Wendy Barker
Property designer / Visual Artist and owner of Orkney Escapes
Hello, I am Wendy from Mansfield, Nottinghamshire and I have made my home in Orkney after a career in textile technology in fashion and homeware retail based in London. My connections with Orkney are close as my grandmother grew up in Orkney and married a Royal Marine who was based at Ness Battery during the first world war.
I came to Orkney after a property inheritance gave me an exciting project to develop a self-catering business. A far cry from my earlier career in city locations but I found a place for my design metier which had at its source the beautiful products I had a hand in developing with designers, buyers and manufacturers.
I have fond memories of Orkney holidays that left a lasting impression on me in many ways, the characters, stories, the light, the colourful views of the sea and eating parton toes on the pier and of course the high teas. I wanted to take a sense of these memories to make a stylish home from home for visitors that would touch them in the same way and be a haven on the worst days Orkney could offer and on the best a unique and beautiful outlook on the waterfront of Stromness where every day is different.
Orkney Tourism Awards Shortlisted 2024
The properties were the home from the 1950's of my great uncle George Scott Robertson and his sisters Edith, Tottie and Hilda in their retirement and latterly their niece Innes and husband David Leitch. George Robertson was a noted Stromness Provost, writer, painter, photographer and keen golfer and he clearly loved Stromness and supported many community projects.
Orkney Escapes was launched in August 2009 with the Fisherman's Cottage after extensive renovations followed by the Merchant's House in 2010. I am proud to have loyal visitors who visited at the beginning of my venture and are still coming today and count them as my friends.
Orkney is a creative space and I have been fortunate to study Fine Art at the University of the Highlands and Islands and graduated with an honours degree in 2022. I am Visual Arts Secretary to the Orkney Arts Scoiety that arranges various literary, musical and visual arts events that supports local young contributors.
You will find artworks in the properties that I have created, inherited and collected and I am keen to support local artists by purchasing new artworks from the local exhibitions.
