Festive Opening TImes

Wemyss Ware 'Honey Bee'

We are OPEN between Christmas and New Year. It is traditionally quite a busy time of year for us in the gallery as many of our customers return to Galloway to visit family and friends. Our coal fire will be lit and as is tradition we will be serving ginger wine and chocolates in the gallery.

We wish all our customers a very Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year and we look forward to seeing you over the festive season.

Here are our opening times:

Christmas Eve OPEN 10 am to 4 pm
Christmas Day CLOSED
Boxing Day CLOSED
Saturday 27th December OPEN 10 am to 5 pm
Sunday 28th December CLOSED
Monday 29th December OPEN 10 am to 5 pm
Tuesday 30th December OPEN 10 am to 5 pm
Wednesday 31st December OPEN 10 am to 4 pm
New Year’s Day CLOSED
Friday 2nd January 2015 CLOSED
Saturday 3rd January OPEN 10 am to 5 pm
Sunday 4th January CLOSED
Monday 5th January CLOSED
Tuesday 6th January CLOSED

From Wednesday 7th January Open 10 am to 5 pm, Closed Sundays and Tuesdays

New Signs

We had smart new signs installed this week and new window etchings. We also have lovely new interior signs to guide people to the five different galleries in the building.

We're just waiting for the hanging sign to be upgraded and then the signage make over will be complete!

5 Questions...

Wigtown Book Festival starts on Friday. If you haven't booked tickets they are selling fast.

McGill Duncan Gallery is an Ambassador for the event; it is very easy to promote and sing the praises of this wonderful literary event.

Here are my '5 Questions' for the Wigtown Book Festival web site:

5 Questions with Zoe Blamire

Spring Fling 2015 - Flagship Exhibition

We are delighted to say that in 2015 McGill Duncan Gallery will host the Spring Fling Flagship Exhibition.

The flagship exhibition replaces the taster exhibition that used to take place at Gracefield Arts Centre and will be the biggest exhibition of Spring Fling 2015.

The exhibition will be on between 26 March – 23 April 2015.

You can read more about Spring Fling and how to apply for the 2015 Open Studios Event at www.spring-fling.co.uk

New Paintings by Jonathan Mitchell

 Jonathan Mitchell 'A Summer Landscape near Tarland'

 Jonathan Mitchell 'Early Spring, Inverquharity'

We are so delighted to have new paintings by Jonathan Mitchell in the gallery. The paintings are so evocative of Scotland and its changing seasons.

You can view all the paintings on our web site here.

An Invitation to our Galloway Paintings Exhibition

JAMES PATERSON RSA RSW 1854-1932 'Moniaive' oil on canvas

You can read the email invitation to our forthcoming Galloway Paintings exhibition here.

Getting Ready for the Galloway Paintings Show

The invitations for our forthcoming Galloway Paintings exhibition were posted out today. So, if you are on our paper mailing list, look out for a lovely card in the post. Our e-invitations will be arriving by email shortly. You can sign up for our email mailing list here.

Most of the paintings have arrived and we are enjoying getting to know them before we start installing the exhibition.

 

The exhibition opens on Saturday 2nd of August. You can view most of the paintings online on our web site here.

New Greetings Cards Published by McGill Duncan Gallery

It's something I've always wanted to do, publish our own Greetings Cards, other than our annual Christmas card. When I saw Leo's latest collection of paintings and screenprints I knew they would make stunning cards. We chose five designs. They have just come back from the printers, just in time for Spring Fling. We are all so pleased with them.

They cost £2.50 each and as well as being available from the gallery they are also on our online shop with free postage!

Boxed Fruit

The Conversation

House Plant with Tape Measure and Bee

Night Out Skinny Jeans

Pomegranate

Leo Blamire - Spring Fling Studio 25

We've been busy helping Leo get his work installed in the gallery for Spring Fling. He is off to see the Prince concert in Glasgow tonight (lucky thing) so we wanted to get organised before that. All his work is displayed in the front room of the gallery. The colours look fantastic together and it has all come together beautifully.

Leo and Jill

Unpacking

Nearly finished

 

'House Plant with Tape Measure and Bee', oil on wooden panel and 'Welcome' screenprint.

All ready for Saturday!

Leo is studio 25 and we are gallery 3 on the Spring Fling maps - look forward to seeing you over the Bank Holiday Weekend.

A Body of Parts - Silvy Weatherall @ Jupiter Artland

 Chocolate Martinis at Jupiter Artland

On Friday we were invited by Silvy Weatherall to attend the opening of her exhibition 'A Body of Parts' at Jupiter Artland near Edinburgh. Silvy's husband is a game dealer and this, combined with her hatred of waste, lead to her using feathers, beaks, feet, and bones amongst other things in her work. My favourite piece was a silver gilded fox skeleton that had been deconstructed and beautifully presented. Silvy said it was a road kill fox that someone left on her doorstep on the 2nd of January! The exhibition is in the delightful Tin Roof Gallery at Jupiter. The presentation is meticulous, right down to having special 'feathers' wall paper printed using one of Silvy's feather designs.

There were delicious cocktails, ice creams, and food from an Airstream caravan. The party marked six years of being open for Jupiter Artland. It was a warm sunny evening and we wandered through the woodland to enjoy some of the permanent sculpture collection.

