Spring Fling 2011

Spring Fling is an annual event in SW Scotland where, over the last weekend in May, artists across the region open their doors to the public.

My wife, Maggie, has been in it for the past 3 years, but this coming May I will be too.

Maggie recently took on a her new studio space in Kirkcudbright, so her previous workspace, the front room of our house, has been freed up for me to develop a wee photographic studio of my own, so I started thinking about whether it might be possible for me to get involved in Spring Fling myself.

Getting into Spring Fling is not a given - there is a selection process. But following the success of my exhibition earlier this year (see Staring Back), I thought it had to be worth a go.

However, rather than just have another exhibition layout, I thought it would be fun to create a sort of art installation event.

The idea then, is across the Spring Fling weekend, anyone who comes in will be invited to have their photo taken, which will be printed out and pinned to the wall. Over the course of the three days the walls will steadily fill with a wide variety of faces and expressions, as the visitors become the exhibition.

I’ve worked out how to connect the camera to the laptop so the screen effectively becomes the viewfinder and the computer becomes the memory card. This should mean that if I connect a printer as well, it will be a relatively fast turnaround time to go from camera click to printed photo. If people want, I can always print 2 copies – one to stick on the wall and one for them to buy and take away with them.

At the end of the weekend, I will put the best images into a book, similar to the one I did for the Staring Back exhibition, which will be available for anyone involved or interested.

If the visitor numbers even vaguely approach the levels Maggie’s had over the past few years then I could have several hundred people through over the weekend, although I’m assuming only a percentage of them will actually want their photo taken.

So if you're about in SW Scotland next May, make sure you come along and become a part of the exhibition.

Burning the Wickerman

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My son, Rogan, suddenly found a signal on his mobile phone. Thumbs moving close to the speed of light he updated his Facebook status.

“Right beside the Wickerman. Gonna go up in flames in a matter of minutes. Dad knows guy who makes Wickerman”

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I’m too old for festivals.

I’m too squeamish to go near festival toilets.

I’m not used to the idea that not just my ribcage, but even my kneecaps could vibrate because of the sheer force of the sound coming out of the speakers.

I have to admit, if it wasn’t for the fact I’d got free passes for me and Rogan because I was accompanying Tony Bonning in the children’s tent with my bouzouki, then I probably would not have chosen to spend my weekend at the Wickerman Festival.

However, standing only a few metres from the 30-foot high willow sculpture as it was lit at midnight made up for everything, both for me and Rogan. The rest of the festival goers, including all the press photographers were much further back, with marshals ensuring no one could get too close.

Trevor, one of the builders of the Wickerman (see - Building the Wickerman) managed to get us in with him when he went up to light it. Apart from his partner, and the guy in charge of the accompanying firework display, the only other person allowed up there was a woman who had won a competition to be the one to set fire to the Wickerman.

Once the flames started to lick around the base of the legs, we headed down the field to get enough distance to be able to watch it go up in a blaze of glory with the fireworks exploding behind and above it.

It was all over in about 15 minutes, but they were a spectacular 15 minutes and my finger didn’t stop clicking the camera the entire time. For some reason it stirs something deeply primal watching a huge figure going up in flames.

Below are a small handful of images from the Festival, but there are plenty more at my recently created Flickr account and can be found here:

http://www.flickr.com/photos/30923607@N07/sets/72157624579088912/


Rogan with the Wickerman in the background


The Sex Pistols Experience tribute band - pure theatre as they swore at each other and goaded the audience. Better musicians than the originals too.


Trevor prepares the base of the Wickerman with a last coating of straw


Heading up with the lighted torch ready to set fire to the Wickerman


Fireworks as the Wickerman blazes


Soon little more than the steel frame remains

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Building the Wickerman

It might be the middle of July but with a damp wind blowing in from the sea at a strength to make the whole structure noticeably sway it feels more like November. I zip my coat up and pull my woolly hat down over my head as far as I can to offer some protection for my ears and neck.

I’m 30 feet off the ground chatting to Trevor Leat who, along with his construction partner, Alex Rigg, is in the final stages of several weeks of work building a giant figure in willow. The entire thing will be burned at midnight on Saturday 24th July as the culmination of The Wickerman Festival, held every year in this corner of South West Scotland.

Not on the scale of Glastonbury or Scotland’s T in the Park, The Wickerman doesn’t attract quite the same headline bands. While I have at least heard of The Charlatans, many of the acts I haven’t, and I don’t think it’s just because of my age. I can’t imagine U2, Coldplay or Eminem playing here. However, I'm told by some who regularly go this makes it more intimate and accessible than many of the bigger festivals.

By contrast, earlier in the week the tickets for next year’s T in the Park went on sale. As they have a habit of selling out within hours, I was under strict instructions from my stepdaughter to be sitting at my computer at 9am with my credit card ready to buy 2 tickets. One for her and one for my son, Rogan, who will be 16 by then. At £200 each, I’m hoping it’s not too long before they can pay me back. Mind you, if they don’t, then I’ll be able to sell them for more than twice the price nearer the date of the event.

