We're open on the 2nd!

A few of our customers have asked if we are open on Saturday so we have decided to open on the 2nd of January.

I had planned to be in Glasgow for New Year but plans have been scuppered and at the moment I'm nursing my ill Shetland Pony, Peter Pan, so I will be about and Jill is here too.

Get well soon Peter Pan!

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Ginger Wine and Amaretti

The freezing weather continues and to keep our customers warm we are serving Ginger Wine and Amaretti biscuits in the gallery. And of course we are keeping the fire well stoked!

Castle Douglas is quite busy with lots of visitors about in spite of the terrible conditions on the roads.

Christmas and New Year Opening Times

The Narnia-esque lamp post at the bottom of the gallery garden.

Jill peeping out the conservatory at back of the gallery.

The Wintery Gallery Garden.

Greetings from snowy Castle Douglas!

We will be open between Christmas and New Year and our opening times are as follows:

Thursday 24th, Christmas Eve 10 am to 5 pm
Monday 28th December 10 am t0 5 pm
Tuesday 29th December 10 am to 5 pm
Wednesday 30th December 10 am to 5 pm
Thursday 31st, New Year's Eve 10 am to 4 pm

Saturday the 2nd of January 10 am to 5pm

We will have a short New Year break and open again on Friday 8th January at 10am, normal opening hours will start again, Monday to Saturday 10 am to 5 pm. Closed Sundays.

Thank you to all our loyal and supportive customers and our fantastic artists - we have really enjoyed 2009 and look forward to a bright and creative 2010.

Zoe and Jill

Food and Art

Radio 4's The Food Programme had an interesting programme on 'Food and Art' on Monday. You can listen again here.

A Real Coal Fire

This cold weather means the coal fires in the gallery really are appreciated.

I quite enjoy the whole process of lighting them and being a picture framer's daughter I am never short of off-cuts of picture frame moulding, which makes the perfect kindling!

Belt Buckles and Cuff Links

RICHARD W BOARDMAN cricket belt buckle

RICHARD W BOARDMAN cast silver cuff links with crushed semiprecious stone inlay

RICHARD W BOARDMAN Fox Belt Buckle

New to the gallery... solid silver cuff links and belt buckles made by Richard W. Boardman. The blue inlay is crushed lapis lazuli in resin and the green is malachite. The belt buckles come with hand made Italian leather belts.

Rather lovely Christmas presents I think.

Corsock Christmas Craft Fair

Corsock Craft Fair

Artist and hat maker Joanna Gisbey with Roger trying on her creations!

Sunday was a much needed day off for us and it was fun to go to Corsock and visit their fantastic annual Craft Fair. We came away with some lovely things, all made locally: honey, pottery, glass, a hat, a brooch, and some beautifully made hearth brushes by thatcher Jem Cox. Definitely the place to go to get in the mood for Christmas.

Glimpses of Galloway Opens with a Good Gathering!

Yes, there was quite a gathering of people here for the Opening of Glimpses of Galloway, it was so packed at one point there was a bit of a bottle neck and the long room in the gallery was impassable!

We are so pleased with the show and the feedback from our customers has been very rewarding. We were burning the midnight oil in the week running up to the Opening but it all feels worth it now.

Here are some photos, taken just before we opened the door at 11am.

Thank you all for coming.

Late Night Preparations

Here's Jill hanging Amanda Simmons Glass Wall Piece for our Galloway show, which opens on Saturday.

We've had such a busy day today, in fact we're still in the gallery now and have loads more to do, it's going to be a late night.

SANDY MURPHY RSW RGI Winter Storm, Balmaclellan

Sandy Murphy's painting of Balmaclellan Church is featured in the article about our forthcoming exhibition in today's issue of The Galloway News.

Imagine - Own Art

Last night Alan Yentob's brilliant 'Imagine' series featured the 'Own Art' scheme.

The art buyers they chose to feature were obviously picked for their entertainment value but there were some interesting stories behind the purchases.

I hope the art purchases they chose to highlight weren't an accurate depiction of the contemporary art market in general, some of it was highly dubious to say the least!

Jill thought the unveiling of the commission was a really satifying end to the programme and the delight of the buyer was something we always like to see when our own customers buy art from us.

You can watch again online using iPlayer.