Studio Hundy

Secrets, Trees and Stars

Stillness

The addition of light – that feels so essential in advent – has, this year, been characterised by trees and stars.

As well as illuminated stars in Studio Hundy and our Girrick cottage window, this week I created a “sustainable” tree from garden bamboo canes. Whilst making the structure, as if on cue, a “Christmas” Robin visited to investigate and then drink from the bird-bath.

November had been a busy time in Studio Hundy, fulfilling a commission for 150 lino-printed Christmas cards. As soon as these were complete and we turned to December, I started to sketch out a new design for my own card this year – a Heron.

The stillness of the Heron in the lino print was inspired by a chapter in a wonderful book we are currently reading – an anthology of weekly contempations and practices for spirituality through the lens of psychology, inspired by the culture and mythology of the Celts in Britain and Ireland and their connection with nature.

“Psychologically, the heron represents a part of us who longs to penetrate below the surface of life into its Mystery for the long-forgotten memory of who we are, which we begin to discern in times of stillness”.

Wilson, Michael. Portals into Deep Imagination. Celtic Mythology, Nature’s Year, and the Quest for Soul. Aeon, 2025

Finding stillness at this time of year seems all the more important as the outer pressures of the lead-up to Christmas mount.

This includes taking time to reflect on the year that is coming to a close.

APRIL – Clare’s show in Stroud
MAY – another performance, this time in Peebles
….. and no hitches for me on the sound desk in Eastgate Theatre
JULY – installation of new wood burner and chimney liner
… and some congestion with neighbours
Also in JULY – constructing a new wood store
AUGUST – Edinburgh Fringe
Also in AUGUST – exciting installation of dip tank
…… and barrel sauna in the garden
… and the “must have” sauna spirit – Loylynhenki
SEPT – Sound residency – Deep listening to the rumble of the tide
… and listening to the “sound of stones”
OCT – harvesting pears, plums and apples
… preparing spicy plum sauce
NOV – full moon rising
… and shining
DEC – making natural firelighters

Quite an eventful year.

And the “secrets” in the title of this post?

Firstlly it refers to the mystery that lies “below the surface of life” (quote above); and secondly it takes me back over 12 years when Clare devised and performed her other solo show as part of LTP (Landscape Theatre Project). Clare’s Many Threads. Part exhibition, part theatre piece, it painted an intimate portrait of a landscape.

“What really lies out there in the hills and valleys? What lives in the trees and by the stream. Come along to LOOK, LISTEN and DISCOVER!!”

It was 5 years earlier, whilst collaborating with Clare in developing the methodology for LTP, that my interest in field recording was really sparked.

During a 2 week, immersive study of a local valley (Muckle Thairn) I experimented with my 1980’s Aiwa stereo cassette walkman, two basic plug in mics, mounted on an adapted paint roller on the end of a extended umbrella!! Very DIY!

I used this kit to record the soundscape for our first LTP scratch performance at the local village hall.

Who’d have thought 17 years on I’d be at an amazing ambisonic sound residency in Argyll! Sound of Alchemy

A year (and much more) to remember.

1980’s Aiwa Stereo cassette recorder – nostalgia

Sound of Alchemy

Singing to the Sound of Jura

We have just returned from a fabulous immersive 4 day sound residency in Argyll, hosted by John Wills (www.positiveambisonics.org / Instagram – john.wills.ambisonics). Staying in a cosy 1960’s, beautifully converted caravan off Carsaig Bay (in John and Pinkie’s 1.5 acre woodland garden), we experienced the landscape around the Sound of Jura socially, visually and sonically.

Cosy 1960’s caravan in woodland garden

Carsaig Bay overlooking the Sound of Jura

Lapping of waves – using Zoom H5 with inbuilt XY stereo mic capsule (recorded at Carsiag Bay)

Recordings

Gently guided by John into the field of ambisonics (capturing 360° sound using a special 4 channel spacial configuration of microphones) we ventured out to experiment with field recordings. This unique full ambient surround sound was supplemented with recordings using a hydrophone, a contact mic and my own H5 stereo field recorder, as well as a condensor mic in the studio.

