Isles of Scilly

Oriel and Steve, owners of Tamarisk Gallery and manager of Phoenix Studios on St Mary’s Island, hosted this residency on the breath-taking and ancient archipelago of islands in May 2019.

Sara spent time on each of the inhabited islands (St Agnes, St Martin’s, Bryher, Tresco and St Mary’s) – mainly walking the perimeter of each island in turn. Plentiful Iron Age burial chamber entrances populate St Mary’s Island. The wilderness and timelessness of all the islands, especially Bryher and St Agnes reinforced her growing interest in the similarities between remote island and coastal locations, rather than particularities.

Sara undertook sea voyages to observe the wildlife on the Eastward Islands and an evening trip to the Westward Islands under the specialist guidance of Will, a local natural historian.

Witnessing the gathering of shearwaters at dusk, flying low to the surface of the sea was a rare privilege. She also spent a day on Bryher assisting Vickie from the Isles of Scilly Wildlife Trust with counting active shearwater burrows, to monitor and record the numbers of birds nesting this year. Monitoring numbers of migratory seabirds is essential to reveal the health of the oceans and capture research data to deepen understanding of climate change.