THE LAST MINUTES OF THE "UGIEBRAE"

I've ventured into the realms of maritime history with this recently-completed painting of the last minutes of the Peterhead steam drifter "Ugiebrae".  She was sunk by gunfire after the German submarine (probably the U38) had cut away her fleet of nets and ordered the crew to abandon ship.  This took place on 23rd June 1915, and the "Ugiebrae" was one of 16 casualties of U-boat action in that area that fateful night.  The event effectively put a stop to the herring fishery for the duration of the war.

Ten of the sinkings were of Peterhead drifters, two were from Yarmouth and four were Aberdeen steam line-boats which were also working in the area, to the east and north-east of Shetland.  Some crews were picked up by other steam-boats, but others had to sail or row their lifeboats to land and, in the case of the "Ugiebrae"crew, this involved a 35-mile row to landfall in the Skerries.  The ten men (and a dog!) were exhausted as they approached, and were helped on the last few miles of their journey by men from the Skerries.  From there they would have been transferred to Lerwick and thence home to the Scottish mainland by the regular steamer service.

The newly-acquired lifeboat was of little use for sea-going purposes to the Skerries men, as it was short, bulky and heavier to row and sail than the lighter-built and faster traditional Shetland-model boats, so it was put to good use as the roof of a lambie-hoose" on one of the islands.  It is the current owner of this building, now being restored as a historical project (the lambie-hoose, not the owner!), who commissioned the painting from me.

It's nice to be back working again, and my order-book seems to have filled up again.  I thought I'd get some peace now, but my clients won't let me retire, so I'll continue to fulfil their commissions the best I can, for as long as I'm able to!  I had my appointment with the orthopaedic department of the ARI a fortnight ago.  Apparently the bone density of my spine is not too bad, but my hips are ready to collapse any minute!  I've been o'd-ing on Vitamin D these last few months, but it appears that a more potent mix will have to introduced into my diet soon - ugh!!

Enjoy whatever you're ingesting this week!

THE "GIRL OLIVE" (II)

The Fraserburgh dual-purpose boat "Girl Olive" (FR369), rigged for drift-net fishing, leaves her home port to look for the herring shoals.   She holds the record for the fastest build ever of this class of 70-foot vessel. From the laying of her keel in early November of 1952, it took only six weeks to launch her fully-rigged. She sailed the same day, and landed fish that night!  Nowadays it takes that long to undergo the regulatory inspections!

This commissioned work was for a client in Australia.  I completed it finally in October, after a few months lay-off due to being poorly.  More on that subject shortly!

A HAUL OF HERRING AND A PILOT BOAT

I anticipate no gasps of utter astonishment when I reveal that the latest works to appear in the Tait Gallery are both seascapes.  They were both commissioned.

One of them is the third in a series featuring the Gamrie dual-purpose boat "Silver Wave" (BF372).  She is pictured hauling a good shot of herring, attended by the ubiquitous flocks of gannets, fulmars and gulls, as the crew perform the back-breaking operation of getting the heavy shot aboard.

The other painting is of the Lerwick pilot boat "Knab", viewed from the headland from which her name derives, as she re-enters the harbour after performing another "escort" duty.  This was the first of two vessels to bear the name, built in the late 1980s and replaced by a more powerful state-of-the-art version around 2005 (I'm not sure of my exact dates here!).

I'm currently working on a painting of the local tall ship "Swan".  I'd originally planned to have prints of this ready for my first pre-Christmas stall at Lerwick's Toll Clock Centre on Saturday 17th November.  It now looks as though I'll miss my own deadline by a week or two, but I should have the giclees available by the end of the month.  Watch this space!