, Dashing White Sergeant, you get the idea… I certainly enjoyed myself and it was great to see a few familiar faces from a couple of years ago. There were a few local families there too and along with the students everyone looked like they were having a great time and getting to know each other.

Then it was up to the Garrison Theatre, where the festival club is this year, for a few tunes. There was a session on the stage as well as up the stairs in the dressing rooms and Davy Cooper, Laurence Tulloch and … were there as well to tell some stories. I’m sure the tunes continued long after I left at 11 as the students were keeping things well fired up! Roll on the concert and sessions tonight!”

Images of Fiddle Frenzy 2009

Tavish Scott, our MSP, was due to welcome everyone to Shetland but a pressing and much more important engagement arose (congratulations to Tavish and Kirsten on the birth of a baby boy!). Director of Shetland Arts, Gwilym Gibbons took the helm to welcome the visitors and, after a few words about ferries and workshops from myself, our students dispersed into their classes. This is the first year we have run The Art Craft Experience (contemporary knitting techniques) and Makkin Wi Wirds (creative writing) and our workshops run by Wilma Cooper and Jenni Bradley (ACE) and Jen Hadfield (writer and winner of the TS Elliot prize 2008) continued well past their allotted time due to the enthusiasm of both tutors and students.

The fiddle workshops on day one give everyone a chance to re-grade their speed of learning; we teach by ear and each of the four classes are set by the speed a student can learn. This year we have fewer absolute beginners and more of the medium to fast learners, and the fastest class learned four tunes from Bryan Gear and Violet Tulloch in the first hour… that’s going to be some catalogue of tunes by the end of the week!

The afternoon was rounded off with a great youth session. We sprung on the under 25’s that they could play a set of tunes in our headline concert on Saturday, but listening to that practice they were all more than up for the task; there are some great young players with us this year.

The evenings Dance at Islesburgh was a sell out and from 7.30 until 9.30 the floor was never empty. A short story from Elma Johnson about a magic fiddle that broke into a thousand pieces after its owner died was quickly followed by a Boston Two Step and the night began. Jim Halcrow’s Dance band is always a hit on the first evening of Fiddle Frenzy and Maria Leask, Shetland Arts’ Traditional Dance tutor, was on hand to walk our visitors who are new to Shetland through some of our dances before firing into the full speed version.

The day didn’t finish there, as everyone left Islesburgh they headed for the festival Club in the Garrison Theatre for tunes and tales. This is the first year we’ve used backstage at the theatre for the Festival club and it seemed to go very well. Carol Duncan not only administrates the festival she also stepped up to the mark to become our barmaid this week (now that’s dedication!). The Shetland Fiddlers joined us for a tune and the theatre was ringing to the sound of fiddles, banjos, pianos and mandolins till well after midnight. Slightly earlier than we sometimes end up playing until, but not surprising on the first night as many folk had travelled up that day, and some had taken the ferry option and not taken cabins. 14 hours overnight followed by a full on day of tunes. I’ve still to speak to the writers, knitters and story tellers about last night, but I’ll catch up with them this morning and see how they got on.

It was a great day and I hope that everyone got some rest last night as we’re about to start all over again. Having realised that all we ate yesterday was one bacon roll and a Panini, I’ve had a huge breakfast to ensure my energy levels remain up…. and lots of coffee will be the order of the day!

Looking forward to the first concert in the Garrison tonight at 7.30 with Bryan Gear and Violet Tulloch, and our tutors and storytellers.

The day will finish with a family dance, with music from the Jim Halcrow Band, and a late night music session back at the Garrison Theatre (this year’s festival club) to allow participants to relax and get to know each other before the week of intensive tuition, concerts and activities.

For a full list of concerts visit our What’s on page page

Bobby Peterson, of South Califf, Tingwall, was one of the best fiddlers of his generation as Tom Anderson’s archive recordings testify. He learned from his father, and was inspired by the famous Geordie Stark the itinerant blind fiddler from Dundee. Bobby was one of the first members of the Shetland Fiddlers Society.

