Making an exhibition
By Fiona Nichol
(Story dated Saturday, October 8, 2005)

Bryce Wilson

After a hiatus of almost two decades, one Stromness artist is back in full swing, with an exhibition of his work opening in Kirkwall today.

Bryce Wilson of Sunnybrae, Stromness, who is well known for his work with Orkney museums, has been working feverishly for the past two years, to get drawings and paintings together for the show.

Dubbed People and Places, it will feature 37 pieces of figurative and landscape paintings and drawings in pencil, pastels and at least one oil painting.

The artist started his career at Gray’s School of Art in Aberdeen when he was 18 before going on to do teacher training. He taught throughout the north isles then latterly as principal teacher at Stromness, for 10 years before taking up a the post of curator at Orkney Museum.

“I volunteered at the Stromness museum as a hobby then got the chance of a job, which I took,” he said.

“It’s something which I really enjoyed doing. I spent a lot of time setting up exhibitions and now I will be setting up my own.”

The idea for the exhibition came up when the artist retired.

“As a parting gesture the museum said if I got my finger out then they would let me put on an exhibition in two years’ time, so I have been working towards that.

“I thought it would be an opportunity to get back into drawing and painting. I had done some illustrations for the museums over the years, but I thought this would be a chance to do some drawing and painting for its own sake.”

After careers in teaching and museum work, Bryce Wilson is returning to art with his first exhibition in two decades. (Pictures: Kenny Pirie)

He has concentrated on mainly pencil portrait drawings and pastels because it means he can work throughout the winter, by sitting in his car and drawing.

“The winter is so bad I had to find ways of working in colour in the car, so I took up using pastels. I had never really done landscapes before. I have been doing a number of things, such as the light coming through the window.”

He added that quite often the light on a winter’s day can be very dramatic offering great scenes for painting.

The artist has tried to get into a routine during the winter disciplining himself to paint almost every day.

He has held exhibitions in the past at Tankerness House, Seatter’s Gallery in Westray and the Loft Gallery but said “it is a very long time since I held an exhibition.”

He explained that he became so involved in museum work that he didn’t do any drawing or painting for 20 years but his retirement two years ago and the exhibition has helped him to rediscover his talents.

He said: “It was a challenge to get the work together. People can go along and make up their own minds about it. It is good to have a deadline, it spurs you on to work.”

The 62-year-old has many strings to his bow, and has also written a book of plays based on Orkney folklore as well as factual books based on his museum work.

The exhibition opens on Saturday, October 8, at Tankerness House, Broad Street, Kirkwall and runs for three weeks.