The Story behind Flying Terns

I'm doing a series of blogs with a little bit of background information about some of the Harris Tweed "paintings" in my exhibition at the Bakehouse Gallery in Alnwick this summer. 

Northumberland is a very special place for terns. Every year in May, June & July the beach by Long Nanny (a quaintly named stream near Beadnell) becomes the largest nesting ground for Arctic Terns in the UK. Arctic Terns migrate here all the way from the Antarctic, a journey of at least 12,000 miles. The much rarer Little Tern and Roseate Tern also come to Northumberland to breed in the summer.

Terns are smaller than Herring Gulls and these agile little birds can be seen flying up and down the coastline of Northumberland,scanning for fish below, and when they see one, they dive into the sea in a most spectacular manner. In this picture I have tried to capture this behaviour on a clear summer's morning and you can take it from me that there is a calm and sparkling blue sea down below.

There are a few special Harris Tweeds used in this picture. Firstly a very, very rare white Harris Tweed, which I am so lucky to have.

I bought this white tweed quite a few years ago and as far as I'm aware it was specially made for a wedding dress (shown right) for a Harris Tweed fashion show back in 2011. 

The show was staged to celebrate the centenary year of the ‘orb’ trademark and showcased cutting edge designed pieces from some of Scotland and the UK’s most talented and celebrated designers including Vivienne Westwood.

​I use this white tweed a lot and I don't know what I'd do without it!

Secondly, most of the clouds are made out of a gorgeous and herringbone Harris Tweed woven by Margaret Rowantree of the Adabrock Weaving Company.

I ordered some of this tweed from Margaret and not only did she send me some lovely and very tempting samples, but she also sent me some scraps of the same tweed that I'd ordered but the herringbone pattern in varying different widths. These scraps were what I ended up using for most of the clouds.

I think that the different widths of herringbone just add a little bit more interest and texture.

"Flying Terns" has now sold, but there is a new slightly different version for sale in the exhibition. But this image is still available as a greetings card or a giclee print in 2 sizes (£25 & £75) from the Bakehouse Gallery or our online shop.