Bobby Peterson has greatly inspired his grandson, Bryan Gear who released his first, long awaited, solo CD, ‘Kebister Head’, in 2008. The tune ‘Kebister Head’ is one of Bryan’s grandfather’s few compositions. Bobby Peterson is virtually unknown outside Shetland, but his style and interpretation of many other tunes deserves recognition. His interpretation is as significant a part of the living traditions of his time as the higher profile work of Aly Bain, Fiddlers Bid and Bryan Gear today. ‘Kebister Head’ also has a CD attached with some of the late Dr Tom Anderson’s fantastic archives recordings of Bobby playing a few of the tunes transcribed in the book.

Students, from all over the world, have been requesting access to more traditional Shetland tunes. This tied in with a project Shetland Arts ran in conjunction with The Scottish Arts Council Youth Music Initiative when, for two years, young Shetland players researched and tutored on tunes, from their own areas which resulted in the first publication ‘Hamar Ower da Taing’, in 2008. Shetland Arts released this first fiddle tune book as part of the music development of their annual fiddle school and festival, ‘Fiddle Frenzy’. A second Fiddle Frenzy book and CD, ‘Shetland Session Tunes’, was published earlier this year to meet the demand from students who want to take part in local sessions and mix with local players. Session sets from the Shetland Fiddlers, the Heritage Fiddlers and the Cullivoe Fiddlers are included, and the CD has tunes played individually, at a very slow rate, then speeded up, in sets by the 2009’s Youth Music Tutors. This is a good aid to learning.

All the books have been transcribed by local fiddle player and teacher Margaret Scollay. Shetland Arts and Shetland Museum and Archives have worked in partnership on this project and look forward to working on further publications.

Clickimin Comedy poster

As part of Creative Connections 2009 Shetland Arts is staging “Clickimin Comedy”, a stand up comedy night on Friday 7th August at 8.30pm in the Clickimin Centre, Lerwick.

The line up comprises visiting comedians Michael Redmond, Steven Dick and Eilidh MacAskill together with local comedian Les Sinclair and compère Sandy Nelson.

Nelson, himself a stand up comedian and comedy actor who has appeared in shows such as ‘Still Game’ and films including ‘Braveheart’ said “It’s great to see so much interest in Stand Up Comedy in Shetland. The last two gigs I did up here, ‘Stand Up At Sound’ and ‘Stand Up Helly Aa’, were a hoot and the audience loved them, so it’s great to be stepping it up a little by bringing such a legend of the stand up circuit as Michael Redmond. I mean he was in Father Ted! I’m so looking forward to it.”

Michael Redmond

Michael Redmond

Not many people who have been struck by lightning and lived to tell the tale. While this may not have actually happened to Michael Redmond himself, it is a fate that befell his character Father Stone – one of the more memorable creations of Channel 4′s classic comedy series ‘Father Ted’.

A skilled writer and performer, Michael started his career scripting comedy for Irish radio and television. He moved to London in 1987 and quickly established himself as a firm favourite on the comedy circuit, headlining at clubs throughout the UK and later developing his own one-man standup shows. A regular at major comedy festivals, Michael has performed a number of successful solo shows at the Edinburgh Fringe, including ‘Eamon, Older Brother of Jesus’, which was later developed as a series for BBC Radio 4. He now lives in Edinburgh and hosts a regular Sunday-night gig at The Stand comedy club there.

In addition to his live and radio performances, Michael has appeared on a number of high profile TV shows, including ‘Comedy Nation’, ‘Friday Night Live’, ‘The Stand Up Show’, ‘Clive Anderson Talks Back’, ‘Just for Laughs’ and ‘Father Ted’.

• “Excellent, deadpan dry wit” – Guardian
• “hilarious…. a great comedian” – Scotsman
• Michael Redmond – Friday Night Live (YouTube)

Steven Dick

Steven Dick

Steven Dick is one of Scotland’s most entertaining and in demand comedy magicians. He frequently performs at Scotland’s main comedy clubs and is a regular act and compère at The Stand in Glasgow and Edinburgh. He has performed for five consecutive years at the Edinburgh Fringe, and two years at the Glasgow Comedy Festival.

