The bu drawing was created by Laura Drever after a day spent in the Hoy Hills with a group of botany enthusiasts, guided by Orkney plant recorder John Crossley, on the ‘In the footsteps of James Sinclair’ walk.
Above: details from ‘The Bu’
Laura listened to the audio recording of the entire walk when she was working back in the studio.
Listen to the audio here
Laura said ‘being guided through the landscape in a different way allowed me to revisit the variety of species, shapes, patterns and colour within it. Recreating the walk in a drawing was challenging as there was so much (landscape) to work with, so by paring back colour, texture, marks and surface I included aspects that I felt were important to give a sense of place and the overall experience of the walk’.
Above: some of Laura’s photographs from the day
Laura studied at Edinburgh College of Art, retuning to Orkney in 2003 to continue her work as a landscape painter. She begins with direct experience with the landscape, walking and observing. Then, rather than sketches, she brings her memory of place, in its ever-changing character, back to the studio, and creates her drawing or painting from that starting point.
This artwork was commissioned by the Scapa Flow Landscape Partnership Scheme.
Hoy Heritage Centre HOY KIRK ORKNEY 