Hand-made glass Jewellery inspired by the Viking Age Galloway Hoard and a ghost ship which is a \u201clament\u201d to multitude of decaying wooden hulls that lie along Scotland\u2019s sea shores \u2013 just two of the highly unusual attractions at this weekend\u2019s Spring Fling.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Heidi Hunt<\/strong>, whose house and studio overlook the Mull of Galloway and its famous lighthouse, uses her skills as one of the country\u2019s very few lampwork glassmakers, to recreate the types of decorative beads made by many different civilisations over thousands of years.<\/p>\n\n\n\n A short trip across the water, Gail McGarva<\/strong>, is this week creating a site responsive art trail called From Tree to Sea<\/em> in the gorgeous gardens of Galloway House, which lead down to the beach at Rigg Bay in Garlieston. <\/p>\n\n\n\n Gail is placing three of her traditional fishing boats among ancient trees in the coastal gardens of the great house as a way of highlighting the link between the wood used to build them and the oceans they are designed to ply.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Two are what she calls \u201cdaughter boats\u201d \u2013 these are boats she has built that are based of traditional craft which are becoming extinct.<\/p>\n\n\n\n One is Eala<\/em> a clinker-built larch and oak traditional tribute to the St. Ayles Skiff, and Georgie McDonald<\/em>, a replica of a double-ended Shetland fishing boat of 1882.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Then there is Vera<\/em>, an original double-ended fishing boat dating from 1923, which she has turned upside down and turned into a mobile maritime museum called The Story Boat.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Gail, originally from Renfrewshire and now living in Galloway, developed a passion for boats when she lived on one in Bristol docks before going on a trip to the source of the Thames.<\/p>\n\n\n\n She then studied boat building in Lyme Regis and has since dedicated herself to creating traditional vessels by hand to ensure that time-honoured skills and vessels are not lost.<\/p>\n\n\n\n She said: \u201cI had no previous experience of wood working, but just loved it. Every tree you work with has its own \u2018personality\u2019 and when you build a clinker-built boat, it\u2019s a matter of persuading each of the planks into the shape that\u2019s needed.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cFrom Tree to Sea is all about that, the ancient connection between the trees and how they were used to create the boats our ancestors used for centuries.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cThe final part of it, The Ghost Ship, will be like the skeletal remains of one of those boats. It\u2019s a lament for all those wrecked and abandoned boats that line the coast of Scotland, gradually fading into the sea and disappearing from our world.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n Heidi\u2019s lifestyle, on several acres of land where she and her husband Phil (a maker of copper jewellery for men) raise their own sheep, has echoes of the rural past when glass bead makers would either have had their own plots of land or travelled from place to place as itinerant workers.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Much of what she creates uses the same techniques and styles employed by the makers of the beads found in the Galloway Hoard \u2013 buried in around 900 AD it is the richest collection of precious items from the Viking Age ever found in the British Isles, containing over 5kg of items including silver, gold and textiles.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Heidi said:<\/strong> \u201cOne of the amazing things is that when the hoard was buried, some of the greatest care was taken to wrap up the glass beads, showing how incredibly highly valued they were.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cAnd some of them were centuries old at the time, antiques which were considered very special and precious.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cI wanted to recreate those styles and use the same techniques \u2013 helping to put people in touch with these people and their world.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n Heidi is a former teacher from Liverpool whose own journey into creativity followed the death of her son Stefan. After the tragedy she increasingly found joy, and healing, in art and craft. The couple suffered another shattering blow with the death of Phil\u2019s daughter Lauren in a car crash.<\/p>\n\n\n\n However, Heidi and Phil, a former Liverpool fireman, have been embraced by the Galloway community and are closely involved in local life \u2013 as well as loving their work making high-quality jewellery.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Heidi is now also writing a book, based on her own experience, to help others faced by grief.<\/p>\n\n\n\n She is also working with the Whithorn Trust on a project to develop a medieval bead-making workshop. <\/p>\n\n\n\n Visitors to her studio (Triskele Artisan Jewellery, Gorsemoor, Mull of Galloway) will be able to see many types of work, including Anglo Saxon, Hiberno-Norse, Roman and even earlier.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The annual Spring Fling open studios weekend will see 111 artists and makers across Dumfries and Galloway welcome the public into their studios, homes and other exhibition spaces over the Bank Holiday weekend of 23 to 25 May. <\/p>\n\n\n\n Natasha Kinsella, Events and Exhibitions Development Manager for Upland CIC which runs Spring Fling, said:<\/strong>\u201cSpring Fling is not just about the art, but also about the artists, their stories and inspirations \u2013 as well as some of the wonderful places you get the opportunity to visit.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cThis year will be the biggest ever and we are really looking forward to welcoming people to see so many studios and enjoy time in one of Scotland\u2019s most beautiful rural regions.\u201d<\/em><\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n Ends<\/p>\n\n\n\n Notes for editors <\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n Follow us on social media <\/strong>@spring_fling<\/p>\n\n\n\n About Spring Fling<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n About Upland<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n Vision<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n Mission<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n Aims<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n Its funders are Creative Scotland, D&G Council, The Holywood Trust, ASWT, Barfill. <\/p>\n\n\n\n\n
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