Oddly enough I’ve never been to a Festival before. For some reason these cultural experiences seem to have passed me by even though everyone I’ve ever met has been to at least one. However, I will be attending this one.

Storyteller and children’s entertainer, Tony Bonning, has asked me to accompany him on my bouzouki & mandolin in the Children’s tent. In return Rogan and I get weekend “artists” passes to what will be the first Festival we’ve both been to.

I find I’m more excited at the photographic opportunities than I am about the music and other events.

And with the chance to photograph the Wickerman as it goes up in flames, I thought it would be good to get some “before” shots while it was still under construction.

Fortunately I’ve known Trevor for a few years as he plays the fiddle at some of the folk sessions I go along to, and last year I photographed him and Alex building and setting fire to the Willow Tam O’Shanter in Dumfries as part of the Burns Light Festival.

There’s no doubt it’s seriously impressive up close, just as it is at a distance, and I feel privileged to see and touch this amazing creation right up at shoulder and head height.

Fortunately I remember not to ask him how he feels about several weeks’ worth of work going up in flames as he’d be likely to throw me off the top of the scaffolding. It’s one of Trevor's most hated questions because it’s the one everyone asks, and few seem to understand that the whole point of building these giant willow sculptures is their fleeting life and dramatic exit.

Click on any of the images for larger versions

Photos in BBC Countryfile Magazine

In the May 2010 edition of the BBC Magazine, Countryfile - based on the TV show of the same name - willow sculptor, Trevor Leat, is featured in an article.

They wanted some photos to accompany the write-up so looked to his website. Several of the images they thought had potential were ones I'd taken, so they contacted me for high resolution, print quality copies. I wasn't going to get paid, but I would get a credit.*

This all happened a couple of months ago, around the time I was asked to do the exhibtion at the Mill on the Fleet, so I'd forgotten all about it. Maggie hadn't though, and found the article today when she picked a copy of the magazine off the shelf.



The full page and the small black and white images were taken when Trevor was building the Tam O'Shanter scultpture that was set fire to at the Burns Light Festival in January 2009.

You can click on the image for a larger, just about readable, version, or head to your local newsagent for a copy if you're interested.


*And they even spelt my name correctly

Staring Back

The launch of the exhibition, Staring Back, took place on Saturday, barely 10 weeks after I was called by The Mill on the Fleet and offered the opportunity to put on a show of my portrait photography.






Photos courtesy of my son, Rogan, who enjoyed being the official photographer for the event.


24 images of people staring intensely into the camera, and thus at the viewers, seems to have gone down well, and I received overwhelmingly positive feedback from everyone I spoke to.

Of course I knew nearly everyone I spoke to, so there’s no guarantee the wider public will be anything like as enthusiastic or tactful.

However, it was a good afternoon and I thoroughly enjoyed being the centre of attention and lavished with praise.

I could get used to this…

I’ve had many comments from bloggers, friends and relatives who have said they would love to have seen the exhibition but lived too far away to be able to attend.

This set me thinking about the possibility of creating a book of the event.

I already had all the images in digital format, as well as writings to go with each of the photos.

So using Blurb.com, an online print-on-demand service specifically set up to create photo-books, I put this one together

Staring Back by Kim Ayres | BOOK INFO

I ordered a copy a couple of weeks ago and fortunately it arrived in time for the exhibition. And I have to say I’m very impressed with the quality. I paid the extra couple of pounds to have the thicker paper and it was well worth it.

Unfortunately, the unit price on these things is not cheap, so it is more expensive than an equivalent book you might buy in a store or on Amazon. However, the real advantage is I haven’t had to fork out thousands of pounds in advance to be left with boxes of unsold books. They only print copies when someone orders them, and they are delivered right to your door.

The book is 10x8 inches in landscape format. The postage fee is the same whether you order 1 or 5, and if you order 10 or more in one go (if you’re wealthy and want to treat all your friends and relatives) then I think there’s a 10% discount.

So if you would like a copy of the book, visit
http://www.blurb.com/bookstore/detail/1314623 with your credit card, or click on the widget above.

And to whet your appetite further, I put together a wee video of it

Stephan Whitlan

Musician Stephan Whitlan has released a new CD called Triangulation

In the CD sleeve insert he has used a photo I took of him in back in August.

William Neal

During the summer, I took a series of photos for William Neal, an artist based out in Wigtown, SW Scotland. For many years he’s painted landscapes of Galloway, but more recently he’s moved into creating large abstract artworks, full of light, texture and colour, but completely flat and smooth.

He was after some updated portraits and new images of his studio, so I was out there last week clicking away.

Part of his fascinating and varied background includes his association with prog-rock giants, Emerson Lake and Palmer, for whom he created the album covers for 'Tarkus' and 'Pictures at an Exhibition'

As we were coming towards the end of the session he mentioned an idea he’d had for a while about having a photo of him sitting outside at his easel, looking like a typical landscape artist, yet having one of his abstract works in front of him. That sounded like too much fun to miss, so we loaded bits and pieces into his car and went down to the harbour. We may have run well over time, but he did make me some rather nice sandwiches for lunch.

