Strathnaver Museum & Mackay Country Community Trust Moving Times & Museum Tales
Portraits in Place
Patricia Niemann - Dùthaich Mhic Aoidh Artist in Residence
My career started – and does continue to this day – as a trade goldsmith. I was trained and certified in Germany. After a time as journeyman and workshop manager for a German goldsmith I studied Gemstone and Jewellery Design and went on exchange to Edinburgh College of Art (ECA). A ‘second subject’ policy existed there at the time. I landed in the Glass Department - and proved hard to get rid off: Very quickly, I had become addicted to ‘Hot Glass’, especially glass blowing. Whereas a jeweller’s mind tends to be fixed on the miniature world of minute perfectionism and ‘micro-sculpture’ (while sitting at a work bench), glassblowing is totally physical. Good glassblowing is akin to dancing with hot molten material - fluid movements, lots of heat, a sense of danger and very considered interaction with a furnace, space and people.
I finished my studies in Germany, embarked on a Master’s degree in Glass at ECA and have been a glass addict since. Glass also has been the main reason for me to move to Caithness about 10 years ago. Since 2003 I live and work in Lybster and Latheron, working as a self-employed goldsmith in a studio and showroom open to the public, which is shared with the potter Jenny Mackenzie Ross of North Shore Pottery and as a sometime studio glass teacher and ‘tourist guide’ for North Lands Creative Glass.
I am passionate about body adornment or in other words: different forms of wearable sculpture. My work is all about the human body, human expression and fears. My increasing interest in anthropology, anatomy and funerary archaeology is a driving force, along with the constant inspiration of Caithness and the whole Far North - that tough, wild, dramatic and fascinating location I work from, complete with the deteriorating and forming effects of its harsh weather.
Patty’s Residency
Drawing always underlies my work and is hugely important to me. Drawing is necessary for the quick recording of sudden ideas, for explaining things, for design and to show customers what their new piece of jewellery will look like. The drawing of the human form is excellent practice and exercises eye, mind and hand constantly. I have been doing life drawing regularly since 1992.
For this Mackay Country residency my focus was portrait drawing. This autumn has been busy and immersive! Alongside my normal work as goldsmith and maker, I have been travelling through and learning about North Sutherland during this residency. During this unique experience I was mainly drawing individuals young and old at interviews, Photoclub events, a whist drive, a lunch club and at High School workshops with poet George Gunn and musician Iain Copeland. The drawing from life is one of my most important disciplines. Normally I do not get to do enough of it, because it is not really a commercial activity. I am interested in anthropology, the human condition, the study of the human body and the uniqueness of people and characters. Every person is different, in their own way special and fascinating to me.
I have learned here about the local demography and the social interaction between people. How surprising that in spite of vast distances and remoteness people in Mackay Country all seem to know each other or of each other. Learning about the history of local hostel culture and the effect it had on the people has been changing my understanding of the region. I live in Caithness, but if ever I thought it was remote - after this experience it feels rather ‘urban’ in comparison. The population density is higher in Caithness – and with it the feeling of ‘anonymity’ as well. Sutherland let me experience a so far unrivalled social collaborative and supportive spirit.
Mackay Country has helped me to understand issues within remote communities better, also region-dependent issues in culture, changes in tourism, coastal erosion, resources, resulting problems and also the importance and mission of the John Muir Trust. Indeed, Mackay Country’s stunning landscape and many new discoveries like its modern and ancient history, archaeology, geology – and lichens - has been a revelation to me. Yet – it is not an unconnected island in the world, but loved by everyone who has ever visited. It is a unique and amazing place, rich in natural beauty, heritage, history and human friendliness and it needs to be advertised and supported in a sustainable way in the future. I enjoy giving regular illustrated talks (as I did during my last stay at Borgie), sometimes also on international level. I will try and advertise the area and Mackay Country as much as I can in the future and that will include my talks.
So, apart from lots of new knowledge and new drawing work, I have also taken away a new enthusiasm. The concentration on ‘characters’ and also the ‘elderly’ – drawing and talking to them - has had an effect on my work – it is something I would like to concentrate more on in the future. Also, especially during my latest week-long residency stay at Borgie Cabin, I had more time to explore the landscape and especially focused on detail like patterns in the sand, tree-growth and local species of lichen and their almost otherworldly beauty. Lichens are hugely important for biodiversity and only grow where the air is clean and human environmental interference is limited. They grow in the Far North in manifold abundance. I have already started a body of lichen-inspired jewellery work in precious metals and this will be an ongoing project.
