BLANDINE ANDERSON
‘ISLANDS’
Castle Gallery
2 - 23rd June 2018
Blandine Anderson ‘Islands’ Oil Paintings and Ceramics Inspired by the Islands Islands are special. We are drawn to them as wild, wondrous places of romance and adventure; a microcosmic world cut off from the everyday by the sea. It is no wonder that artist, Blandine Anderson, is inspired by these thought provoking places and, in preparation for her solo show at the Castle Gallery, has visited many of them and read extensively around her subject. Most of the islands that interest her have Celtic connections – from Lundy in the south to the Outer Hebrides, Staffa, Shetland and Iceland in the north. Her work focuses on the flora and fauna of these places, enriched by the folklore that surrounds them. The creatures that inhabit these lands often have to be resilient and opportunistic and find safety in numbers, so flocks, shoals and herds feature much in her work. She captures the shapes and colours of the landscape, both natural and man-made, and is fascinated by how different each island is from its neighbour – ecologically, agriculturally, geologically and culturally. The entire exhibition can be viewed on the Castle Gallery’s website: www.castlegallery.co.uk 01463 729512 info@castlegallery.co.uk
Cover: The Ocean Hides Much, Lewis, oil and sand on canvas, 76 x 152cm
Iceland This lyngbakur is an Icelandic mythological beast. It is a type of whale that pretends to be a heather-covered island in order to lure men onto its back, whereupon it dives and eats them. Blandine has used a northern right whale as the model for the piece as, being very encrusted, it seemed the most likely whale to appear heather-covered. However, no right whale would be able to consume a human!
The Lyngbakur, Iceland, stoneware, 31 x 36cm front and back
Shetland
This features not only the minke whale – a real “monster” of the sea – but also the Shoopiltee (water horse), the Marool (an evil sea monster with many eyes) and the shape-shifting Tangie. Artistic license here!
Minke and the Monsters, Shetland, stoneware, 31 x 31cm front and back
The Hare and the Waterhorse, Shetland, porcelain, 7 x 6cm The waterhorse is one of Shetland’s mythical beasts and it has many forms and many names: Tangie, Shoopiltee, Kelpie and Nuggle are just a few of them. The waterhorse is usually portrayed as being a deceitful trickster pony who likes to drown human beings but seems uncharacteristically helpful in keeping water-wheels moving at night.
Whale Island, Whalsay, Shetland, oil and sand on canvas, 20 x 20cm
The Ocean Hides Much, Lewis, oil and sand on canvas, 76 x 152cm
Inspired by the Lewis and Uist whale hunters who hunted whales by driving them into stone corrals in the shallows, using many small boats. This is described in ‘The Western Islands of Scotland’ and ‘A Late Voyage to St Kilda’ by Martin Martin, circa 1695. The fragment of Gaelic text reads “Is ioma rud a tha ’n cuan a’ falach” (the ocean hides much) which could be a comment on the deeds of history or could just refer to the bounty that the ocean provides. The outline of the islands is used to pattern the whale’s fin.
Fair Isle Gull with Thrift, porcelain, 11 x 5cm
Sanday Otter, porcelain, 9 x 7cm
Sula Sgeir Seal, porcelain, 8 x 8cm
Handa Fulmar, porcelain, 9 x 5cm
Hiort
(St Kilda)
The title of this painting comes from a part of a line from the lament, “St Kilda Song” (Anon) taken from ‘An Lasair - An Anthology of Gaelic Verse’, edited by Ronald Black. “My share of the birds is in the clouds, crying” are the words of a woman whose partner (“the lad whose leaping was done”) has fallen from the Soay cliffs whilst hunting seabirds.
In the Clouds, Crying, Hiort (St Kilda), oil and sand on canvas, 76 x 76cm
Hiort (St Kilda) Guillemots, porcelain, 12 x 8cm
Many pieces have decoration inspired by the ruined crofts and field patterns of the settlement on Hiort (Hiort is the Gaelic name for St Kilda).
The Homecoming, Hiort (St Kilda), stoneware, 38 x 24cm front and back
White-tailed sea eagles were driven out of the St Kilda archipelago in the late 19th century but have since made a comeback, though they are still very rare.
The Lookout, Hiort (St Kilda), stoneware, 25 x 15cm front and back
Hiort (St Kilda) Razorbill, porcelain, 9 x 5cm
This piece features Cod, Fulmars, Guillemots and the indigenous St Kilda Dandelion.
St Kilda Song, stoneware, 36 x 26cm front and back
In The Western Isles, one of the old names for the gannet was the ‘Solan Goose’. The Soay and the Solan Goose, Hiort (St Kilda), stoneware, 45 x 38cm, front and back
Goose or Gannet?, Hiort (St Kilda), porcelain, 11 x 8cm front and back
Uist
Uist Divers and Midges, stoneware, 27 x 32cm front and back
Uist Waders, stoneware, 44 x 24cm front and back
Uist Seals, porcelain, 8 x 11cm
South Uist Seal, stoneware, 21 x 22cm front and back
The Minch This strait of water separates the mainland and Skye from the Outer Hebrides. The blue men are sea spirits who lurk beneath the waters of the Minch in order to lure stricken seamen to their deaths. According to Adam Nicholson’s book, ‘Sea Room’, their beguiling chant goes: “Ickle Ockle Blue Bockle, Fishes in the sea, If you’re looking for a lover, Please choose me.”
