3 Harbours Arts Festival3 Harbours Arts Festival | 3 Harbours Arts Festival

Brochure corrections and updates

Jon — Tue, 17 Apr 2012 21:43:33 +0000

Despite all our attempts otherwise there will always be minor errors and subsequent alterations to the printed brochure.

We will aim to keep this page updated. If you spot any errors, please contact us.

Pennypit Youth Project (p8)

Venue 8
Pennypit Pagoda, North Grange Avenue, Prestonpans
Saturday 2 June | 12noon — 4pm
The youth project opens it doors to display the art work made by members of the youth club. Teas & Coffee, parking available.

The Howff (p13) - amended opening hours.

Venue 44
12 Links Road, Cockenzie
9am — 4-pm

Seashore Gallery (p24)

Venue 19
Marshall Street, Cockenzie EH32 0HT
Friday 1 June | 7pm — 9pm
Preview • all welcome — FREE entry
tel: 07935 928288 • www.seashoregallery.co.uk • theartist@seashoregallery.co.uk

Open House — Venue 25 (p24)

Address should be 67 High Street

Prestonpans Comes Alive (p29)

Venue 13
Preston Tower (starting point)
Saturday 8th June
Note: The guided walk will no longer include Prestonpans Community centre

Informal Talks on Local History (p30) — new location:

Venue 46
Port Seton Library, Community Centre, South Seton Park

Prestonpans Library — venue 9

Revised opening times:

Sat 2 June | 10.00 - 13.00
Monday 4th June | 10.00–13.00 and 14.00–19.30
Tuesday 5th June | 10.00–13.00 and 14.00–17.00
Thursday 7th June | 10.00–13.00 and 14.00–19.30
Friday 8th June | 10.00–13.00 and 14.00–17.30
Sat 9th June 10.00–16.00
Closed Sunday 3 June, Sunday 10 June and Wednesday 6th June

NEW EVENT! Planetary Dance

Thursday 7th June | 6.30pm — 8.30pm
Venue : Cockenzie House Gardens

The Planetary Dance is an invitation to people all over the world to join in a dance for peace in their own communities and for peace with the Earth. It brings people of all ages and abilities together to ‘dance for a purpose’. The dance is simple, following activities that allows all to participate. Join the dance in the beautiful gardens of Cockenzie House gardens.

Bring drinking water, a dance costume if you wish traditionally black, white or bright colours, running shoes or something comfortable and suitable for movement.

Facilitated by Audicia lynne Morley, Artistic director of State Theta Galleries. Ormiston, The dance will be supported by Percussionist Derek Houghton. www.socialwebenterprise.net

For more details on the planetary dance visit www.statetheta.com or call Audicia on 07868 705 908

3 Harbours Arts Festival 2012 Brochure

Jon — Tue, 17 Apr 2012 21:37:29 +0000

Want a printed copy?
Pop along to The Gothenburg to collect…
227–229 High Street
Prestonpans
EH32 9BE

Opening times
Monday: Closed
Tuesday to Thursday: 12 noon to 2:30pm + 5pm to 11pm
Friday & Saturday: 12 noon to 12 midnight
Sunday: 12:30pm to 11pm

Registrations now closed for 2012

Jon — Tue, 15 Nov 2011 23:35:10 +0000

Three Harbours People (© Jon Eland, 2011)

The 3 Harbours Arts Festival has now closed registrations for visual artists, musicians, performers, events and venues to attend our 2012 event – the largest and most diverse arts festival in East Lothian.

This year’s festival will run from 2nd — 10th June in Cockenzie, Port Seton and Prestonpans.

Christmas Fair at Cockenzie House

Jon — Tue, 01 Nov 2011 18:15:31 +0000

Saturday 26th and Sunday 27th November - 11am to 5pm
Free Entry

The Cockenzie House Heritage Group and 3 Harbours Arts Festival invite you to a:

Christmas art exhibition with paintings, prints, ceramics, glass and more
A variety of crafts and Christmas trimmings
Conservatory café with tasty festive treats.

Join us for your Christmas shopping in this splendid late 16th Century house set in beautiful gardens in Cockenzie

22 Edinburgh Road, Cockenzie | Website

Highlights from the Mural Fest

Orla — Tue, 07 Jun 2011 19:52:30 +0000

The winning mural in progress; with artist Liz Neilson

The Mural Fest in Cuthill Park showcased the talents of 6 artists in Prestonpans at the weekend. It was one of the main events wrapping up the fortnight of art exhibitions in the 3 Harbours Festival. The painters created their murals based on their different interpretations of a given poem.

David Grigor is one of the artists who took part in the event. It was his third time participating in the Mural Fest and the artist obviously valued the experience.

“It’s the most expressive way of getting involved in it” he said. “It’s fantastic having people coming around just to look and ask questions”.

