Happenings at the Shetland Museum

A trip to Lerwick turned out to be a great day out!

Given the snow we have had, it was touch and go whether we drove down but I am very glad that we did. First off, the day has been sunny and bright and any snow simply made the landscape spectacularly beautiful. But the real treat was to go to the Shetland Museum and see Lois Walpole's new show  Weaving Ghosts (pictured left and below). The idea behind the show was the creation of art from flotsam found on the beaches, basing the art on the ghosts of previous lives of those found remnants and on Lois' family ghosts from Shetland; the table in the picture below is placesettings for each of her relatives who lived in one house.  MAybe it doesn't sound like it should be the colourful and fun show that it actually is but it really works. Plenty of fun, technique and craft, plus an added eye for the possibilities of using rope or old buoys in ingenious ways, this exhibition will make anyone who sees it very happy. Do take any opportunity to go. And, what is more, the art is for sale and priced so that anybody can own a piece! The studio is now the proud owner of five key fobs which form part of an art piece called (I think) Piece in the Key of Sea, each woven ball of rope and its attendant hanging string smaller and shorter than the previous. We have purchased five of these to represent a pentatonic scale - a scale of music with five notes in it, most familiar to use through Asian or African music but prevalent throughout the world. Once the Museum show ends we will install the five in the Yell premises where you are welcome to visit Pentatonic - from the Key of Sea! Many congratulations to Lois and to the Museum for the exhibition. 

But that is not all there is. A new series of knitted pieces exploring Shetland knitting identity through patterns is on display in the reception hall at the Museum, and there is to be a day long seminar about Shetland and its knitting credentials on the fifth of March. You can find out more on the Museum website or email me and I will email back the two posters for the events. For those who can't make it to Shetland or the talks, the event is to be broadcast live and then will be available at some point as an online streaming video. 

There is more to tell about our trip to town including some Exciting News about a planned project, but too much excitement is bad for you so I have been told. It will just have to wait for another time!