Monday 27 October 2008

The Gallery Garden

The Gallery Garden

We inherited a beautifully designed garden from Niall Duncan - the oak trees were grown from acorns collected by him at the start of the McGill Duncan Gallery over 30 years ago. He placed an old fashioned lamp post at the bottom of the winding path and on frosty days it reminds me of Narnia!

Not wanting to change the basic design we asked our friends Bob and Val at Cairnsmore Nursery to recommend some plants for the shady spots and give the garden a bit of a manicure.
A (rare) sunny Autumn day

New planting


Now we look forward to Spring...


Z

Wednesday 22 October 2008

Autumn colours


PHILOMENA PRETSELL Face Plate

I'm back from a wonderful trip to Italy. It was sunny and warm and the light was hazy. Every morning the mists hung low over the fields and cleared to reveal the most beautiful Autumn colours.

Our new exhibition started on Sunday and Jill made a fabulous job getting the exhibition ready. Philomena Pretsell's ceramics have been in our kitchen for years and we are now lucky enough to have them in the gallery. Philomena received an Scottish Arts Council traveling award and her latest work is inspired by a trip to New York and the graffiti that she saw in the city.

This exhibtion is full of life and colour and many of the paintings in the gallery reflect the vibrant Autumn colours that I love so much.



BELLA GREEN Blue Road, Tuscany


Thursday 9 October 2008

Off to Italy

ANITA KLEIN Angelo del Arcobaleno

I'm off to London tomorrow and then on to Italy on Saturday. I'll be drawing, painting and print making and hopefully getting inspiration from the italian countryside for a week. The holiday is with artists Anita Klein and Nigel Swift. I love Anita's work and I am looking forward to my first trip to Italy so much.

Amongst other things I'll have a chance to see the work of Piero Della Francesca as I'm staying near Arezzo.

Luckily I'm back in time for the Private View of our Bella Green, Gail Kelly, Philomena Pretsell and Mike Turpie Exhibtion on Sunday the 19th on October. I managed to get lots of preparation done for the exhibition this week but it still means I am leaving Jill to hang all the work on her own!

Zoe

Friday 3 October 2008

The Galloway News

Read the review of our current exhibition from The Galloway News here.

Zoe

The last of the Sweet Peas


The scent of Sweet Peas has been filling the Gallery all summer but I'm sad to say this week marks the end of the season. It has really been over for a while but we were still getting an odd flower here and there. I'll miss them. We always bring flowers into the Gallery, mostly posies from our garden, they make a room feel complete.

Autumn has brought us some beautiful new blooms, and our garden has an abundance of vibrant Kaffir Lilies. 

We are lucky to have a customer, Jo, who is a really keen gardener and brings us cut flowers for the Gallery, this week she brought Nerine Lilies which are standing proudly in the window .