As well as his live shows which incorporate stand up comedy and slight of hand magic, he is an active comedy writer having had material broadcast on TV shows including ‘Have I got News for You’,’ Mock The Week’, ‘8 Out of 10 Cats’, ‘They Think It’s All Over’, ‘The Craig Hill Show’, ‘The Karen Dunbar Show’ and ‘Chewin’ The Fat’

• “Some expertly timed sleight of hand tricks that truly sparkle. With this kind of polished timing and winning enthusiasm Dick is a born performer who will appeal to audiences across the board. Marvellous.” – Scotsman
• “It’s impossible not to laugh” – Daily Record
• “This is one performer whose hype you can believe” – Sunday Times

Eilidh MacAskill

Eilidh MacAskill

Glasgow based Eilidh MacAskill will be supporting with her witty blend of song, stand-up, storytelling and ukelele playing.

Recently Eilidh set herself the challenge of playing at least one ukelele concert per day for a year under the ‘Eilidh’s Daily Ukelele Ceilidh’ moniker, performing in taxis, clubs, village halls, galleries, comedy clubs and on TV and radio. Eilidh has travelled from London to New York to Nova Scotia to Inverurie performing her songs, stand-up and stories with her trusty tiny guitar.

Eilidh is also part of the ‘Fish & Game’ performance group who create works ranging from studio shows, mock symposia to country fete style events as well as a Scottish tour with their hilarious take on Scottishness and Happiness, Otter Pie.

• “Like a ginger Julie Andrews” – Scotland on Sunday
• “Scotland’s most prolific ukulele proponent” – The Evening Times

Les Sinclair

Shetland based comedian Les Sinclair first trod the boards at Shetland Arts Stand Up At Sound event last year. Since then Les has gone on to perform locally at events such as stand ‘Up Helly Aa’ and comedy clubs around mainland UK.

Bryan Peterson from Shetland Arts added, “Michael, Steven and Eilidh are really looking forward to visiting Shetland. They’re going to stay on for a holiday in the isles before heading to their shows at the Edinburgh Fringe”

Tickets £12 /£10 – now on sale at Shetland Box Office, Islesburgh Community Centre, Lerwick – 01595 745555.

Shetland Arts’ Creative Connections is a marathon, seven-day and night festival, celebrating the contemporary creative culture of Shetland, incorporating four summer schools, cultural and creative visits across the islands, showcase concerts and dances, a specially curated exhibition and an artist residency.  This event is part of Scotland’s Year of Homecoming and takes place throughout Shetland between 3 – 9 August.

Now into its sixth year, Fiddle Frenzy is Shetland’s renowned fiddle school using top exponents of their craft to teach tunes and techniques drawn from the unique island traditions as heard world wide by our contemporary performers. In addition to the daily workshops held throughout the week in Lerwick, Whalsay and Fetlar, Fiddle Frenzy provides seven days of concerts in Lerwick’s Garrison Theatre, at the Clickimin Centre, in the village of Voe and on the island of Fetlar. This year’s showcase concerts include performances by Aly Bain and Phil Cunningham, Fiddlers Bid, Bryan Gear and Violet Tulloch, Fullscelidh Spelemannslag, Kevin Henderson, the Heritage Fiddlers and many more.

For 2009 there have been additions made to the week long summer school event.  ‘Art Craft Experience’ is based on Shetland’s well known textile culture, grown from our knitting techniques and continuous creative development. During the workshops the tutors will teach basic Shetland knitted structures and their contemporary application for creative textiles.  Afternoon visits will take students to the studios of some of Shetland’s visual artists, craft makers and applied artists, to see their work and share in their experiences of working as an artist in Shetland. Students will visit the Bonhoga Gallery for the ‘Diaspora’ exhibition featuring four Shetland artists who have chosen to live outwith Shetland, and four artists who have made their home in the islands.  An artist in residence with family connections in Shetland, Hazel White, will spend a month at The Booth, an artist living/working space in Scalloway.  She will take part in some of the workshops while developing a project around her work in digital jewellery.