David talked about the ghostly atmosphere in his painting. As well as the ships being represented in the harbour the artist also portrayed the industrial element with the trains in the background of the mural. With only two days to complete the mural David did not have an easy task ahead of him but this seems to have added to the process.

“To actually try and work through a piece of artwork within two days is very challenging and I enjoy it all the time”.

Mural Fest Interview– Shelley Jones

Orla — Tue, 07 Jun 2011 19:07:18 +0000

As the 3 Harbours Festival drew to a close at the weekend, one of the prime attractions was the Mural Fest in Cuthill Park, on the outskirts of Prestonpans. Six artists faced the task of painting a mural based on their interpretation of the John Lindsay poem “Scary Haven”. Among the artists was local woman Shelley Jones.

“I wanted to convey the idea of land merging into sea and sea turning into land” she explained. “In the poem the Topaz is the boat that gets stuck.” Shelley represents this idea in the main body of her mural. “The skeleton ships are stuck in the mud and they are never leaving.” There is an element of hope in the painting though as the artist indicated the lone vessel in the top-left corner of her work. “It’s the one that got away” she added with a smile.

Shelley also demonstrates her interest in old maps in her representation of the harbour with it’s tide mill and narrow basin. She stated that these were marked in on the 18th century ordinance survey maps of the harbour.

During previous festivals, Ms Jones has opened her house to other exhibitions but this is the first time she has participated as an active artist herself. I asked her how she found doing the mural.

“Terrifying”, she said. “I’ve never done a mural before.” However, despite any nerves the experience has obviously been a positive one for the artist. “I enjoyed being creative. When you are hosting it’s difficult to see things.” The painter also seemed to revel in the experience of being around the other mural artists.

Orla interviews… Genevieve Bicknell

Orla — Tue, 07 Jun 2011 15:00:16 +0000

Genevieve Bicknell is one of the young artists who is taking part in this year’s 3 Harbours Festival. Her exhibition is on display at the Cockenzie Power station, along with several other artists from the area. Genevieve is very positive on being part of the festival. “It’s a great chance to meet other artists”, she says. “It’s a really good way of being with others, seeing what they do and also having somewhere for your work to be seen by anyone else”.
The young artist’s work is abstract at times but there is a huge sense of emotion in all the pieces she has on display. Genevieve draws on her travels in Spain for inspiration for the work in her exhibition. She sketched the surrounding landscape as she journeyed through the country. Genevieve’s work is clearly a labour of love as she explains the amount of time and effort that went into her larger piece of art.
“I wasn’t sure what I was doing when I started it and it kind of comes out after awhile. It’s a lot of scraping back and painting over and sanding away. So it takes many many months and slowly slowly it kind of gets to where I want to get it”.

To learn more about Genevieve and her work check out her website

Orla interviews… Wendy McCarroll Sandeman

Orla — Sun, 05 Jun 2011 06:49:25 +0000

With a huge array of artists spread across the 3 Harbours Festival, there is no shortage of talent in the area. Among the artists with exhibitions in Cockenzie Power Station is local resident Wendy McCarroll Sandeman. Originally from Ireland, Wendy has a studio in Coburg House in Leith as well as working from her home in Cockenzie. The environment is the dominant theme of Wendy’s display at this year’s exhibition. “I’ve been very concerned about the area because it’s actually a conservation area,” Wendy explains. “But because it’s a bit off the beaten track people don’t take as much care of it as they should”. Cockenzie and Port Seton also has some listed buildings and Wendy is concerned that the place might be disappearing a little bit. But she also feels the positive impact of events like the Festival on the community.

“It’s fantastic that the 3 Harbours Festival has started up because it’s really been very restorative for the area.” According to the artist, the Festival has encouraged people to think about the traditions and history of the area. The inspiration for Wendy’s work comes from the local environment and she seems to focus on the harbour tradition in her exhibition of paintings.The Irish artist spoke warmly about living in the area.

“It’s a fantastic place to live. It’s a very vibrant, very warm community. I’m originally from Ireland but I’ve very much adopted this as my second home”.

If you’re interested in learning more about Wendy and her work check out her website

Win a Bellany print while supporting the festival.

Jon — Sun, 29 May 2011 19:47:22 +0000

TICKETS ARE NO LONGER ON SALE

The 3 Harbours only exists because of the generosity of those willing to donate to and ensure the festival continues — we simply cannot exist on grants and commissions alone.

