Fatigue sets in (Week 6)

I've come to the conclusion that six weeks is the perfect length of time for a residency. The first few weeks are about settling in, exploring, having time to think and play. The next few weeks are about knuckling down and focussing on the project or work you've come to do. Then it's time to pack up and go home.

At the end of Week 6, nerves were raw. There's friction in the group that's probably been there since the first week, but little things now act as a trigger. It's manageable, but it's there.


The start of wilder weather ahead

Brooding skies over Skagaströnd

Volatile weather and darkening days

This tiresome week started out on the right note with a beautiful Sunday - warm, windless and perfect for exploring the moor south of town through which a stream called Hrafná runs out of the mountain valley, Hrafnadalur. I was focussed on getting some more VR footage, so went out with that intent, enjoying a great couple of hours amongst the grazing mares and foals, and along the black pebbly beach.

Mare and foal on the moor

Filming beside Hrafná

The next couple of days were equally pleasant, however, things changed dramatically by mid-week. It's almost as if the weather knew how we were feeling.

Sunrise was suddenly 7.45am and sunset was about 5.45pm. By Thursday it was sub-zero with 45km/hour winds and rain. The wind wrapped itself around our three-storey house at night in a furious hug that creaked the timber-lined ceilings and made it whistle inside window recesses. The noise was incessant.

I'd booked a haircut for this particular day, joking that it would take days for people to even notice because of how many layers of clothing I was wearing. And so it was, except for my housemates.

The wind lasted a couple of days, and by Friday afternoon things were settling down into what would look like a few days of perfect Nordic weather...complete with a dusting of snow on the mountains.

Snow on Spákonufell and the surrounding range (view from our laundry window)

Being decisive

By the end of this turbulent week, I realised I had to be decisive about how to spend my final weeks in residence. I made the decision to move my studio gear to my big room in the house. With a desk, a view over town and plenty of room, it would keep me focussed and not distracted by the movement of other people in the space as I enter the editing phase of my time here. I'd also lost my early morning solitude in the studio with the work schedule of another artist conflicting with 'my' time. That was probably the decider.

My usual morning spot to check emails, drink tea & prepare for my day

Once I'd settled in, I could plan to utilise the weekend to get what may be one of the last shooting opportunities left here, which included a couple of hours at the base of the mountain, Spákonufell. A beautiful Sunday, 2-4 degrees, crisp air, no wind and sun. I even shed my beanie, gloves, snood and jumper by the time I got to where I was planning to shoot from. Still constantly watching the weather apps though, it looks like more wet and windy days ahead. And cold. I find it difficult to use my cameras and controlling apps with gloves on and it doesn't take long to lose the feeling in your hands when working in a slight breeze off the snow.

The walk to Spákonufell (to the left) with ice still on the mud puddles at 11am

Looking over to Spákonufell and the substation from my vantage point behind the cemetery at the base of the mountain (taken with my 360 camera)

I'm hoping to have a few more days of long walks on the moor or along the sea cliffs before I leave though. They've become very familiar.