‘Makkin’ Wi Wirds’ is the title of the writing workshops with T.S. Eliot Prize winner, Jen Hadfield, exploring ideas of place through praise poem, myth and music. Shetland has a well respected literature scene, and these workshops will give students the encouragement to realise their ideas and visit some of the dramatic sites that have inspired some very high profile writers, from Robert Louis Stevenson to Will Self. Students will have an opportunity to share their compositions by stepping up to the ‘open mike’ at Creative Connection Club nights.

Another integral part of Creative Connections is ‘Shetland’s Storytelling Festival’, our top storytellers accompany the afternoon cultural trips and provide an insight into the folklore of the islands and the contemporary yarning that still flourishes in day to day Shetland life, act as hosts for the concerts and the festival club and provide that invaluable insight to Shetland past and present.

Clickimin Comedy is a stand up comedy event on Friday 7th at the Clickimin Centre, Lerwick, featuring visiting comedians Michael Redmond, Steven Dick and Eilidh MacAskill together with local comedian Les Sinclair and compère Sandy Nelson. The event is part of Shetland Arts comedy development programme which has so far included events such as Stand Up At Sound and Stand Up Helly Aa.

Creative Connections ‘Festival Club’ at the Garrison Theatre, provides a chance, each evening after the concerts, for all students and visitors to mix and enjoy traditional music and storytelling sessions until the early hours.

Bookings can be make from Shetland Box office 01595 745555 or in person from Islesburgh Community Centre, King Harald Street, Lerwick.

Contact us for more information on Creative Connections.

Shetland Arts is taking part in Homecoming Scotland 2009′s celebrations with Creative Connections Shetland, a programme of summer schools, concerts, events and a residency in August, beginning with the new exhibition, ‘Diaspora’, at Bonhoga Gallery, Weisdale Mill.  The show runs from 1 – 31 August with a preview on 31 July at 7.30pm.  Most of the artists will be attending the preview and an invitation is extended to everyone to come and meet them, perhaps renewing old acquaintances.

Diaspora refers to the movement of any population sharing common ethnic identity forced to leave, or who voluntarily left their settled territory, and became residents in areas often far remote from the former.  Taking this as the title and theme for the show Shetland Arts invited four artists who left Shetland to live elsewhere, and four artists who have settled in Shetland to show their work resulting in an eclectic mix.

Robert Ollason was born in Shetland, and after graduating from Edinburgh College of Art in 1961, and teaching art and design in Edinburgh and Shetland, he followed a lifelong passion for the large animals of Africa and went on to spend five happy and inspired years in Kenya.  On his return to the UK he took up the post of Head of Education at Edinburgh Zoo where, for the next 27 years he continued to be surrounded by exotic animals and to travel extensively in East and Southern Africa, leading wildlife tours.  Robert’s work captures on paper ‘the various kinds of stripes and also the spots, blotches and other markings and textures on certain animals’ coats.’  He continues, ‘I enjoy attempting to express an animal’s form through its pattern’.  A number of his animal studies are included in this exhibition.

Still influenced by the same Nordic, maritime sources today as he was when a student at ECA in the early seventies Alex Malcolmson, who has spent the last 30 years running a very successful gallery based in land-locked Yorkshire, lives far away from the sea which inspires his work.  ‘Indeed at a distance the focus on some kind of island identity seems to make me sharper,’ says the artist whose work, over the past ten years or so, has been creating box constructions made mainly from wood, carved and painted, sometimes incorporating found objects.  His influences include Joseph Cornell, ship dioramas and other marine folk art and for ‘Diaspora’ he has taken folk, naïve and primitive art; the kind of objects made for use and ornament, often by unnamed makers, as the main source of the work.

