New currency for Scotland-Queen Nicola the First

The Bank of Scotland issued yesterday a limited edition of the new currency, the merk, along with the smaller coin, the bawbee.

Professor Gavin McTaggart, a former chief economist at the Scotland Office, welcomes the re-introduction of the merk and the bawbee saying it helps to re-establish Scottish identity by reverting to the original coinage used in the 16^th century.

 In fact the bawbee, Scotland’s best-known coin, was first issued in 1539 and continued to be struck until 1697, but it died finally with the Union of the Parliaments in 1707.

The re-introduction of these ancient Scottish coinages is yet another symbol of the growing confidence of Scotland as a country prepared for the 21^st century.

Already the merk has become a valuable collectors item retailing well above its market value of £1 on e-Bay.

Get one while you can. Be sure to check though that you have the genuine article and it bears the correct date: 32^nd March 2015.

Symmetry- whelk

I collected this   giant whelk in the Caribbean some time ago hoping that one-day I could use it in some photographic project.

Well today it has its three seconds of fame- as my contribution to mono Monday Symmetry, in my online photographic journal

V & A travelling gallery comes to Stirling

The future is digital.

Well, we all know this but it still comes as a jolt when confronted with some of the latest technologies used in the creation of art.

jewellery designed by Lynne Maclachlan using computer software and 3Dprinting.

Today the Design in Motion exhibition, a collaboration between the V&A museum

and the Travelling Gallery came to Stirling.

All the designers featured use digital technologies to push the boundaries of their discipline enabling them to create work that is totally knew and unexpected.

One of the most innovative is this piece by Geoffrey Mann where he has used a 3D printer to visualise the fluttering of a moth. Mann, Director in Glass at Edinburgh College of Art, is fascinated by the idea of transforming the ephemeral nature of time and motion into forms that we can see using photographic and digital technologies.

Geoffrey Mann's printed 3D image inspired by the fluttering of a moth.

For those who love playing computer games

Strawberry Thief, based on a William Morris fabric, offers an expressive, creative and immersive experience. Even if you are of the generation that I am and hate the idea of computer games I must confess that this one did offer a zen like experience, maybe because it is designed by a young woman, Sophia George, still in her early twenties and the first ever V& A Game Designer in Residence.

Strawberry Thief, computer game designed by Sophia George.

You can download this app free from the App Store.

How to avoid writing...

Faced with a blank sheet of paper, or a computer screen these days, I go through a whole series of displacement activities to avoid the inevitable  writing.

Well, this morning I began  the task of turning another of my blogs into a book but first there was  a whole series of excuses to avoid starting and it culminated in rearranging some flowers on the kitchen table into this little tableau "Kitchen Still Life".

What tactics do you have for avoid doing something you know you are going to have to? My favourite methods of procrastinations include going for a long walk ( I did), cleaning the house (ditto) de-clutteirng a room (ditto) so after all that there was not much left apart from making another cup of coffee,  reading the Guardian (again) and finally re-arranging those flowers....

And yes I did get started, since you ask.

Paolozzi book

This is finished! well, hopefully all the loose ends are now tied up and the book is almost ready for publication.

Delighted to see that the book will contain lots of my photographs, and these were taken in the pre-digital age .

Masterclass with Paolozzi

Have started proof-reading my book on "Masterclass with Paolozzi" or rather Malcolm, my husband, a stickler for grammar, punctuation, and all things correct is now immersed in it.

Publication date has been brought forward. It could be as early as March.

Well, I have finally sent off all the photos to accompany the manuscript on Paolozzi to the publisher, Boyd and Kennedy.
Hoping for publication date early June.

This photo was taken inside Paolozzi's studio .

Immersive and interactive-is that the future?

I was at a classical concert the other night and I could not help but notice the age profile of the people there.

Was there anyone there under 50?

In fact the whole experience seemed dated: row after row of people sitting passively in silence for several hours listening to music.

Then throw in the fact that I could have heard better quality at home downloaded free from Spotify.

But there is something special about watching live performances and that will be why concerts survive in the future.

 Somehow though I sense they are going to have to update that experience.

Cinemas face a different problem.

They are worried about getting “bums on seats”.

Last year saw a 17 per cent drop in attendance amongst young people in the 17-24 age group,

those who have grown up accustomed to interacting with digital technologies since the moment they could hold electronic devices.

Now studios are fighting back. Coming soon to a cinema near you, well if you happen to live in the US, are cinemas, which are

immersive and interactive.

Not only will your seat vibrate but you will be surrounded by special effects: bubbles, sprayed water, smells, vibrating seats.....

Will it ever reach Scotland?

Image: To sleep perchance to dream- whalebone carving by Eskimo placed in Mine Woods, Bridge of Allan

Global sharing of culture

Within a few seconds of uploading this photo of 74 year old tap-dancer Rosemary McGregor on to a social media site - Blipfoto- today I got a response from South Africa and it made me aware yet again of the different way we consumer culture and participate in it today.

Yesterday was another example of a global sharing of photographs on Blipfoto around one theme- Season-
with around 100 participating.