Wanders in Lorn (1)
By Amy Dunnachie
This series of blogs is from Amy Dunnachie, Jeweller and Jura resident. Over the past 3 months she has been tasked to go out and about into corners of this varied cultural landscape to meet and understand how you work, get inspired and live on the western edge of Scotland.
Mapping the broad cultural community in the region is not just a gathering of data and numbers, it is a complex story that needs to be explored face-to-face and understood by personal encounter. This is Part 1 of Amy’s blog where she meets Deborah Gray (Wool Spinner and Educator), Willie Orr (Retired Historical Writer/ Modern Studies Teacher) and Imagine Alba (Podcast and Online Magazine). Next up is Jill Bowis (Kintaline Farm — Local produce, Ardchattan Parish Archives), Charlotte and Jamie Smith
(St Mary’s Space), Rhona Dougall (The Rockfield Centre) and Joy Cameron
(Bookends Festival // The Reading Room.)
I arrive in Oban on a snowy and sunny Monday afternoon. To the remote Islander, it is an Urban version of west coast life — ATMs, traffic lights, Wetherspoons. Yet it’s also a familiar space with an embrace of hills and salt in the air. Both a gateway to isolation and a destination for discovering, I feel like it might be the geographical sweet spot for the cosmopolitan dabbler. Between Oban and Appin, warm welcomes into the beautiful and charismatic homes of the residents of Lorn are humbling. As diverse as the area is itself are the people and organisations that I visit — from Yarn Spinners to Recording Studios to Historical writers to DNA co-ordinators, each conversation is a rich experience of what this area has in the way of talent, passion and pure hard work.
Deborah Gray
Wool Spinner and Educator
Oban
www.perfectweatherforspinningandknitting.blogspot.com
On the Esplanade, with a mighty view of the harbour through a lovely big window is Deborah’s creative space. Light is ever changing in this room that doubles as her living space, and each surface gleams in turn as the sky goes through its typically Argyll metamorphosis. In the space is a selection of wooden spinning wheels, one in particular living right at the window with a half spun spool of soft grey yarn in the making.
Deborah moved to Oban after a lifetime of visits to the family house from Perthshire, and decided to move here permanently after leaving the town became harder and harder to do. Spinning and knitting is something that Deborah has done for most of her life, and still finds that she is learning new things with still so much to discover.
“I love that I can make from scratch. Everything is in my hands from the beginning.”
Deborah sources sheep fleece to spin from locations such as Perth and Shetland, and also from more local farms in Argyll too. Collecting natural sources for dying is also a part in her process and her garment design plays out in landscape photographs of delicate yet striking marriages of colour,
cardboard strips with a jacket of yarn mirroring the photo and neat patches of knitting.
This summer, Deborah is embarking on a 2 month residency in Iceland at the Textilsetur in Blonduos and will be experimenting with the double-fleece of Icelandic sheep, learning about the qualities of each coat and combining the two in new knitting structures.
Deborah makes her living mostly from freelance work in training within public and mental health, though also offers workshops for people wishing to learn spinning and knitting both locally and also abroad. We gently touch upon the subject of selling craft that is the product of weeks and weeks of work, from sheep fleece to meticulously hand dyed yarn to delicately knitted jumper, and the fact is that a monetary price couldn’t even hope to justify the craftsmanship gone into a single item.
Finding a great support in online groups with other makers and as a platform for discovering festivals, the internet is of huge importance to Deborah and her practice, and she also blogs about her work, inspirations, news and travels.
Willie Orr
A happily retired historical writer/ Modern Studies Teacher
Benderloch boasts a dynamic community of creatives in all sorts of respects, and first on my list to meet is Willie — a retired Modern Studies teacher who also has had several history books published, as well as a background in the theatre as a performer and scriptwriter.
Hailing from County Down in Ireland, Willie came to live in Argyll in as young lad after meeting his wife in Iona, and worked the land as a shepherd. After an accident put an end to working with sheep, Willie went to university and working as a history researcher led to writing historical books about the highlands and Argyll. He then also went on to write short stories and a regular column in The Scotsman.