Following his direction with regard to colouring and the addition of a full moon he decided to use this image on the front page of his website:



However, to accompany his latest exhibition, Sylvan Droplet Variation, he also created a CD of music with musician Neil Williams. The Artist's photo he decided to use on the sleeve insert was one I took during the shoot of him holding his cat.



I have lot of fun taking photos, and I have just as much fun editing and playing with them in Photoshop. But the best aspect of this job is meeting people and finding out more about their lives, their passions and their world views.

Photos in DG Life Magazine

“Have you seen the photos yet?” asked Jools when we bumped into her on the street on the way back from collecting Meg’s new glasses from the optician.

“What photos?” Then I remembered. “Have they been published?”

“October’s edition of DG Life. They look good. Better go and get yourself a copy.”

Her voice faded into the distance as I grabbed Meg’s hand and charged off in the direction of the nearest newsagent.

DG Life… DG Life… DG life… “Found it!” said Meg.

And there they were, on page 66 of the October edition



Dumfries and Galloway Life did an article on The Orchard and Wild Harvest Project run by South West Community Woodlands Trust. The project itself is about planting wild fruit and nut trees wherever possible – along cycle and walking routes, school grounds and anywhere else that seems like a possibility (click on the image above for a full sized photo where you can actually read the article if you want).

South West Community Woodlands Trust is based in SW Scotland. Earlier in the year I helped design and build their website, and trained one of the members in how to maintain and update it – see swcwt.org

Jools Cox, who runs SWCWT asked if I would take some photos of children planting trees for the article she knew was being written, promising I would get full credit for any images used. I’d taken scores of images, then whittled them down to the best dozen or so, which I then edited and tidied up before putting them on a disc her. In the end they used 3 of them.

With all that’s been ongoing of late, I’d pretty much forgotten all about it. So it was wonderful to see the all-important, “Photography by Kim Ayres” sitting right there on the page.



They'd even spelled my name right.

Burns Light Festival in Dumfries

January 25th is celebrated in Scotland in honour of Robert Burns the national poet, and this year was the 250th anniversary of The Bard’s birth.

Dumfries, home of Rabbie for the last 5 years or so of his life, decided on a major celebration in the town and announced the Burns Light Festival, which would include thousands of people carrying lanterns through the town, live bands, an address from the First Minister and the burning of a giant willow figure of Tam O’Shanter (the man in the Burn’s tale, not the hat).

For several months, lantern making workshops have been going on across the region. In fact my wife, Maggie, has run about ½ a dozen of them.

Here are Maggie & Meg about to set off on the procession with the lanterns they made



Now for a candle-lit lantern procession, you need 2 things to make your lanterns light up – candles and darkness.

Yet someone, in fact many people, as there were countless committee meetings and, I guess, no decent leadership, decided in their infinite wisdom to have the lantern procession shortly after 3pm.

Even in Scotland at this time of year, the sun doesn’t set before 4.30pm.

Rumour has it they wanted the festivities over early because all the high heid yins had a fancy Burns Supper to go to later in the evening.

Also, about 10 days before the festival, someone (or several committees) decided candles in glass jars in the lanterns was a health and safety risk so thousands of glow-sticks were ordered and distributed. Unfortunately it required about 30 of these pathetic little things to equal the lighting power of one nightlight.

But hell, it was bright daylight so it made no difference anyway.

However, the burning of the willow sculpture on the River Nith, was spectacular, and at least the sun had gone down before it was set alight.

I’ve been following the progress of the sculpture, from the welding of the metal frame, through the layers being built up and the transporting it to the river, so I needed to try and find a decent spot to photograph the final burning.

I did find one, but had to stay there for a good 1½ hours to keep the spot.

For those unfamiliar with the tale of Tam O’Shanter, the sculpture depicts a moment when Tam, on his horse, Meg, is trying to escape the witch who has just grabbed hold of the horse’s tail.

Now, do thy speedy utmost, Meg,
And win the key-stane o' the brig;
There at them thou thy tail may toss,
A running stream they dare na cross.
But ere the key-stane she could make,
The fient a tail she had to shake!
For Nannie, far before the rest,
Hard upon noble Maggie prest,
And flew at Tam wi' furious ettle;
But little wist she Maggie's mettle -
Ae spring brought off her master hale,
But left behind her ain gray tail;
The carlin claught her by the rump,
And left poor Maggie scarce a stump.

For the full Burns' Tales, click here: http://www.robertburns.org.uk/Assets/Poems_Songs/tamoshanter.htm where there’s also a translation for you non-Scots speakers.

Below is the moment Trevor lit the sculpture, but a full set of images from the start of the build through to the final burning of the figure, are available in the gallery on Trevor's site here:

http://www.trevorleat.co.uk/Galleries/burnslight/album/index.htm


Flares go off as it starts