Not all recycling is messy or boring, as I realised with glee on a recent visit to Scotland and the two Highland Stoneware shops in Ullapool and Lochinver. The wall coverings on the building exteriors are a joy to behold and use the broken pottery pieces in a creative and memorable way. Highland Stoneware is beautiful and evokes the character of the highlands in many of its pieces.
The Lochinver boulders with their covering of pot fragments echo the lichen covered boulders higher up in the mountains.
The mural designs were by the remarkable Kaffe Fassett (with his assistant Brendon Mably) and are dated on the murals to 2000 for Ullapool and 2002 for Lochinver. In many places the ability of the broken pottery to use its third dimension is used for clever effect. Several teapot spouts scatter the front of the building, for example.
Much of the pottery they used is recognisable in the complete works for sale inside the studio shops. There are tremendous echoes with the ceramic mosaics designed by Antoni Gaudi in the Parc Guell in Barcelona. The difference with the Highland Stoneware work is that it is in a location where the inspiration is immediately apparent.
