Orkney Midsummer

A glut of light

Jun 28, 2023

I always forget what this time of year is like in Orkney. The days of the ‘simmer dim’ around midsummer are an endless glut of light. You forget to go to bed because it’s still so bright and are woken at 4am by the sun beaming in through the bedroom window. Festivals follow one after the other; the folk festival, the St Magnus festival of classical music, the nature festival, the science festival, the blues festival. Visitors pile off the ferry, filling our house with laughter and conviviality. The vegetable plot needs daily attention; turn your back for a moment and the lettuces have bolted and the courgettes turned into giant marrows. I’ve also been in final rehearsals for a performance of Fauré’s Requiem in the Cathedral with the St Magnus Festival Chorus.

We pack a lot into the few weeks of Orkney’s summer!

On top of this, I also did a fantastic three-day online training course on mentoring artists last weekend, with experienced artist mentor Ceri Hand. I learned some great new methods to apply to my creative coaching and mentoring service. But it did mean I ran out of time to write my newsletter last week.

One of the hardest things to do when you are self-employed is to take holidays, and to give yourself permission to ease off. I didn’t take a break last summer, but this year I resolved to give myself permission to slow down and enjoy these long, bright summer days. So, to that end, I am going to go bi-weekly with this newsletter for the next few weeks, and also take a complete break for the first two weeks of July.

Next week I’m heading to sunny Fife for a holiday. I’ll be spending my time walking, reading, napping and maybe a little bit of drawing. I might even be brave enough to put an out-of-office on my email!

But before I go, I’d like to share with you a new set of drawings of the pale midsummer sea.