In Blue by Dawn Mainland accompanied by Yala Jewellery. Runs until 1st Sept

Dawn Mainland Art

I set out to capture mood, atmosphere and emotion using a variety of mediums.  In this collection of work; In Blue, I have depicted my grief at the loss of mu husband, at the age of just 56, in 2023.  He was a Shetlander and brought us hame to settle, twenty years ago.  He grew up in Noss, Scousburgh and the three small, framed pieses (Gadderie, Isolation and Cradled by the Noop of Noss) in this collection, attempt to show the remoteness, the sense of community and the land that sweeps upwards like the curve of a spoon (only to drop, harshly, down to cliffs at the other side).  If there is such a thing then I strongly believe that his spirit resides here.

Pat's Hoose is in Noss, Scousburgh.  It was the original family home and was still home to Pat, until very recently.  Originally built, from whatever could be found locally, by at's father in 1900.  There are lifetimes upon lifetimes full of happy memories residing in that hoose.  

In trying to convey the visceral on canvas, paper and board I strive to pain light, shadows and the contrasting textures from a landscape that can be both welcoming and indifferent towards peoples' suffering.

Vibrant colour will cast an an enveloping warmth in an otherwise stoic landscape.  I find it an antidote to grief.

I have used acrylic, Intense pencils, collage papers of various kinds, chalk pastels, acrylic glass bead medium, rust, metal filings and real silver leaf in this collection.

My has been described as "ethereal", "Powerful" and "somehow makes blue warm".

The large canvas of a Viking galley (NFS) was a commission from earlier this year.  It was created at the request of Scott Lobban's family to celebrate his 50th birthday and commemorate his time as Jarl Haraldr Harfagri at the 2016 South Mainland Up Helly Aa.

We moved to Levenwick in 2017 and the views never cease to inspire me.  There are four, small, framed pieces showing Levenwick beach in different lights.

The creature in 'Leave me here' is, in fact, a hamster.  It's abandoned and out of place in an an evironment that doesn't nurture it  However, look upwards and the beauty is a constant.  

I am drawn to the stars, the sun and the moon.  They do not change or falter.  Impossible to recreate the light and the astonishing beauty on canvas, paper, board, but I keep trying.

Fact file:-

Lives in Levenwick

BA in Art & Design with English Literature, University of Kent 1985

Teacher of primary and latterly also of Art - Scalloway School 2004-2022

Work sold locally in Ninian,Lerwick; Artery, Scalloway; Bigton Community Shop; Sumburgh Head Lighthouse and Visitor Centre, The Mission, Lerwick.

Yala Jewellery Shetland

A bit of background...  I really enjoyed a silver jewellery nightclass I did years ago in Unst, and since then had been thinking/wondering (and dreaming!) about whether it could be something I could take on more seriously.  In 2014, my main place of work closed - I went down the redundancy route and decided to use this opportunity to hone my creative skills - so thought I'd try my hand at designing and making jewellery of my own, and almost 10 years later I am still at it - creating jewellery from a small workshop at home, in East Yell.  I realise that jewellers normally have years of training - which I haven't had, but I have learner a bit since I started experimenting in 2014 - a lot of it through trial and error!

I have lived in Shetland all my life and love the changing light, the seascapes and textures and try to capture an element of this in my jewellery.  During my childhood many a day was spent playing at the beach below our house... I can remember Granny blowing a whistle when it was time to come up for mealtimes!  That is perhaps where my inspiration for some of my jewellery comes from, eg my 'beach stones' and my 'seaweed' ranges.  I also remember being up at Norwick beach (in Unst) watching the sun reflecting on the sea - I love a 'twinkly' sea kind of day - that inspired me to try to create a piece of jewellery showing the banks (cliffs) and the sun on the sea - which ultimately became my 'Shetland' range of jewellery.  I also took inspiration from the boats lying up on Norwick beach - this, in turn, led to my 'Norwick' range.

Quite a few of my collections are inspired by the sea/my surroundings - some of these include:-

Shetland collection - this collection so fare includes pendants, earrings and charm bangles and my new brooches.  I hope they convey a reminder of Shetland on a 'twinkly sea' kind of day.

Banks collection - I wanted to capture the textures of the banks (cliffs) in silver so created a rough, texture design which really catches the light.

Beach stones collection - my 'Beach stones' pendant incorporates three different sized stones.

Mackerel collection - I love going off to the eela - and also love mackerel!  I make 2 sizes of the mackerel pendant (big and peerie) and a brooch incorporating one of each - and drop earrings,

Seaweed collection - I like looking at the huge variety of shapes/colours/textures of seaweed.  This led me to creating this fun, quirky, organic design.

Peerie Crofthoose collction - my crofthoose range is probably my favourite so far ...  I have developed this collection to include pendants, earrings, brooches and cuflinks.

I enjoy making silver jewellery and especially love seeing others wearing it! 

I use mainly sterling silver (although my leaf pendants/earrings are made from Fine Silver).  If you have an comments/queries, please get in touch   www.yalajewelleryshetland.co.uk  E-mail: [email protected]