no still life is an exhibition of the selected drawings and prints of Jules Bradbury.

golden eagle (Aquila chrysaetos) pencil on paper Jules Bradbury 2019

The show features charcoal, pastel & pencil drawings of crows and eagles, notably white-tailed sea eagles (Haliaeetus albicilla) – birds that have recently returned after an absence of some 142 years and successfully settled on Hoy.

white-tailed sea eagle (Haliaeetus albicilla) pencil on paper Jules Bradbury 2019

The large-scale crow drawings grew out of a commission from the National Library of Scotland in 2018 – Jules was asked to make an artistic response to a piece of prose about a carrion crow (a passage from the 1937 English exam question, housed in the newly digitised archive of Scottish school exam papers).

Alongside these are smaller works – pastels & monotypes of Orkney landscapes.

Some of the pieces exhibited have been inspired by particular poems from Scottish-based poets.

The Westray poet Lydia Harris and Edinburgh-based poet Lynn Davidson will give readings of their work at the opening of the show: 6-8pm on Friday 2nd August. 

no still life will be open to the public 12-5pm daily until Tuesday 13th August.