‘’Anything worth doing is probably going to take longer than you think ‘’ wrote my late friend Dave, on a note pinned to the door of his studio. Would two years be long enough?
Between August 2007 and August 2009, I led nearly 300 participants in 8 communities across the region in the OURS youth arts project. I facilitated their interaction with over 50 artists from the UK and abroad through trips, events, workshops and apprenticeships. Driving forward the next chapter in the life of Helmsdale’s Ice House, illuminating and establishing an environment in a building for which the possibilities are now limitless, is the permanent legacy that I have left. Yet amidst all this activity, I was all the time hoping that I would recognise my own work when I saw it…
From Ruby Laser rods, recycled dynamos and glass oars to coracles made from 8ft long, hand drawn Ash laths, the development of my art practice took me down many paths.
The nomadic nature of my career thus far and the international dimensions of my past experiences have led to a semi conscious desire to always map and travel, even within small regions and spaces. Whilst on North Uist in June 2008, I saw a model of a man carrying a coracle. A coracle is almost the most perfect nomadic vehicle that I can think of. It is light enough to be carried easily, can be made entirely from natural materials, can travel cross water and even provide shelter.
I set about making my own coracle in summer 2008 under the guidance of local green wood worker and coppicer, Mike Ellis. After teaching me the basic green wood working skills that I would need, I set about carving a paddle from a single piece of Ash. At this time, I was simultaneously enrolled in a hot glass master class at Northlands Creative Glass, led by Richard Jolley. This experience, my first in glass, was truly a baptism of fire and led to the creation of my glass paddle; like a glass slipper it is completely useless and mythical in status.
The coracle that should have accompanied either of my paddles however, stubbornly resisted completion. The Ash when located and drawn to size was a fantastic material, capable of remembering the curved shapes that it was bent into, making it the perfect material for the curved coracle skeleton. However, I was forced for the first time to lay down a project. The difficulties of locating the necessary quantity and quality of Ash in Sutherland became an insurmountable obstacle.
Had I made my coracle, my plan was to travel across Sutherland, West to East, walking, paddling and climbing. I believe there are two types of people. There are those who are for the mountains and there are those who are for the sea. I am for the mountains but that does not mean abandoning water. Sutherland is full of it. Still, without a coracle, how would I make my journey?
I commissioned a timely mask making workshop for the young people of Helmsdale, led by Cath Whippey. Over the three day workshop, I too made a mask based on one of three unlikely characters that live in Timespan’s archive: a llama, a camel and an elephant. Like so many people who see the three unusual photos, I was instantly drawn to them, in particular the elephant, a beast of burden not unlike the character I had envisaged carrying the coracle.
At the opening of Chris Dooks exhibition, I was introduced to his friend Mitchel Miller, who had an interest in the circus photos due to his family’s background in travelling showmanship. On seeing the photo of the elephant he recognised at once that this was BOSKO, the infamous Indian, bull, elephant who had travelled the length and breadth of the country with his family’s circus, Pinder Ord.
It was fated and The Elephant Test was born.
I do still hope to complete my coracle, to be continued……