To help ensure the festival keeps going We’re offering you a chance to win one of several wonderful artworks in this year’s raffle:
– An original signed lithograph by John Bellany
– Oil Painting by Andrew Crummy
– Print by Alistair Hamilton
– Print by Rory Hamilton
– Ceramic Sculpture by Alison Robinson
– Print by Morris Lee

~~Tickets are £2 each~~
Prizes will be drawn: 5th June 2011
~~View prizes (and buy tickets) at Cockenzie Power Station (Venue 14), Cockenzie House (Venue 16) and Cockenzie Business Centre (Venue 24)~~

Bringing 3 Harbours into focus…

Jon — Sat, 28 May 2011 17:46:09 +0000

Photography has, in recent years, become pretty much a universal artform — from disposable film cameras to the invention on the digital compacts and beyond and now the quality of imagery achievable on mobile phones.

All of this means not only more party, holiday and pet snapshots — but also a huge rise in the popularity of photography as a visual art form and documentary recording medium.

With this in mind, 3 Harbours have launched Photospace — a venue dedicated to photography and featuring the work of 7 artists — Dhana McIver, Leigh Matthews, Kathryn Berg, Alan Berg, Glyn Stanworth, Laurie Dixon and Jon Eland. You’ll find us in Prestonpans Town Hall (venue 9) — opposite the coop and protected by a blue cow.

In addition to having photography work on display, you’ll find 2 organised photo walks over the festival. I’m leading the first one, starting at 11am on Sunday 29th (and linked to a similar walk taking place in Bradford) taking in Prestonpans, Prestongrange Museum, the seashore and Cockenzie Power Station. A second walk, organised by the Edinburgh Digital Photography Meetup Group , starts at 11.30 on Saturday 4th June — meeting at The Harbour Takeaway, Port Seton.

Want to Improve Your Snapshots?
If you like photography and would like a few tips on how to get a bit more from your camera and on taking better photos, come along to one of two free short creative photography workshops on Monday 30th May.
1pm — 2.30pm — meet at Prestongrange Museum Visitor’s Centre
3.30pm — 5.00pm — meet at Cockenzie Business Centre
You can attend both if you wish.
Bring a camera — and plan to be outdoors!

And we’re off…

Jon — Sat, 28 May 2011 06:31:48 +0000

Last night saw advance viewings at both the Seashore Gallery and, before it the open evening at Cockenzie Power Station.

Fiona Crosbie from the Seashore Gallery reported that she had a great evening and really enjoyed meeting everyone; adding that she had never seen the gallery so full.

Before that was the event at Cockenzie Power Station — you can see a shot to the right and further images from it on our Flickr Page

Were you at either event? Why not add your comments below! Or, if you want to get more actively involved in telling the world about what’s going on, why not join our ‘Roving Reporters’?

Don’t forget that today is Cockenzie Gala — come along and join the community in celebrating!

Weather forecast stops Coastal Food Fair, but…

Jon — Fri, 27 May 2011 22:05:06 +0000

Impromptu ‘studio’ photography workshop as part of last year’s photowalk

We’re sorry to say that, in light of the poor weather predictions for Sunday, we’ve had to cancel this weekend’s Coastal Food Fair — but other events will still be going ahead! (and we’re convinced the weather won’t actually be so bad…)

Saturday will see the Cockenzie Gala and the Roving Reporters Bootcamp, finishing with live music at The Goth and Sunday sees the return of the 3 Harbours Photowalk (alternate option in place for inclement weather) and a swinging Sixties event at Prestongrange Museum. Again you’ll find live music at both Cockenzie House and The Goth to complete the day.

In addition to our special daily events you’ll find a warm welcome at the visual arts and open house venues and not forgetting the open days at Cockienzie House!

Breaking News 2011

Jon — Thu, 26 May 2011 20:38:39 +0000

On this page we’ll feature the latest information as it comes from around the festival.

Wed 1st
Just to mention an update to this weekend’s photo walk by the Edinburgh Digital Photography Meetup group; they are now meeting from 11.30 at The Harbour Take Away in Port Seton.

Sunday 29th
John Wood joins the Photospace. After attending this year’s photo walk, John presented a series of his landscape prints for display alongside the other seven photographers already at Prestonpans Town Hall. The venue is open next weekend (4th and 5th June).

Friday 27th
We’re in The Scotsman…

Thursday 26th — 3pm
COASTAL GOOD FAIR CANCELLED (Sun 29 May)
Sorry all — Sunday’s event will not be going ahead; the weather forecast was so grim we weren’t able to plan to put tents etc up! But… there’s plenty else going on indoors!

And, when you thought it was all over…

Jon — Tue, 17 May 2011 21:06:12 +0000

After the last show closes and the last event runs there’ll be the great End of Festival Party; at the Goth from 7pm on Sunday 5th June.

For everyone who has taken part in or otherwise supported the 3 Harbours Arts Festival!

Poster created by Caroline Fearon Doney

Banner-making event a great success!

Jon — Thu, 12 May 2011 23:21:44 +0000

Robin Abbey doing a master class in sign writing.

I don’t have the full details on this event — reporting as I am from Leeds — but here’s a great photo!