My American summer got buried in art fairs, our new Santa Fe resource center and just keeping my head above the flood waters.

I’ve just landed again in the Northern Highlands of Scotland – after an inspiring visit to the International Festival of Glass in Stourbridge – and elated to be back in the place where I and 13 artists left our hearts earlier this summer.

I’m talking about Caithness and the project I began to describe in the prior three posts.

So, here, two months later is a quick roster of the thirteen artists who took part in a private residency at North Lands to explore the nature of kiln-glass in the built environment. They came from five countries and five states. Getting to know each of them and watching the evolution of their profoundly individual approaches to the two sites chosen by residency leaders Parrish and Klein was a highlight of my year.

The participating artists were:

FACILITATORS: Steve Klein, California and Richard Parrish, Montana

LOCAL ASSISTANTS: Karlyn Sutherland and Shelagh Swanson, both of Caithness, Scotland

RESIDENTS:

Kathryn Aubrey, USA/Germany

Patrick Blythe, California

Alex Hoare, England. (Alex, what happened to your new website? I can’t link!).

Sarinda Jones, Utah

Susan Longini, California

Kari Minnick, Maryland

Ruth Moreno de Wasserman, Costa Rica

Laurel Porcari, Louisiana

Liz Rowley, Scotland

Now, at last, back in the place I know as Heaven on Earth. Simply reflecting on the magic that happened here 8 weeks ago. And missing all of you who made that time so amazing.

Jo’s Bus aka The Magical Mystery Tour…half the crew who lit up Caithness for eight days in June.

IF I’m not kidnapped by the light or the new garden or the incoming friends, I’ll try to add a few more bits  and bobs about that time. In the meantime, any of you who were part of the magic, you’re welcome to contribute. You know who you are. What’s your best, worst, most emotional, productive, or enjoyable memory of your time in the Highlands?

It misses you

To be honest, I’m not sure which faith St Mary’s represented. Like so many churches in the area today, it is derelict, despite the fact that it sits prominently on the main street of Lybster village and quite close to the studios of North Lands Creative Glass.

Like many decommissioned church properties, its gutted shell was sold in recent years, but due to extreme costs, not yet refurbished. This has not stopped years of artists at North Lands from exploring its bones and leaving their delicate marks on its mysterious interior.

Like Harbour House, St Mary’s is a testament to the indomitable spirit of a place that, while tumbling down, still has the power to lift souls.

This June some of those souls looked at St Mary’s, as they did Harbour House, with an eye to “kiln-glass in the built environment”. Their visions ranged from topographic renderings to site-specific sound and light installations to adventuresome plots for community-building, all anchored in the conviction that art – and glass as an especially evocative medium – can reconnect the lost threads of time and place.

NEXT: The Artists-in-Residence

That this particular house is perched so tenuously on the steep hill above the village harbour adds power to the metaphor. There is a precariousness to life in this place. A building like Harbour House has survived – for various reasons. Many others in the area have not.

That Parrish and Klein selected Harbour House as one of the two case studies for this residency insured that the participants would have rich material to mine as they considered the place of kiln-glass in the built environment.

And mine they would. But Harbour House was just one way in.

Next: The Other.

Smack in the middle of it all I got to watch an amazing residency that over eight short days knitted together thirteen artists, two old buildings, and one tiny village  – with a glass thread that I expect to hold strong for years to come.

Day before the residency begins: Steve, Karlyn & Richard experience  the slippery slope outside Harbour House.

It all started with two remarkable artist/teachers, Steve Klein and Richard Parrish and the idea to explore “Kiln-glass in the Built Environment” in a private residency at North Lands Creative Glass.

They called the project “IN PLACE” and over the space of many months selected eleven participants from around the world.

NEXT: The Places.

Adam Aronson takes pity and invites us for breakfast and a lesson at his hotshop in West Brompton. Charming neighborhood, good croissant, and Adam proves to be a brilliant teacher.

Just after 10:00 we dash back to COLLECT for seven more hours of blather ‘n ache. The last day of a fair – with its looming night of de-install – has all the appeal of waiting for cataract surgery. I pass some of the time dashing around for a last look at the show.

A Few of My Favorite Things

Bruno Romanelli’s newest work at Adrian Sassoon is yet another breakthrough for one of Britain’s best.

I want to swim in the interior.  Turbulence is the perfect counterpoint to the precision that Bruno can sometimes do too well. I can’t wait to see more of this series.

Tokyo-based Yufuku Gallery shows a mix of ceramics, metalwork, and glass. I’ve seen a lot of nested glass bowls, but “”Fukuru (Soft Bulb) by Shojiguchi Rikie reinvents the genre with sandy eggshell thin walls that evoke frozen flowers with the understated elegance that the Japanese do like no others.

Texture is everywhere this year. Some of my favorite is in wood at Sarah Myerscough Gallery. Martin & Dowling’s surfaces beg me to touch them. I resist.  Dealer sighs relief.

It’s wood again, this time Finnish. Galleria Norsu’s small set of waxed black jewelry boxes by cabinetmaker Tuulia Penttilä.

This time I don’t resist. They’re going home with me.

At five minutes to six we’re starting to shift into packing gear when a well-dressed pair of women sprint into the stand and start buzzing about Joseph Harrington’s “Chideock Falls III”.

As the loudspeakers screech that the fair is closing, our final sale concludes. COLLECT 2010 is going to be a Harrington Sandwich. His were the first and last works of the fair to sell. In fact, it’s been a sell-out show for Joe, recently out of  Royal College  and fresh from e-merge 2010.

Close to a perfect ending for COLLECT 2010.

Now Just GET OUT!

Not so perfect is de-install. We wait an hour and a half for our empties to be returned to our stand.

Jeff busies himself scraping away the traces of our time here.

Karen decides she’ll liberate the way-finding balloons into the skies above Duke of York Square.

Fair security decides she won’t, retrieves them …

…and stabs them to death in the aisle in front of our stand. This fair is chock full of portents.

By 7:30 we have our empty boxes.

At 9:45 pm we are being barked at to finish up and LEAVE.

Jamie & Jeff jam.

By 10:00 pm we’re just so many piles of crates, boxes, aching muscles and memories.

Now, ash allowing, we’ll be in the skies tomorrow.