Another ECA graduate Lillian Tait studied art and design alongside Alex Malcolmson and 15 years ago she left Shetland again to study art therapy.  This has been a major influence on her work and the reason she began to paint again.  ‘I indulge myself; paintings of Jesus in Gethsemane or, as in the case of the angels, painting for the sheet joy of the process.  Or even painting my younger self transported to another country … if I feel so inclined! ‘Lillian believes that her exile has little to do with the style or subject matter of her paintings and that if she ever returned to Shetland she would continue to paint whatever she fancied.  A number of her angel works are included in the exhibition so those who knew Lillian in her youth can decide whether they resemble her ‘younger self’.

The fourth artist to move away is Katherine Laidlay who has lived in Dundee for the past 16 years, and although she sees beauty in the city’s, famous bridges and striking skyline, she has stayed in Dundee for the people.  ‘I still have the same appreciation for those around me, and the importance of friendship still exists, says Katherine.  The characters whom she has known since a student, and more recently through her work in the community, has influenced her and in turn her work which is mainly figurative, sometimes expressing a mood, an emotion, sometimes a visual response to a question or thought.  Her preferred medium is charcoal allowing the exploration of exaggerated contrasts.  In her recent work she has been concentrating on her perception of home which can be taken literally but more and more her realisation is that home is more about sense – a sense of belonging and of comfort.

Shetland based artist, Peter Davis, moved to the isles in 1991 following a decade living in Orkney, so the northern isles influences, its colours, climate and remoteness was already prevalent in his work.  ‘What I found particular to Shetland was a much more elemental landscape, pared down to essentials,’ said Peter who was born in the north east of England at the edge of the sea. ‘The inorganic processes of nature such as crystallization, desiccation, and fluidity are mirrored in the action of a medium like watercolour.  It is one of the most natural of the painting media and one I worked with for more than 30 years.  It is not an easy medium and there are many variables involved in making a watercolour,’ comments the artist whose paintings are contemplative and soothing while drawing the viewer into the depths of their space.

In the summer of 1973 Gail Harvey, a student at Glasgow School of Art, spent her summer in Shetland working in a fish factory and the Queens Hotel, Lerwick.  She often escaped into the Shetland countryside and loved the landscape and the people, reminding her of childhood summers off the west coast of Scotland.  In 1988 Gail returned and is still residing in Shetland and painting its landscape.  Her work which features the islands in all weathers and seasons is much sought after, and she has earned her living as a well respected painter for many years. She says, ‘Twenty one years later my life and painting have gone through changes.  The way I see the landscape is affected by this.  It reveals itself in new ways, and will go on changing with time.’  This exhibition will be rare opportunity for visitors to Bonhoga to see, and buy, work by this successful artist.

Ruth Brownlee’s artist statement quotes ‘My work explores interpretations of the visual drama of Shetland, capturing the changing moods and atmosphere of its seas and coastlines.’  She trained at ECA and moved to Shetland in 1998 to concentrate on painting. She has won many prestigious awards and exhibits extensively throughout the UK and at international art fairs. Ruth has developed a strong and distinctive style that captures Shetland, the play of light and shade over the land and sea and the force of the elements.

The youngest and newest resident artist is Kristi Cumming.  She is actually a retuning Shetlander who left when she was in primary 2 and has returned to live permanently three years ago.  She said that growing up in Shetland, the exposure to vast expanses of sea and sky, have remained lasting influences in the work she produces today. Her paintings are trying to capture the experienced emotions of being surrounded by light, water and iridescent colour. Kristi graduated in 1999 from Duncan of Jordanstone College of Art in Dundee and has exhibited in various solo and group shows throughout Scotland and Spain.  Her vibrant palette captures Shetland’s land, sea and sky in an imaginative and dramatic style.

‘We are delighted to being showing eight such talented artists at Bonhoga as part of the Scottish Homecoming Celebrations,’ said Curator Mary Smith. ‘The work is very diverse and we are sure that many of the gallery visitors will find it interesting to see work by these artists who in some way think of Shetland as home.’

Bonhoga Gallery is open 10.30 – 4.30 pm Monday to Saturday and noon to 4.30pm on Sundays

Please contact us for further information

Images of Diaspora

Vimeo (High definition version)

Jen Hadfield from Neil Astley on Vimeo.

YouTube (Lower definition version)