Out Of The Blue

Posted on March 22, 2015

I have been working with two wonderful organisations Citizen Curator and Out Of The Blue arts centre to curate a community response to the Gretna Rail Disaster for their Gretna 100 project funded by HLF. 7 researchers have chosen 7 men of the 1/7th Battalion Royal Scots. The men marched out of the Drill Hall on Dalmeny Street on May 1st 1915. They were off to advanced training in Falkirk. Three weeks later they left Lambert Station to travel to ...

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Inspiration and a new project

Posted on January 17, 2015

Stories run through your work like a red thread. An interesting comment this week from Dutch artist Guda Koster whose work has long inspired me. Meanwhile storyteller Bea Fergusen promises me a story of Stone Soup on her return from her travels. As I take down the Away Being exhibition one door closes and another opens. My next project as curator of The Thrive Archive is Hearth Heart Earth which will link passion, provision and food ...

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Everything begins and ends with a story…

Posted on January 7, 2015

Some great comments in our Away Being visitor's book this week. After our musical launch on Sunday when the EYG Big Band played to 150 guests and a dog the pop-up exhibition continues in Gallery 1 at St Margaret's House until Saturday 10-4pm. More images of the launch of our Enterprise Music Scotland commission by Big Band Dad and photographer Mark Archibald http://bit.ly/1rXLE4k.

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‘It made me cry, and made me sick…homesick!’

Posted on January 5, 2015

'It made me cry!' was one of the lovely written in our comments book yesterday, 'A fantastic way to dispel the post Chritsmas lethargy!' read another. Away Being, my latest exhibition as curator of  The Thrive Archive saw the launch of a new Scottish concerto yesterday played beautifully by the Edinburgh Youth Gaitherin Big Band to over 150 people. A mixture of installation, digital and textile art complemented the haunting images of aba...

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Chasing my tail?

Posted on December 19, 2014

Children from Abbeyhill Primary School visited me in Gallery 1 at Edinburgh Palette this week to make their installation artwork about the evacuation of St Kilda. Seeking inspiration I dug out a story I wrote following a trip I made to the island as a recipient of The Margaret Woodward Costume Award in 1982. We used a simple stencil borrowed from the Awesome Folk at St Margaret's House. The P4 children were fantastic and the resulting art work ...

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Hearth Heart Earth

Posted on December 19, 2014

I love it when serendipity knocks and idea's flow- or is it pulse theory? In Scotland 2015 is The Year of Food and Drink. Hearth Heart Earth was written by one of our community artists on our envelope art wall and today a visitor to the Away Being exhibition spotted these two wee refugees made of vintage textiles that I created for the 2012 Liverpool Biennial. My visitor explained that the text read 'your hearth is golds'-worth'. function ...

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Away Being at The Thrive Archive

Posted on December 13, 2014

Images are starting to arrive for Away Being, a pop up exhibition I am curating to celebrate a new music commission by The Thrive  Archive. With help from Enterprise Music Scotland,  Trad Awards nominee Mike Vass has composed a new concerto inspired by photographs taken by John Maher and Ian Paterson of abandoned croft houses on Lewis and Harris. The event on January 4th 2015 at Gallery 1 in St Margaret's House will be a community gatherin ...

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Our Area in the First World War

Posted on November 22, 2014

The learning team at Callendar House put on a wonderful display at Bo'ness Hippodrome this week. It was great to meet up with the pupils of Laurieston Primary that we worked with earlier this year and to see theirmemory boxes on display. The six new boxes created in community workshops looked at life in Falkirk on the home front and some interesting stories came to light. Thank you to all at Falkirk Community Trust for the opportunity to work on ...

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Leaving Home, Away Being and Coming Home

Posted on November 21, 2014

As curator at The Thrive Archive I am currently busy working on our pilot project Coming Home. The first phase of the project will conclude with a 'gatherin' in Edinburgh on January 4th to showcase our new music commission from Scottish composer and musician Mike Vass funded by Enterprise Music Scotland. Mike and I have been working with the amazing young musicians of Edinburgh Youth Gaitherin Big Band who recently supported the fabulous K...

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“A lovely, heart-warming exhibition!”

Posted on November 8, 2014

  I popped down to the Yorkshire Dales last week to pick up my tandem 'Daisy May'. My Daisy Daisy exhibition at the Dales Countryside Museum for the Tour de France had a wonderful summer and the visitor's comments are 100% positive. Here are a selection of the best quotes: Fabulous exhibition! We are on Honeymoon this week- cycling the Buttertubs etc. This exhibition has been the icing on the cake! - Sophie and Alan Anderson function ...

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