Birsay Bay (large vessel)

Porcelain paperclay and with Birsay clay inclusions .

Birsay (From Birgisherað in Old Norse) is at the north western tip of the Orkney mainland and was the original seat of the Bishops of Orkney. The Brough of Birsay, now a tidal island joined to the mainland by a causeway was inhabited by Picts and then Norse peoples all of whom contributed to the DNA of Orkney.

In 2023 I was lucky enough to spend time at Birsay in the Artists residence Linkshouse run by the Pier Arts Centre Orkney. I had a wonderful studio space (The Wilhelmina Barnes Graham Studio ) to work in and got to explore the local shoreline in great detail as well as spend time drawing, painting and gathering material for later use , including local ochre coloured clay which I incorporated into various commercial clay bodies back in the studio in London.

Whilst in Orkney I also spent time researching local folklore, a hybrid of Norse and Scots mythologies and having grown up with Selkie and Fin folk tales from my Orcadian family these also informed the resulting works.