ARTISTS TALKING

In May each year, An Tuireann Arts Centre organises a studio trail to attract attention to the work of artists living in the area. The gallery showcases the work and an attractive map and passport are offered to encourage visitors to the studios and workshops in the remoter parts of Skye and Lochalsh. This year the central exhibition was given the theme, Calum's Road.

Calum Macleod (1911-1988) lived on the island of Raasay between Skye and Wester Ross. In 1925 his native township of Arnish petitioned for a cart track to link them to the public road but the request was refused, the population declined and consequently Calum set about building a road single-handedly. It was ten years, two wheelbarrows, six picks, six shovels, four spades and five hammers in the making, and in 1976 he had the satisfaction of seeing his famous road tarred by the council.

Of the thirty artists on the studio trail, sixteen responded to the theme of Calum's Road and although at first glance its connection to much of the work seems tenuous the exhibition is about time and patience and inspiration. Tina Macleod's paper was made from grasses picked the length of Calum's Road; Patricia Shone's raku bowl was fired with iron oxide from a local well; Kim Bramley evokes a winding road in her blue glass plate and John Bathgate and Sian Armstrong depict Calum's struggle with landscape and weather using watercolour and mixed media. Viewers can also see a video archive and read articles about Calum's life. You have to spend time and dig deep to make the connections, just as Calum did when he made his masterpiece.

This exhibition is only a sample but it should encourage you to set your feet on the studio trail.