A collaboration between Endangered Landscape Artists in Residence, Elizabeth Reeder and Amanda Thomson, Cairngorms Connect and people who live or work in or visit the Cairngorms.
A commonplace book is a collection of writings, images and documents gathered by people to show a place at a particular time. They could be considered scrapbooks or like a Scottish Kist – where things that are valued are communicated to and kept for future generations.
We plan to create the first Cairngorms Connect Commonplace Book, including submissions from anyone who wants to write down or photograph or draw something of this place that they’d like to share with others. Find out more here.
Do you want to offer something to the commonplace book but don’t know where to start? Are you interested in writing or photography or drawing or simply sharing something of what you know of this place? You don't need to be a writer or an artist, just someone who loves the Cairngorms and has something to share with others about this place.
Come along to one or more of the workshops where Elizabeth and Amanda will offer some ideas of where you might start. The workshops will be a great place for them to answer any questions you have about the project too.
When and Where:
Tuesday 6th June, 6-7:30pm, online
Monday 10th July, 6-7:30pm, Loch Garten Nature Centre
Monday 7th August, 6-7:30pm, RSPB Insh Marshes
How to book:
These workshops are free but places are limited so please register on Eventbrite to reserve a space
No previous creative experience is necessary, and all ages* and abilities very welcome.
*under-18s must be accompanied by an adult.
About the Artists
Elizabeth Reeder is a writer whose novel An Archive of Happiness was longlisted for the Highland Book Prize (2021). Her work explores ideas of identity, community, home and place. She runs workshops on a range of subjects and is a senior lecturer in Creative Writing at the University of Glasgow. Originally from the States and having lived in Scotland for over 25 years, Elizabeth loves having a hybrid relationship to places.
Amanda Thomson is an interdisciplinary artist and writer. Her artwork and creative non-fiction are often about the Highlands and notions of home, movements, migrations, landscapes and the natural world. Her doctoral studies included fieldwork with the RSPB in Abernethy Forest. She lectures at Glasgow School of Art and is author of A Scots Dictionary of Nature and belonging: natural histories of place, identity and home.
Accessibility
It is important that all people have equal access to Cairngorms Connect events. We are happy to provide for your requirements, wherever possible eg. BSL interpreters, off-road wheelchairs, adapted bikes etc. If have any accessibility requirements, please get in touch.
Hen Harriers are one of the most persecuted birds of prey in the UK, but over the past five years they have found a refuge at Wildland Cairngorms and the number of successful nests there are rising rapidly.
Between 2021 and 2024, Cairngorms Connect collaborated with artists Elizabeth Reeder and Amanda Thomson and local communities, to create a Commonplace Book for the Cairngorms.
Within the pages of a black pocket-sized notebook, Ellie Dimambro-Denson’s detailed sketches and field notes transport us to south-west Norway as part of the research fellowship she completed there in summer 2023, funded by the Future of UK Treescapes.
