Festival left-overs used for art

Artist's mussel shell-covered furniture. Picture by Andrew Smith Enlarge Image

Pieces of art - including items of furniture - have been created using left-overs from a seaside town's shellfish festival.

Artist Blott Kerr-Wilson had plenty material to work with after a thousand servings of mussels were handed out in Tain, Ross-shire.

The Tain Mussel Shell Art Project was conceived by councillor Alan Torrance who met Mrs Kerr-Wilson two years ago.

Her exhibition of shell-encrusted works is showing in the Collegiate Church.

Bathroom project

She has called it The Clearances.

In the 18th Century, Highland families were displaced from their land during a drive towards clearing land for more sheep farming.

Many people moved to the coast where they existed on a diet of fish and mussels.

Mrs Kerr-Wilson is originally from north Wales, but moved to France for a job 15 years ago.

She now lives near La Rochelle with husband Ben and their two children.

Her first shell project had been to transform her own bathroom while living in London.