Kirkwall

I have lived in Kirkwall all my life so I know all its nooks and crannies! The most outstanding building in Kirkwall is St Magnus Cathedral, a viking building erected in  memory of St Magnus who was killed by his cousin on the island of Egilsay in Orkney and built in 1137, it stands in the centre of Kirkwall and is beautiful inside and out. St Magnus cathedral belongs to the people of Orkney and I have painted it several times. I do find the architecture quite challenging to paint! so I often paint the building in situ from a distance as in the pictures 'Rainy morning over Kirkwall' and 'Kirkwall, Orkney'. The overall shape of this structure looks very different from all angles and I often think that our visitors who arrive by boat into Hatston pier must think the church is  an impressive sight  towering above the skyline of Kirkwall. 'Stained glass window, St Magnus cathedral, Orkney' is a collage mixture of photographs and acrylic paints and inks. The stained glass windows are amazing!

Kirkwall harbour is another of my favourite subjects along with the winding streets and hidden lanes of the town. The harbour is full of fishing boats and over the years I have painted most of them. The smaller boats are owned by creel fishermen and each one has a different character. My all time favourite is the 'Michael J', it is an old wooden fishing vessel and works around Kirkwall bay. You can see the Michael J in my picture'Summers evening at Kirkwall harbour' which is a fairly traditional watercolour, she is also the main subject of 'Fisherman's boat abstract', a new painting I did in 2020 which is much more abstract. 'Tall ship, Kirkwall' is a picture of a Norwegian schooner which regularly docks at Kirkwall pier in the summer. It is quite a sight and makes me think of the many tall ships that have stopped at the harbour over the last few hundred years. A few of my pictures are of boat reflections as in 'Creel boat reflections' and 'Boat shapes', I really like the colours and shapes of the reflections in the water.

' Victoria st, Kirkwall' is a picture of one of the narrow winding streets in Kirkwall, they are lined with local flagstones and are very quaint with all their hidden shops. 'Dundas crescent, Kirkwall in the snow' was painted from a photograph I took on a snowy Christmas day a few years ago. The snow only lay for one day so it was very special. All the white in the picture is 'saved' blank paper and I have used salt dropped into wet paint to create the snow in the sky. 'The Leonard's shop, Kirkwall' is part collage along with watercolour paint and is a recent picture. I wanted to tell the story of Leonard's shop as it has been closed for over 20yrs now. It was our local toy shop and I loved to go in there when I was a child. 

I hope you enjoy these pictures which are all available in limited edition prints in run's of 200.