View from a Croft
Artist: Sarah Helen Dowse
Exhibiting: May & June 2022
Working mainly in pastel on paper or card, Sarah has taken inspiration for her exhibition from the views she sees daily from her home as well as still life studies of homegrown flowers, fruit and vegetables.
Gairloch Pattern detail, © J Dunn
Whatever the Weather Wednesdays
7th, 14th, 21st & 28th June
10:30am - 3pm
Free event
Thanks to continued support from GAMS and the Scottish Government’s Communities Mental Health and Wellbeing Fund - we are able to carry on offering a Wednesday programme of community activity.
Our morning session will be based around the theme of reminiscence. We’ll use Museum handling objects, photos, games, music, storytelling, poetry – a whole range of things to explore, discuss and enjoy.
Enjoy a sociable lunch by either bringing a packed lunch or buying lunch in the café. In the afternoon we’ll have games and bingo for those who stay. All our activities are accessible and dementia friendly. Come along and join us for part or all of the day.
If you need a lift, we can arrange transport. Just email or call us by Monday on 01445 712287.
Lighthouse Lives
Film screening
Thursday 8th June, 7:30pm - 8:30pm
Admission free
Lighthouse Lives is a short film commissioned by the Northern Lighthouse Heritage Trust and presented by film-maker Martine Robertson. It captures the lived experiences of the people who worked through times of transition, from manned to automated lighthouses.
Resonant voices and visual imagery give an authentic glimpse of lives lived against a backdrop of unusual circumstance, working in the service of the Northern Lighthouse Board. What was life actually like for them and their families?
As well as the screening of the film, there will be live music and a chance to socialise over teas and coffees!
Admission is free but places are restricted, so please book a ticket via the button below, call in at the Museum or email events@gairlochmuseum.org.
Ceilidh House Get-Together
Monday 12th June, 7 - 9pm
Suggested donation £2
Anyone can come along to participate or just enjoy the atmosphere. Take a turn singing, playing music, reading some poetry or prose, telling a story – all artforms welcome! Bring musical instruments if you have them and if you are a knitter, stitcher, weaver or have another craft you would like to work away at during the evening, bring it along with you too. Doors open from 6.30pm. We depend on donations from those attending to run these sessions.
If you would like to come along, drop in on the night or email if you would like to know more. The event is free to attend, donations to cover tea and coffee costs are welcomed.
Creative Writing Workshop with Merryn Glover
Thursday 22nd June, 2pm - 4pm
Tickets £5
Meet with author Merryn Glover at the Gairloch Golf Course Beach. We will explore the shoreline and draw from our senses to gather words and ideas for writing about nature. Back at Gairloch Museum, we'll work these into a short piece of descriptive writing.
Open to anyone who can wield a pencil. No previous experience or special knowledge required. Please arrive at the car park promptly. Spaces are limited, booking is essential.
We are also offering 4 free places on this workshop for 16-25 year olds. If you are interested in taking up one of these places please email events@gairlochmuseum.org.
Meet the Author: Merryn Glover
Thursday 22nd June, 4:30pm - 5:30pm
Tickets £3
In an immersive event with readings, mountain images, audience Q&A and book signing, Merryn will tell the story of two women meeting across time in the Cairngorms through her book, The Hidden Fires: A Cairngorms Journey with Nan Shepherd.
Merryn Glover grew up internationally and now lives in the Cairngorms of Scotland. Whether travelling the world or at her desk, crossing cultures, landscapes and literary forms is her life.
Creative Writing Group
Wednesday 28th June
2.30pm, GALE Centre Snug Room
Donations Welcome
Our Creative Writing Group is a friendly, relaxed session to help you get writing. We will maybe do some writing exercises and share our endeavours. The sharing of writing can be either what we have produced during the brief writing exercise or could be something that we have worked on at home.
Museum Book Group
Online Wednesday 28th June,
7.30pm - 8.30pm
In person Thursday 6th July,
3.30pm-4.30pm
Our next Museum Book Group read is Rizzio by Denise Mina. If you would like to read along and join our friendly and informal group (with both an online and an in person option for participation) please get in touch to let us know. The group is free to attend, donations to cover tea and coffee costs are welcomed.
