Day Thirteen, 28 April 2013

Goodbye to the islands as today we headed back to the mainland and made our way south from Scrabster to Inverness along the North Sea. We stop to visit the studios of
Steve Clark and Joan Baxter. Joan will be teaching in the U.S. in 2013. If you enjoy tapestries, Joan's website is worth a visit. www.joanbaxter.com

The Emigrant Statue in Helmsdale honors the Scottish people who were forced off the land by the Highland clearances and emigrated to countries all over the world.

We visit Ford House where Steve Clarke fashions beautiful blades from recycled steel.

Tools of the bladesmith's trade

Steve is also a master gardner and has created a woodland paradise and garden on their property

Joan's winter trees with sticks

Joan Baxter is a most innovative tapestry artist. She has started dyeing her warps and leaving unwoven areas as part of the design. Joan dyes all the yarns in her tapestries.

Joan is doing a body of work, 24 small pieces based on a story by Orkadian poet, George Mackay Brown, for each month of the year.

Steve Clarke and Joan Baxter



Jane touches the stone wall of rembrance at the Culloden Battlefield visitor centre. The centre commorates the final defeat of the Jacobites on 16 April, 1746.