Sonic landscape

In this rare, sonically unpolluted environment we were able to listen deeply to the sounds of the environment at Taynish nature reserve Nature Scotland; experience the acoustics of an 11^th century chapel Historic environment Scotland; record inside a cairn (Nether Largie South) at one of the many local Neolithic and Bronze age sites Kilmartin-glen: Nether Largie South Cairn and dive into the “hidden” acoustic territory of fungi, moss, wood, reeds and, amongst others, wire fences. I even found myself befriending the sound of the wind – something, as a field recordist, I thought I’d never do!

A couple of field recordings using Zoom F8 with a Jez Riley French contact mic with probe

Wire fence –probe in rotten fencing post (recorded at Nether Largie)

Moss – probe buried in thick moss (recorded in the wooded garden at +VE ambisonics)

Deep listening

Inspiration

Inspired by the first days ambisonic recordings, particularly when played back in John’s studio using an 8 speaker array (Left-Right, Front-Back, Up-Down), Clare and I were enthused to explore a recurrent theme we’ve encountered in various ways in our lives – the 4 elements.

Linked, as they are, to the 4 or perhaps 5 stages/processes and colours associated with alchemy:

Black – negrado; White – solutio; Green- coagulato; Red – rubado and ultimately Gold, this audio residency seemed like a great opportunity for investigating the “Sound of Alchemy”

Facilitated by John’s expertise as a musician and sound engineer we spent 3 further days “playing” sonically with the concepts of Earth, Water, Air and Fire and their metamorphic transitions. A studio full of instruments (bodhrán, lyre, guitars, electronic drum kit, a synth and more) – as well as Clare’s bamboo pipe and our voices – enabled us to match and meld our various field recordings with instrumental and vocal accompaniments.

Ambisonic recording of the Bamboo pipe using Zoom F8 with Sennheiser Ambeo Ambisonic mic

Bamboo pipe played by Clare (recorded in Keills 11th century chapel)

Perhaps the highlight of this journey came when we listened back to our Hebridean lament, sung in Keills chapel. The combination of our two voices bouncing across the ancient stone walls created a lovely subtle reverb.

We wanted a distinct contrast to this, recording the same chant outside accompanied by lapping waves. So on our last day we “sang” to the Sound of Jura, capturing the unique atmosphere on Carsaig beach using John’s Sennheiser Ambeo Ambisonic mic –featured image. Offsetting these two vocal recordings in the studio created another dimension for this lament and we decided to incorporate it into our now almost complete soundscape.

Four very exciting days spent with an amazing tutor enabled us to create and complete an 18 minute soundscape. The “Sound of Alchemy” morphs from the earthy sounds of stone with drumming on rock, through watery elements of lapping waves, trickling streams and the gentle sound of an “untuned” lyre (bluesy), into the airy element of whistling wind accompanied by a breathy bamboo pipe, merged with the mysterious sounds from a contact mic in the reeds. The final crackling element of fire (moss) incorporates a crescendo of cymbals leading into the choral “Nay Hey” – a layered polyphonic Hebridean lament.

More details of our journey through each of the four elements in sound will follow shortly.

Thanks again to John Wills for his amazing and inspiring residency (Positive Ambisonics Residencies)

New Year – New Moon

New Beginnings

With the twelve days of Christmas past and 2024 now behind us, we have welcomed in a new year.

3rd January saw a fabulous new moon. A shining sliver appearing as dusk fell with just one solitary star above.

As darkness grew the image became more intense, with the face of the “man-in-the-moon” revealing itself more clearly.

A quietness descended on Studio Hundy after the hectic printing process that took place in advent came to an end.

Cold clear nights in recent days encouraged us to light our firepit, heat up some glogg and reflect on the year gone by.

The flickering flames and glowing embers created an atmosphere ripe for remembering what has passed and what maybe is coming towards us from the future.

