A BOLD sculpture celebrating the growth and heritage of Buckie has been chosen to be the new gateway feature to the town. For nearly two months, customers visiting Buckie’s Tesco store have had the opportunity to post their suggestions as to which of three possible gateway designs should be given the honour of greeting those entering Buckie. And last Wednesday Portsoybased artist Carn Standing, a professional artist of some 30 years’ standing, was unveiled as the winner of the UK-wide contest with his design entitled Buckie’s Darling. The sculpture is shaped like a deer and formed of individual herring to reflect the town’s fishing heritage. It will be situated on the grassed area near the roundabout opposite Tesco. The project has been backed by £25,000 worth of developer contributions, paid to Moray Council during the building of the store. Describing his art, Mr Standing said he was inspired by how Buckie grew as a town and the importance of fishing. He said: “I started to see the herring within the body of the deer as a composition to unify the two things, and a symbolism for the uniting of the several villages which led to the
Buckie we know today. “The silver darlings merged into the body of the deer would be arranged as a turning shoal of fish to maximise the movement of the sculpture, to bring it alive. “The
Picture: Becky Saunderson. Image No.
supporting structure in the shape of a wave represents the sea and Buckie’s coastal location. It adds to the forward motion of the piece and gives an energy which is replicated in the leaping deer and the swimming shoal.” The task now begins of turning the design into a reality. Mr Standing said: “A lot of this only exists in my head at the moment, so the first thing I’ll be doing is getting the profile of the stag right and then filling it out with the fish. “There’ll also be a lot of practical stuff like preparing the ground to take the sculpture. “Something I’m looking at doing is a community workshop with adults, although the details of that will need to be confirmed. “I really think people will take ownership of this. It was something I put a lot of thought into and I did feel confident that it had a good chance of winning.”
The stainless steel sculpture will be handmade by Mr Standing in his Portsoy studio. More than 400 comments were received during the consultation, with the majority from Buckie residents. Of the three shortlisted entries, the highest number of positive comments went to Buckie’s Darling.
Full story in Banffshire Advertiser 6th August 2019