Remote Art and Craft

At the end of last August J and I went off on a little camping trip to Orkney; yes, I know we are just a touch mad, but it was a great trip despite the high winds, the rain and the brilliant sunshine... The return journey was made via the north west tip of Scotland and we stayed in a B&B in Durness; by this time we had had four nights under canvas and were ready for a more comfortable bed. Whilst there we had planned to go across on the ferry and take a trip to Cape Wrath; however for a variety of reasons which we never really go to the bottom of (the ferryman blamed the weather, but I think that here were too few people that day) it never happened. So insead we took a walk on the cliffs from Balnakeil whilst we waited for the Craft Village there to come alive, all very beautiful indeed. Eventually the Craft Village awoke from its slumbers and we could have a good poke around; there are some very odd people there (and I do mean odd); there are two quite memorable characters, one who was very proud of the fact that he was able to grow grapes so far north and who insisted that we have a tour of his living space and see his grapes (for those who might be thinking along other lines I mean grapes as in the fruit used to make wine), and a strange person making some beautiful works which impressed us, who when asked if she would still be here next year (as we are thinking about going back to purchase some pieces) responded "well maybe I will maybe I won't". But there was one ceramic artist showing there, and this is getting to the point finally, Lotte Glob whose work is out of this world, absolutely amazing; it is so unusual and different that it stands alone head and shoulders above anything I have previously seen. I would recommend a visit to the Craft Village for anyone who is interested in art with the caveat that there are some pretty whacky people there.