Christmas decorations have been dismantled and packed away. This too gave chance for reminiscing – within a wider time frame – considering when each adornment arrived in our lives, and from whom.

Some remain as mere magical shadows in the memory, softend by the gentle glow of winter light.

We are not the only ones that have been enjoying ourselves during this festive season. When the ice melted (sometimes with a little help from inside our kitchen) the bird bath became the focus of a great deal of fun:

And then there were three – “Sparrow Party“

All good wishes to visitors to my website for 2025

Advent calling

Gathering inner light

A bright moon, clear nights, crisp frosts, blue sky days and intermittent grey rain – it is December.

Birds in the garden seek what they can. The Wren searches in the stone wall for insects, the Robin rules its territory, bouncing and flicking its tale to ward off intruders. Buzzards wait patiently on telegraph poles – one such perch used on occasions also by a Kestrel. Sparrows assemble in the hedgerow awaiting the bird seed or fat balls to be put out and then descend in great numbers, “squabbling” as they feed. Blue tits seem to “fall” between branches within the pine tree to gain access to the nut feeder. The 3 broods of Blackbirds that hatched in the summer nest by the shed are feasting on fallen apples.

The water bath outside our kitchen window, when not frozen, seems to be a welcome place to take a sip, a dip, or even a proper shower.

Bringing in greenery generates a sense of freshness to a world now largely sealed off from the outside elements. Windows tightly sealed, curtains drawn at 4pm, keeping in that vital warm.

Adding a little extra light compensates for the long dark nights.

Many hours in December have been spent in Studio Hundy engaged in the printing process. This year I rose to the challenge of a 4 colour reduction linocut. I discovered various things along the way, but am always delighted by the experience of seeing the image gradually evolve as each new colour block is printed.

As the earth “slumbers” and plant growth stills, the animal kingdom continues with its winter activities; whilst we, as humans, have the potential to experience the anticipation that advent brings.

In/Visible

Scottish Mental Health Arts Festival 2024

As part of the SMHAF (Scottish Mental Health Arts Festival) 2024, LiveBorders have a programme of shows and workshops exploring this year’s theme – In/Visible – including Clare’s solo show CAN I BE A BUTTERFLY?

The SMHAF theme considers “what it means to be ‘visible’ or ‘invisible’ when we think about our mental health. Which aspects of our mental health do we keep hidden and which do we feel able to share? How can we use the arts and creativity to make mental health more ‘visible’, in a way that engages people and challenges stigma?“(SMHAF 2024)

CAN I BE A BUTTERFLY, initially performed as part of this year’s Duns Play Fest, is a semi-autobiographical, part imagined, solo play about Chronic Fatigue Syndrome and its possible message to a fast world.

The show opens up questions central to the theme – particularly around feeling unseen or unheard. Using movement, poetry, sound, song and text the performer (Clare’s Many Threads ) weaves her own story around the fairytale of Briar Rose accompanied by the voices of others who have experienced ME and Chronic Fatigue Syndrome.

I am, we are, she is invisible

From: Dream sequence in Can I be a Butterfly?

It will be performed at the Heart of Hawick on 16th October at 7.00pm Heart of Hawick Booking

The show was devised between January and April 2024 and integrates voices from 4 very profound recorded interviews held in February and March this year. Each of the interviewees gave us permission to use their voices as part of the play. Creating the soundscape has been a collaborative project that has accompanied Clare’s devising process In collaboration.

Listening to the stories and experiences of the interviewees on the recordings, we tried (through the cutting and pasting process for the sound effects) to honour the uniqueness of what each person had expressed. This process felt as if it allowed the “invisible” to become “visible” through the medium of sound and finally, through the show itself, enabled these voices to be heard Voices heard.

A short extract from the Castle sequence in Can I be a Butterfly?

"Briar Rose woke early, before anyone else was up and began to explore parts of the castle where she had never been before.............    She arrived at a door and there was a key in the door. She turned the key and the door swung open. Inside was a spiral staircase. She began to climb".

