INSIGHTS 3 – Frances Priest
In 2014-15 Edinburgh-based artist Frances Priest was commissioned by ATLAS Arts (Skye) to create a series of ceramic pieces for Raasay House. The resulting ceramic door furniture, tiles and Parian vases – Patterns of Flora | Mapping Seven Raasay Habitats – are inspired by the unique plantlife found across the island and are featured in Lines from Scotland.
In the short film below, Frances describes how she tackled such a complex commission, and the slideshow below includes images of her preliminary and finished drawings, as well as of the ceramic pieces in situ.
Raasay House Raasay House View of Cuillins from Raasay House Stephen Bungard (Vice County Recorder for the Botanical Society of Britain & Ireland) & Frances Priest Some of the diverse flora on Raasay Thrift (Sea Pink) Frances Priest, rough plan of work for Raasay House Frances Priest, examples of preliminary drawings Frances Priest, examples of preliminary drawings on blue post-it notes Frances Priest, preliminary research drawings Frances Priest, preliminary research drawing (Moor habitat) Frances Priest, preliminary research drawings (Mountain habitat) Frances Priest, final design – Bog (gouache & pen on paper) Frances Priest, final design – Coast (gouache & pen on paper) Frances Priest, final design – Freshwater (gouache & pen on paper) Frances Priest, final design – Limestone (gouache & pen on paper) Frances Priest, final design – Moor (gouache & pen on paper) Frances Priest, final design – Mountain (gouache & pen on paper) Frances Priest, final design – Woodland (gouache & pen on paper) Frances Priest, detail of ceramic tile (Bog); photo Shannon Tofts Frances Priest, detail of ceramic tile (Coast); photo Shannon Tofts Frances Priest, detail of ceramic tile (Freshwater); photo Shannon Tofts Frances Priest, detail of ceramic tile (Limestone); photo Shannon Tofts Frances Priest, detail of ceramic tile (Moor); photo Shannon Tofts Frances Priest, detail of ceramic tile (Mountain); photo Shannon Tofts Frances Priest, detail of ceramic tile (Woodland); photo Shannon Tofts Frances Priest, studio space Frances Priest, studio space Frances Priest, ceramic door knobs; photo Shannon Tofts Frances Priest, ceramic finger plate, Bog Frances Priest, ceramic library bookcase door knobs & larger door knob (Freshwater); photo Ruth Clark Frances Priest, ceramic door knob & tiles (Woodland); photo Ruth Clark Frances Priest at Raasay House Frances Priest, set of Parian vases showing 7 habitats of Raasay; photo Ruth Clark Ceramic tiles & Parian vase, Raasay House; photo Ruth Clark
Further links for exploring Frances’ work & the Raasay project
An A4 printer friendly version of the Patterns of Flora colouring book is available to download for free from ATLAS Arts until 31 July 2020.
