Close Knit (Community)
FOR YOUR OWN SAFETY
2010
Knitted and felted wool. Made in collaboration with members of the Helmsdale knitting group and children from Helmsdale Primary School.
In the village of Badbea (Sutherland, Scotland) so dangerous were their surroundings that, when the children were playing outside they had to be tethered to posts and rocks to stop them falling off the cliffs into the sea.
ONE PERFECTLY GOOD BUCKET
2010
Woven jute and found object.
Awarded The Richard Coley Award for Sculpture at the Visual Arts Scotland Annual Exhibition 2011.
THE OLD CHANTY
2010
Knitted, darned and felted wool.
KEEP THE FIRES BURNING I & II
2010
Multiple colour photographs (photomerged) of flower installation. Helmsdale, Scotland.
FOXGLOVE CROFT
2010
Digital print. Made in collaboration with storyteller Lorna Jappy.
CLOSE KNIT
2010
Close Knit is a little book made whilst Artist in Residence at Timespan.
The 3 month residency was funded by the Paul Hamlyn Foundation and the European Community Highland Leader 2007-2013 programme.
“When the crofters moved to Helmsdale, early marriages were encouraged to ensure large families, and thus a supply of workers. These large families were crammed into the tiny crofts, which often merely consisted of two small rooms: a living room and bedroom, each around four metres square. I was surprised at how similar they are in design, but soon realised that this was for good reason…”
Download a copy of Close Knit to find out a little bit about life in a croft in the 1800’s…
Review of ‘Close-Knit’ by Julia Douglas – A Celebration of Badbea
Having spent the last couple of years researching Badbea and perhaps getting a bit bogged down in the details, I opened a brown paper parcel in my mail box today to be instantly transported to that so familiar place. But this was a fresh approach and I was soon chuckling to myself. By the time I got to the old knitted chanty I was laughing out loud. I wonder if his niece Catherine had to take the chanty to John Badbea Sutherland with his rheumatic fever and aches and pains. He says he couldn’t do anything for himself. I hadn’t thought of that before but neither had I realised it could be tragic and yet comical.
And who would have thought of writing a spoof as a Caithness sales agent that actually tells a true story – both witty and delightful, yet still reflecting the tortuous conditions at Badbea. The details are substantially correct – not surprising as Julia and Lorna Jappy went to Badbea, sat down on some front door steps and played house.
After reading page 42 I got out the old photo of Christina Sutherland and had another long look at her beautiful hands that had worked so hard to sustain her eleven children. Bless her.
So – I received today from Julia Douglas’ on-line shop www.baffie.co.uk a copy of her book Close-Knit – a collection of the works she did during her residency at Timespan in Helmsdale this year. If you are still wondering what on earth you could give your beloved for Christmas then think no more. This is book will not only have pride of place on your coffee table, it will actually help explain to all your puzzled friends and relations why on earth you have been immersed in the Badbea story for so long. I love it and I guarantee so will you.
MOTHER EARTH
2000
A Sustrans National Cycle Network Commission.
Steel, electric fencing wire and tensioners.
Dimensions: 200 x 70 x 60cm.