Extract from SFX 5 – Castle sequence

Find the other LiveBorders events that are part of the SMHAF 2024 programme at SMHAF programme 2024 – Scottish Borders

Lino cut prints

New Artwork Gallery page

I have created a new gallery page displaying examples of the lino cut prints that I have made during the last 18 years – Artworks (2006 – 2024) – Lino cut prints

Voices heard

“Gently powerful”

After many weeks of devising, sound designing, editing and rehearsing, CAN I BE A BUTTERFLY was performed in front of an audience of over 70 at the Duns Play Fest on Sunday.

Preparing the space – warming up

Performance

Clare’s devised solo play was about Chronic Fatigue Syndrome and its possible message to a fast world. Using movement, poetry, sound, song and text, she wove her own story around the fairytale of Briar Rose accompanied by the voices of others who have experienced ME and Chronic Fatigue Syndrome.

It was very well received, with really positive feedback from those we were able to speak to after the performance. A few examples of comments we’ve received subsequently:

It was a brilliant show, thank you for presenting your situation so well. Really memorable and well written. You are a very talented woman. LB

An excellent, mind stopping soul reviving performance. Thank you. RS

MASSIVE congratulations and well done. Too much to review in a text. The sound/editing/narrative was so well done – how it was interwoven with the physical performance. Structure, story, movement and sound so authentic and strong. J said the performance was “aptly pared down but also so rich”. A-LK

I’ve been working collaboratively with Clare on the sound design to produce a range of audio effects for the show. The sound desk did us proud, after just an hour’s tech run early Sunday morning. Many thanks to Marc on sound and Kirk on lighting; we were delighted with the sound reproduction in the main stage area.

The voices that we’d included from the 4 interviews were crystal clear and, at moments, it felt as if there were 5 people present in the theatre space speaking about their experience of Chronic Fatigue Syndrome.

One of the sound effects I’d created accompanied Clare’s movement peice, depicting the hedge growing on the outside of the castle, whilst Briar Rose slept in the tower on the inside. Listen on headphones if you can.

SFX 8 – Hedge growing sequence

The recordings of the Duns and Smailholm singing groups performing “Curl Up and Dream” were very atmospheric.

SFX 7 -“Curl Up and Dream” – Duns singing Group

SFX 10 – “Curl Up and Dream”- Smailholm singing Group

The two poems written, read (so beautifully) and recorded by Lucy fitted seamlessly into the performance.

The Epilogue poem – The Stone – written by the late Jay Ramsay, encapsulated so much of what was being explored within the play and felt like a fitting memory to Jay’s special interest in the alchemical.

The golden butterfly prop is shown here on the cover of his collaborative book – Alchemy of the Invisible. A sequence of paintings by Jenny Poretzky-Lee with poems by Jay Ramsay.

Thanks to Duns Play Fest and to all those that came along to Clare’s solo show to witness a small window into the world of Chronic Fatigue Syndrome.

Programme notes/credits

See more at Clare’s Many Threads

A view from the sound desk

Dress rehearsal – Can I be a butterfly?

Wednesday saw our final rehearsal of “Can I be a butterfly” in the local village hall, with a small audience in the round.

Using my vintage Sony amp (bought in July 1977) and 4 speakers, dismantled from our hi-fi system at home, we created a “sound in the round” effect for the 11 SFX audio files that are now part of the show.

The 6 audience members gave us very complementary feedback after the performance. This was extremely encouraging for the last few days before the play receives its debut on Sunday 28th April at Duns Play Fest.

A short audio clip, that did find its way into one of the final sound effects, brings together the voices of 3 of the 4 interviewees. This forms part of a sequence towards the end of the show, as Briar Rose wakes from her long sleep and “hears something new”.

From SFX 9 – “shift”

If you are in the Scottish Borders this Sunday (28th April) come along to Duns Play Fest at 6.15pm to see the show. Duns Play Fest Tickets – Can I be a butterfly?

