Martin S. Laird

Artist | film-maker | animator

Tag: Orkney

  • Blackening

    I Once Loved A Lass (Orkney Blackening) The following images are video still-frames showing Orcadian weddings and blackenings taking place around the Merkit Cross and St Magnus Cathedral on Broad Street in Kirkwall. These events feature in a forthcoming music video produced for Sikkersnapper – an arrangement of the ancient ballad I Once Loved A…

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    Martin Laird
    Sikkersnapper - I Once Loved A Lass (Orkney Blackening) music video still-frame showing wedding guests entering St Magnus Cathedral. One man in a suit strides out of the shot.

  • Northlight Exhibition, now with added tractors

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    Northlight Exhibition, now with added tractors! There are a few days remaining to see some recent work in the windows of Northlight gallery in Stromness. On show are a selection of paintings and drawings on a variety of themes – all inspired by Orcadian history and culture. Plus photographs of tractors. The work includes an…

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    Martin Laird
    A passing tractor lit up light a Christmas tree. Long exposure photograph with streaks of blue and red.

  • Orcadian Stories – Eleanor Turner: A Small Cog

    Eleanor Turner: A Small Cog Eleanor Turner (née Laird & Caird) was part of the St Magnus Festival committee in its earliest days. In this short film, part of the Orcadian Stories series filmed for The Orkney News as part of Scotland’s Year of Stories 2022, Eleanor remembers her time as secretary. She recalls fond…

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    Martin Laird
    Eleanor Turner, portrait in her living room. Black and white photo by Martin Laird.

  • Orcadian Stories – Norman Rushbrook: The Men In Black

    Orcadian Stories – Norman Rushbrook: The Men In Black Norman Rushbrook was lighting manager of the St. Magnus Festival from its inception. In this short film, called The Men In Black after the unobtrusive clothes that stage crew wear, Norman tells some stories of his time with the Festival. This is the second of three…

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    Martin Laird
    Norman Rushbrook, portrait by Martin Laird of Norman wearing his St Magnus Festival stage crew uniform, taken in St. Magnus Cathedral. Black and white.

  • Orcadian Stories – George Rendall: The Rive Gauche

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    The second film in the Orcadian Stories interview series is now available to watch on YouTube via The Orkney News Channel – George Rendall: The Rive Gauche. In this film, former Secretary and Chairman of the St. Magnus Festival, George Rendall, tells some stories of his time with the Festival. George also reflects upon how…

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    Martin Laird
    Portrait of George Rendall, black and white with a sepia tinge. Taken in the Daniell Room of the Orkney Club in Kirkwall.

  • Headhunter (antisyzygy)

    Headhunter (antisyzygy) Headhunter (antisyzygy) is a painting inspired by the extreme survival story of Orcadian Jack Renton, who is sometimes called “The White Headhunter.” Renton was a 19th Century seaman from Stromness who was ‘Shanghai’d’ (abducted) and eventually marooned in the South Seas, drifting for thousands of miles with a few other deserters from the…

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    Martin Laird
    Headhunter (antisyzygy) - a headhunter gazes into water and points a spear threateningly at his own reflection. In the background are dafffodils and trees. Rough impasto acrylic paint texture.