For four days only

I'm setting up the exhibition in the garden of my home in Ardfern for four days to coincide with the open studio event that I am taking part in From Friday 7th August to Monday 11th August.
I have draped a canvas over the branches of a large lime tree and suspened it over the figures as a canopy.
I still need to set up the sound and add the sand - hopefully it will all be fiished by Friday.
The open studio event is run by a group of artists in Argyll - www.artmapargyll.com. I hope we have some visitors - we are a bit off the beaten track - some local visitors would be great too. Anyway, Its a good excuse to tidy up the studio and to take stock of the succeses and failures, in artistic terms, of this last year.

This weekend Andy delivered the exhibition back to my studio. The end of an exhibition can be a painful time but, for me, it was made better by the timely arrival of a very generous review emailed to me by one of the gallery visitor:

There Is a Tide
Taigh Chearsabhagh Arts Centre
Lochmaddy, Isle of North Uist



There Is a Tide. The exhibition title catches my eye and an inner voice continues the quotation “… in the affairs of men which, taken at the flood, leads on to fortune …” Coincidentally, that quotation has been on my mind a lot of late.

I glimpse a lissom figure stepping across the shingle outside the café. She appears pale in the flat, grey light - pale blue. Her hair, close cropped, is Titian red. She has her back to me and her right hand is raised. Maybe she is greeting someone I cannot see. She trembles a little in the wind. I want to know more about her.

I head up the stairs to the Gallery unsure of what I shall find. I read the artist’s statement. I am relieved. I understand it - I think.

As I enter the Gallery I am reminded, fleetingly, of Antony Gormley’s figures on Crosby Beach, but the enchanted creatures here are not solid or grave or mysterious. They are exuberant, full of life and colour - the very particular translucent sea blues and greens of the Hebridean shallows on sunnier days, splashed and studded with orange and yellow, red and green. They have an existence which transcends the net and string of their construction. They have tales to tell.

Later I discover the stories of Gigha; The Engagement; The Running Man; The Hour; and Kairos and realise I have experienced a Kairos moment.



Lesley M Smith
Salisbury
20 July 2009

Berneray

We've just returned from a week in North Uist while I set up the exhibition and ran a few workshops. Its been a brilliant week. Staying in Berneray - the little island of the north of North Uist - has, as always, been a pleasure beyond telling. The sun shone relentlessly and we got plenty of time to visit the Traigh, and Sheabie and old friends. I gave a talk at the opening night and was delighted that people came and seemed to enjoy the exhibition. Gigha has been placed outside the Arts Centre. That was a bit of a headache, making sure she could stand up to the winds. I hope she lasts throughout the exhibition period - she is fragile but, I am optimistic. Afterall, this is what its about.

I have printed off tiny booklets to use as mementos. This wasn't too hard - thanks to the printer - www.inkylittlefingers.co.uk.

taigh-chearsabhagh

Taigh Chearsbhagh in North Uist have invited the exibition to come to their Gallery 1 during the summer. The dates are 30th May to 18th July. I draw a scaled plan in the garden and check how the figures will sit within the space - It looks good. I'm looking forward to seeing them in Uist for lots of reasons; Taigh Chearsbhagh is an exciting contemporary Arts centre and I have enjoyed visiting it whenever I have been in Uist; My husbands falmily is from Berneray, North Uist and it feels a bit like coming home; some of the string has been collected in Uist and, of course, Simon, my nephew who the exhibition is dedicated to, is buried in South Uist.



http://www.taigh-chearsabhagh.org/