Altocumulus, Stromness. October 2023. Digital photograph on aluminium. Single edition. 100 x 75cm
This week, stormbound for three days, I’ve been thinking about the weather a fair bit. And if you’ve been following my work you’ll know that I often have my head in the clouds. It’s where I like to be and it’s why I’m a member of the Cloud Appreciation Society. Thirty international members of the society are heading for Stromness next year to see if what I’ve been saying is true – that Orkney is one of the best places for cloud watching.
One good thing about being stormbound this week is that at least I can now attend the opening of the Pier Arts Centre’s Annual Open Exhibition.
I’m showing these two cloudscapes in the exhibition.
Both are taken on the same day in October looking up above Scapa Flow from Stromness. The first shows altocumulus of the floccus variety and in the second the altocumulus is joined by some cirrocumulus, some of which in the bottom left is of the lacunosus type.
Altocumulus & cirrocumulus, Stromness. October 2023. Digital photograph on aluminium. Single edition. 100 x 75cm
Lacunosus means ‘with holes’ in the Latin and is a rare and fleeting formation. Altocumulus means ‘height’ and ‘heap’, floccus meaning ‘tuft of wool’ and cirrocumulus means ‘wisp’ and ‘heap’. I like to find out the latin for cloud names as it draws my attention to the feature of the cloud, what it looks like. What is latin for cloud? Nimbus. And that’s the name of my sister (and fellow Cloud Appreciation Society member) Sarah’s cat. A silver tabby with cloudy fur and a thunderstorm personality.
I like my cloudscapes to be without any landmarks, I don’t want scale to be part of it. I want to enjoy the formations of the clouds, the shapes and compositions of the sky. Big prints freed from the recognisability of horizon and colour, so you can just study the clouds and get lost in them.
You can see more of my clouds here.
Rebecca Marr 