In collaboration

A solo play about Chronic Fatigue and its possible message to a fast world

During the last 6 weeks I’ve been busy creating the soundscape for a devised solo show that my partner, Clare at Clare’s Many Threads, has been working on since January.

Clare will be performing Can I be a butterfly at the local Duns Play Fest here in the Scottish Borders on 28th April at 6.15pm Duns Play Fest 2024

Can I be a butterfly? is a semi-autobiographical, part imagined, solo play about Chronic Fatigue Syndrome and its possible message to a fast world.

Using movement, poetry, sound, song and text, Clare weaves her own story around the fairytale of Briar Rose accompanied by the voices of others who have experienced ME and Chronic Fatigue Syndrome.

Creating the soundscape has been a collaborative project that has accompanied Clare’s devising process. We have been working with 4 very profound recorded interviews. Each of the interviewees gave us permission to use their voices as part of the play.

It has involved a lot of intense listening and a painstaking process of cutting and weaving together their stories and experiences – often similar and sometimes very different. Trying all the time to honour the uniqueness of what each person expressed when they spoke to Clare during the interview/conversations.

As well as the voices from the 4 interviewees, the collaboration has gone wider, incorporating into the soudscape recordings of the singing groups in Duns and Smailholm, performing a song Clare composed for the show.

A full run through this week at the local village hall went well, but was not without its fair share of technical glitches.

Some of the early sound editing work has not made its way into the final play. “Colour of Fatigue” is one such clip. We couldn’t find a place for it, despite the fact that it encapsulates the gravity and humour expressed in the interviews:

What’s the colour of fatigue?

In the final stages of rehearsing and refining the play, we’d both like to acknowledge the collaboarative contributions of the 4 people who were interviewed (Gill, Lucy, Adrian and Eula), the poems Lucy recorded for the show and the singing groups in Duns and Smailholm.

If you are in the area on 28th April come along to Duns Play Fest to see the show. Duns Play Fest Tickets – Can I be a butterfly?

Clare’s Many Threads is the Artist name of Clare Watson. She is an interdisciplinary practitioner living in the Borders, who works with theatre practice, walking, creative writing, textiles and song.

Candlemas

Jewels of light

Candlemas on 2nd February occurs between the mid-winter solstice and the spring equinox. Imbolc in the celtic calender. North East on the medicine wheel it is the “gate of birth”; between Earth and Air and between love for others and spiritual love. As with all these “in-between” gateways, within the cycle of the year, it holds a sense of great mystery.

Looking to nature we see the flowering of snowdrops at this time of year. Like jewels of light covering the darkened ground, they bring a sense of hope for the year to come; an uplifting contrast to the often dreary, grey days we frequently experience throughout January.

I am enjoying reading a beautiful book I chanced upon late last year: Nature’s Calendar The British Year in 72 Seasons.

Inspired by a traditional Japanese calendar which divides the year into segments of four to five days, this book guides you through a year of 72 seasons as they manifest in the British Isles.
From Sleeve notes

In a facinating entry for the micro-season 15th-19th January one of the authors, Rebecca Warren, links the emerging snowdrop to the festival of Candlemas. In Italian the plant is named fiore della purificazione (flower of purification) and in French it is sometimes know as violettes de la Chandeleur (Candlemas violets).

I thoroughly recommend this wonderful book. It can be picked up every 4-5 days for a topical, often thought provoking essay by one of the 4 authors, capturing some aspect of the natural phenomenon we can experience through observation in our immediate surroundings.

Although we may well not have seen the last of the snow this winter, the emerging snowdrops aways remind me of this lovely poem I discovered many years ago:

Last Snow

Although the snow still lingers
Heaped on the ivy's blunt webbed fingers
And painting tree-trunks on one side,
Here in this sunlit ride
The fresh unchristened things appear,
Leaf, spathe and stem,
With crumbs of earth clinging to them
To show the way they came,
But no flower yet to tell their name,
And one green spear
Stabbing a dead leaf from below
Kills winter at a blow.

Andrew Young 
_{born Elgin 1885}