The Blue Men of the Minch, detail
The Blue Men of the Minch, stoneware, 53 x 38cm, front and back
Birds of a Feather, Uist, porcelain, 8 x 8cm Lochans and Black-throated Divers, Uist, porcelain, 11 x 10cm
The Men of the Minch, Siants, stoneware, 30 x 23cm front and back
Green and Pleasant Land, Pabbay, oil and sand on canvas, 40 x 40cm Pabaigh (Pabbay), Isle of Harris is a low green fertile island, rich in cereal crops used in whisky-making!
Skye The Sea Wants to be Visited, Skye, stoneware, 32 x 32cm front and back
This piece is based on the Gaelic proverb “Dh’iarr am muir a thadhal”. This is actually an old Lewisian proverb – meaning that the sea has many bounties and uses – but Blandine has used it in a more contemporary sense of the sea as a place for leisure and, where else, but Skye!
Skye Mountains, stoneware, 25 x 20cm front and back
The Many Creatures of Skye, porcelain, 11 x 9cm front and back
Blue Skye Hares, porcelain, 10 x 10cm front and back
Coll & Tiree
Coll and Tiree, stoneware, 26 x 23cm, front and back
The Coast of Coll, stoneware, 26 x 20cm
Fingal’s Flock, Staffa, oil on canvas, 76 x 76cm
Staffa
The Sound of Staffa, oil on canvas, 40 x 40cm
Fingal’s Cave, Staffa, stoneware, 38 x 31cm
Staffa Humpback, stoneware, 27 x 25cm
Iona
Return to Iona, stoneware, 27 x 19cm
Arrival, Iona, oil on canvas, 76 x 76cm
Colonsay & Oronsay
Machair with Oystercatchers, Colonsay/Oronsay, stoneware, 26 x 33cm
Seal and Machair, Colonsay, porcelain, 8 x 8cm
A number of pieces are inspired by the abundant wildlife massed in the machair – typically on Colonsay and Oronsay. Residents include oystercatchers, redshanks, lapwings, choughs and the large yellow bumble-bee.
The Feast, Colonsay/Oronsay, oil on canvas, 76 x 76cm
The Machair, Colonsay/Oronsay, oil on canvas, 40 x 40cm
Oystercatchers on the Shore, Colonsay/Oronsay, oil on canvas, 51 x 76cm
The Gaelic proverb reads: “Cho eòlach ’s a tha ’m bridean ’s an tràigh” (as well acquainted as the oystercatcher is to the shore). A fragment of the outlines of Colonsay and Oronsay can be seen in the middle-ground.
The Norse Warrior, Colonsay, stoneware, 25 x 25cm, front and back
Kiloran Bay on Colonsay is the site of a Viking ship burial and nearby is buried the Viking’s horse.
The Viking Ship, Colonsay, porcelain, 10 x 9cm
The Seal, The Machair and The Viking, Colonsay, stoneware, 30 x 31cm, front and back
Oronsay Oystercatcher, stoneware, 24 x 13cm
Summertime in the Isles, Colonsay/Oronsay, oil on canvas, 76 x 152cm
Island of the Deer, Jura, 12 x 7cm
Jura
Jura Deer with Birds and Fish, stoneware, 16 x 28cm
An Blascod Mór (Great Blasket Island)
Great Blasket Island is off the coast of south west Ireland and the village settlement was at the north east end of the island at An Traigh Bhan (the fair, or light beach). The island was abandoned by humans in the mid 20th century and since that time, seals have adopted the beach from which they were once discouraged. The people of the Blaskets relied on the sea for pretty much everything, but could not swim as a rule. They were terrified of the creatures that lurked beneath the waves – ordinary creatures such as whales and seals took on evil and menacing associations (see the book ‘Islandman’ by Tomás Ó Criomhthain). The painting, ‘Just Beyond the Shore’, shows the eastern coast of Great Blasket with creatures and vegetation beneath the surface waiting to ensnare a man and also fragments of the ruins of the croft settlements/ field patterns.
Beachcombers, Great Blasket, oil on canvas, 76 x 51cm
Just Beyond the Shore, Great Blasket, oil on canvas, 76 x 51cm
Lundy Lundy Island in the Bristol Channel is of mixture of Welsh and English heritage. Among its peculiar residents are the lundy weevil, the lundy cabbage, the lundy flea-beetle, rabbits that have evolved dark/black fur and the soay sheep that were brought to the island in the 1920s. Puffins nest there underground and often use old rabbit burrows instead of burrowing for themselves.
Life on Lundy, stoneware, 28 x 33cm, front and back
Lundy Rabbits, stoneware, 27 x 16cm, front and back
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Running Free, Jura, oil on canvas, 51 x 76cm
Castle Gallery, 43 Castle St, Inverness, IV2 3DU 01463 729512
www.castlegallery.co.uk