Harking back to his days in Ireland where his love of the arts was formed through touring over the country with theatres in Belfast and Dublin. Fondly recalling his roles (memorising lines for 7 plays to be acted over 3 weeks) Willie describes how influential the time was for his writing and how valuable this experience would be for anyone who wanted to write.
“Because writing is such a solitary occupation, it impinges on other people’s time, so I really just write when I can find the moment.”
Willie’s work space within his house reflects this too — a cocoon of his own that nobody else enters. A private space that ideas, stories and histories can unravel and entwine without distraction or disturbance.
There was a time when Willie could see his writing becoming a full time career, however, he made the decision to take on teaching in Oban High School while still writing in the background. Willie continues to feed his creative side, working on plays for the Three Wee Crows theatre, offering creative writing classes locally and is now working on a new publication that will be out soon…Keep an eye out!
Imagine Alba
Podcast and Online Magazine
Kilbride Kirk
www.imaginealba.com
I meet Michelle from Imagine Alba in her cottage next to the historic Kilbride Kirk. The fire crackles away and lights are twinkling on the exposed stone wall, the natural effect of the whole thing is really quite magical.
Imagine Alba was born in November last year and has grown from a collection of Michelle and her husband’s professions and interests such as travelling, graphic design, music, journalism and archeology. Already having a little home studio for recording their own music, they decided to plunge into the world of podcasts.
Michelle came to Argyll from Mississippi in 2013 to live with her husband, Rab, who was originally from Glasgow. Talking of her education in journalism and archeology, her passion for discovery, culture and heritage is contagious.
With their home studio situated right next to some ancient landmarks, there is inspiration wherever you look. Setting up Imagine Alba was about celebrating Scotland, particularly reaching out to all of those out there who feel a connection or draw to this country.
“The isolation up here, there’s two sides to it: you’re isolated from the latest theatre production or whatever, but what you have is individuals doing what they want to do from their heart. They’re not trying to keep up with anybody.”
We talk about isolation in relation to support networks and how “trend” is much less of a factor here. Online presence is an amazing, and arguably essential, way of re-routing the challenges of living remotely, allowing you to connect to people who live half way across the world, but just as importantly, people who are 30 miles up the road. Yet being able to use the isolation here, for the space and time it gives you to create, is also the recipe for an authentic product.
With Michelle working as a freelance journalist and archeologist, and Rab a graphic designer and musician, Imagine Alba is not yet a source of income. However, with plans of small, bespoke tours in the area that aim to capture what makes this location so uniquely authentic such as celtic music sessions in local pubs, the future is set to be an exciting journey into the pure appreciation and discovery of our vibrant heritage and arts scene.
Next up is Jill Bowis (Kintaline Farm — Local produce, Ardchattan Parish Archives), Charlotte and Jamie Smith (St Mary’s Space), Rhona Dougall (The Rockfield Centre) and Joy Cameron (Bookends Festival // The Reading Room.)
Keep your eye out for Amy’s next blog. If you would like to get involved in this cultural tour contact either Amy directly at amy.dunnachie@gmail.com or at our office phone on 0141 2378592.
We have questions for you. The more responses we get the more CHArts can better understand and deliver on the needs of the cultural and creative community in Argyll and Isles.
Organisations: https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLScEV8QKaOM-C4emFrayJuYqc-j3aA1LfabHwnpx9rJJKIusAg/viewform
Individuals: https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLScbkHkzOlSbbwQloGM8X60eKUb3vBg4cC1nrE9u5NViohnS-A/viewform
Volunteers: https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSemDh5lmYl14MmEBZ87b5P5StVYJKOQPofxWxGyBUDo3FCerw/viewform
There is plenty to get involved in through CHArts and we want to find out as much about your life and work in heritage, culture and arts. Sign up through our website or get in touch to see the opportunities we have available. www.chartsargyllandisles.org
