'twas the week before Christmas...

We have just received our latest batch of equipment which we ordered for a weaving workshop in January. We now have warping frames, raddles, lease sticks and creels to go with our four new super-duper Ashford eight shaft looms. It looks like we are all set to make the post-Xmas blues disappear. Our equipment store is open to the public. If you would like to make a warp or need space for warping up a loom, send us an email to make arrangements.

I have been at the Cullivoe School, the lovely Primary School nearby for the last session of music before the holidays. There I work with a small group of children, creating an opera, and we now have a name for our opera company. Please put your hands together for "The Sunshine Springtime Opera Company", logo coming soon. The group has created a story which we are using to learn about music, lighting, costume, sets and acting, and we will start to meet again in January.

This week also was a chance for me to hear some music in the new cinema/ music building in Lerwick, Mareel. The event was a joint effort between National Certificate students and Textiles Degree students, working between Shetland College and Shetland Arts. What a good show they put on! Nine pieces of music inspired by the bioluminescence in the sea and textiles pieces inspired by spirituality, with poems in dialect and English, and a great audience supporting the performers. The performers played their own compositions, and with talents like that, there is a really bright future ahead of them. I would have liked to have heard more singing but that will come, I am sure, and everyone must be congratulated for putting on an entertaining show.