 Antony Gormley, Firmament

Contemplating Art at Jupiter Artland with Cornelia Parker's Landscape with Gun and Tree

Ian Hamilton Finlay, Only Connect

Nathan Coley, You Imagine What You Desire

Marc Quinn's Love Bomb at dusk as we were leaving.

 

Ewan McClure paints Leo Blamire

Ewan McClure painting Leo Blamire - early stages

At the Opening of our People and Places exhibition we were lucky enough to have one of Scotland's best portrait painters, Ewan McClure, join us in the gallery for a portraiture demonstration.

Ewan showed huge skill and great calmness as he painted in front of the crowds of people who came to the opening. He even managed to chat to interested customers who were fascinated by his techniques.

He produced a wonderful painting of my brother Leo. The likeness is incredible but more than that the painting exudes a confident calmness. I love the subtle colour palate that Ewan used. He is a master at mixing colour and does it with such ease, it is mesmerising to watch.

Needless to say, my parents have bought the painting and commissioned one of my other brother Joss!

People and Places

SIMON LAURIE Marie Stuart acrylic on board

Please join us for drinks this Easter Saturday to launch our new exhibition 'People and Places'. The exhibition celebrates portraiture in diverse forms from wood carving and collage to oil paint. The 'Places' vary from France and India to the North of Scotland.

We are honoured to have one of Scotland's finest portrait painters, Ewan McClure, join us in the gallery for the Opening. Between 11am and 1pm Ewan will be painting a portrait of someone who will be a well known face to many of you -  artist and picture framer Leo Blamire.

EWAN McCLURE Self Portrait

Ewan McClure was a selected artist for the BP Portrait Awards, and Scottish finalist of Sky Arts Portrait Painter of the Year 2013.

The exhibiting artists are: Michael J Ashcroft, George Donald RSA RSW, Sue Dunne, Claire Harrigan RSW, Simon Laurie RGI RSW, Tracy Levine, Mary Lloyd, Ewan McClure, Alexander R Robb.

We look forward to seeing you on Saturday, or during the exhibition, which runs until Saturday 14th June.

Matt Baker - Quorum

Matt Baker - Quorum (detail)

As part of the Galloway Forest Easter Festival last Sunday I went on a guided walk with artist Matt Baker. Matt took us to see his wonderful stone carvings 'Quorum' which are nestled in the Galloway hills near Clatteringshaws. The carved heads have been there for nearly twenty years and feel very much part of the place. I loved the colourful lichens that have formed beautiful patterns on the faces, even giving the head pictured above 'eyebrows'.

We then walked to Colin Rose's 'The Eye' on the edge of Black Loch and through the forest to the Murray Monument. Matt gave us a fascinating insight into the geological history of the landscape. He spent eight weeks in a residency in that part of the country and we heard about the other pieces he created, which have now been lost to the deforestation.

It was a real treat to spend such a long time talking to an artist about his inspirations and processes and we covered a good few other topics too. All in all a great way to spend Sunday afternoon.

Matt Baker - Quorum (detail)

George Donald RSA RSW

Jill with George Donald RSA RSW

We're getting ready for our 'People and Places' exhibition which opens on Easter Saturday, the 19th April.

George Donald RSA RSW delivered his work today. It was very exciting to see the paintings. George told us some interesting tales of his travels and when you look at his work you can see what an influence his experience of different cultures has on his rich, atmospheric work.

George commented that Antony might just be his favourite dog!

The largest painting of George's in this exhibition is a dreamy composition, featuring a whippet.

GEORGE DONALD RSA RSW Silver River Dreaming mixed media

 

John Threlfall Pastel Demonstration

Here are some photos from John Threlfall's pastel demonstration in the gallery. As part of our John Threlfall and Lisa Hooper exhibition we have been lucky enough to have both artists show some of their working practices in the gallery.

John talked about how he worked from his field sketches. It was wonderful to see the sketches that he had drawn directly from life, often on cliff edges and blustery beaches!

He chose to draw two Great Crested Grebes in pastel. Everyone who came felt very inspired by his passion for his subjects and the medium of pastel.

The exhibition has been extremely popular with so many wonderful comments from visitors to the gallery. Lisa and John should feel very proud of such a fantastic exhibition.

The exhibition continues until the 29th March. You can view it on our web site here.

Signs of Spring for a new exhibition

Our Lisa Hooper and John Threlfall exhibition is all set up and looking beautiful.

It opens at 11am tomorrow. Lisa will be demonstrating White Line Woodblock printing from 11am to 12:30 pm and 2 pm to 3:30 pm.

I ordered 100 stems of narcissi from the Isles of Scilly to fill the gallery with signs of Spring and a heady scent.

A good January tidy up.

Well, we are delighted with the new floor.

Clearing everything out of the office area and long room gave us a chance to do some serious cleaning and tidying and it is all looking great now. One more room to go and then we will have eliminated all the carpet!

Happy New Year!

Today we didn't get our Sunday off - we've been hard at work emptying two rooms in the gallery and taking up the old carpets ready for the new flooring being laid tomorrow.

The New Year is the perfect time for 'out with the old and in with the new'.  We will be closed from Monday 6th (tomorrow) and we will reopen on Saturday 11th January. This is stage three of a four stage renovation project, after this we will only have one room left to do.

We are also preparing for a very important exhibition in February when we present an exciting two person show with Lisa Hooper and John Threlfall.

It feels good to start the new year this way!