Joseph Sloan Artist's Prints
The Orkney Museum’s gift shop has a unique collection of prints for sale, but hurry as numbers are limited. The wood engravings by Joseph Sloan are a limited edition of original artists’ prints from the 1977 book ‘A Faraway World: an Orkney Boyhood’ by W. Towrie Cutt.
The book is the childhood reminiscences by ‘Towrie’, as he was known, who was from Sanday. The author emigrated to Canada shortly after World War II, where he wrote several books based on Orkney folklore, as well as these Sanday childhood memories.
The artist, Joseph Sloan, had an exhibition of prints in London illustrating life on the Aran Islands in the early 70’s. These works were seen by a representative of the publishers who duly commissioned the artist to travel to Sanday for research purposes and eventually to undertake the illustrations for Towrie Cutt’s proposed book. When Towrie Cutt visited his publishers in London, he saw the Aran Island prints and felt the approach suited to his intended book.
As well as the Sanday illustrations, the shop also has some of the original Aran Island series, already framed. They show the life of the fishing community on the islands. The Sanday prints follow this theme, as farming and fishing scenes are featured. They are all ready to take home with you, or to give as a special Christmas gift.
Sloan’s artistic interest turned to sculpture for many decades, before rediscovering his interest in printmaking. The artist is delighted that his Orkney illustrations are now returning home to the islands to be sold exclusively at the Orkney Museum’s shop. The Sanday prints are all singed and numbered as a limited edition of 57 prints. This is your opportunity to own a piece of Orkney’s heritage.
Here are a few teasers, if you want to see them all then you’ll need to pop by Orkney Museum, opening times here