The Waterline Project
Friday 7th July, 5:30pm - 6:45pm
In person and online, Tickets £3
Waterline brought together 15 tapestry weavers from around the world to work together online on a collaborative project on the theme of a river. The resulting works will be exhibited in Gairloch Museum throughout July and August.
Come along to the Museum and meet Joan, Anna and Irene from the Waterline Project, or join us online, and hear from them about Joan’s dream for the project and how it became a reality, as well as what the experience was like for the weavers who took part. We’ll take a detailed look at the Waterline tapestries, giving insights into the design and creative process, and answering any questions you have about the project or the tapestries.
After the talk, stay with us at the Museum to celebrate the launch of the Waterline Exhibition at 7pm!
This will be an in person event held at the Museum, but we will also be sharing the event online to join in remotely. Both in-person tickets and online tickets can be booked via the link below. If you have any queries please email events@gairlochmuseum.org.
Weave the View Workshops
Monday 10th, Friday 14th, Saturday 15th July
10am - 4:30pm
Tickets £70
Explore nature and the countryside through tapestry weaving in this workshop delivered by Anna Wetherell and Irene Evison of Nearly Wild Weaving.
We’ll start the day looking at the many ways in which woven tapestries can evoke the sense of a place, including a quick look round the Waterline exhibition, before taking a short walk to learn how to observe the world around us with a weaverly eye. We’ll help you to choose suitable inspiration from the local landscape, views and nature that we see as we walk, and we’ll then help you to design a simple tapestry. You’ll spend the rest of the day weaving, with our help and guidance, learning a range of simple techniques as we go.
New to tapestry weaving? No problem, we supply all materials and equipment, we’ll show you the basics and help you to design and complete a simple tapestry to take home with you.
The session is designed to be a stand-alone one-day experience, but you are welcome to book for a second day (Sunday 16th), using it to complete a second woven tapestry or to continue what you begin on the first day, perhaps exploring tapestry techniques in more detail!
Places are limited and booking is essential.
Weaving Water Workshops
Tuesday 11th, Wednesday 12th, Thursday 13th July
10am - 4:30pm
Tickets £65 1 day, £140 2 days, £205 3 days
The endless changes in colour and the ever-present movement of water present an almost limitless choice of subject matter and fascination for weavers and artists. These workshops will be delivered by Anna Wetherell and Irene Evison of Nearly Wild Weaving.
Suitable for those who have woven before, we will explore tapestry weaving techniques that help us to capture the essence of water in a range of forms, taking our inspiration from observing the watery landscapes around us and the tapestries in the Waterline exhibition.
You will weave your design with the opportunity for the group to review one another’s work and to offer hints and tips, ask for suggestions and direction, learning from each other as we go. At the end of each day, we’ll celebrate our work – what’s worked, what we’re learning, what we are now inspired to try to weave next.
The workshop is not suitable for absolute beginners, however you do not have to be an advanced weaver to take part. Early stage weavers are definitely welcome, please get in touch with us if you’re unsure!
Full details of the workshops and structure of each day can be found via the link below.
Places are limited and booking is essential.
Landscapes of the Heart
A design and weave masterclass led by Joan Baxter
Monday 21st - Friday 25th August
Tickets £250
Inspired by the landscapes and the rich Celtic/Norse heritage of the West Highlands, this masterclass aims to explore the immediate surroundings of Gairloch, as design sources for a tapestry. We will consider both the stunning landscapes and the Museum’s Heritage collection as part of our research.
Joan explains, “My work over the past 3 decades or more has been rooted in my passion for my adopted ‘Landscapes of the Heart’. In this class I will aim to share some of the ways we can research and translate into tapestry, our responses to the landscapes and stories that will inspire us”.
The class is aimed at those with some experience of tapestry weaving. Participants will be researching/designing and weaving samples in class for a tapestry to be completed at home.
Please also bring suitable footwear and clothing, as we will spend some of the time outdoors.
Joan Baxter - Silent (2023).
Places are limited and booking is essential. Full details of the 5 day masterclass can be found through the link below.
To express interest or make a booking, please email Anna Wetherell, annawtapestry@btinternet.com