Festive Opening Times

We would like to wish all our customers a Merry Christmas and a very Happy New Year.

The gallery has had lots of new work arriving throughout December including paintings by Sandy Murphy RSW RGI PAI (photos not on our web site), please contact us is you would like more details, email zoe@mcgillduncangallery.com or phone 01556 502468. We also have new paintings by Alexander Robb and George Donald and linocuts on Irish linen by Gail Kelly.

George Donald RSA RSW - Dog Rose

Here are our festive opening times. Please note that although we are closed on Tuesdays throughout the year, we will be open on Tuesday 29th December. We are open for four days between Christmas and New Year, the fire will be lit and we will be serving ginger wine and chocolates.


Festive Opening Hours
Thursday 24th Christmas Eve OPEN 10am – 4pm
Christmas Day CLOSED
Boxing Day CLOSED
Sunday 27th December CLOSED
Monday 28th December OPEN 10am – 5pm
Tuesday 29th December OPEN 10 am – 5pm
Wednesday 30th December OPEN 10am – 5pm
Thursday 31st December New Year’s Eve OPEN 10 am – 4pm

Friday 1st January CLOSED
Saturday 2st January CLOSED
Sunday 3nd January CLOSED
Monday 4rd January CLOSED
Tuesday 5th January CLOSED
Wednesday 6th to Saturday 9th January OPEN 10 am – 5 pm

CLOSED for holidays 10th – 24th January.

We will re-open as normal 10am Monday 25th January.

If you need to contact us during this time please email zoe@mcgillduncangallery.com or phone:
07525745826, 07970854961, 01556 503209

Our first Exhibition of 2016 opens on Saturday 6^th February, it features the work of print maker Lisa Hooper and painters Tracy Levine and John Threlfall with ceramics by Christine Hester Smith.

Make Art and Donate with Colin Blanchard

Tomorrow, Saturday 12th December, Colin Blanchard will be in the gallery demonstrating print making from 11am to 1pm.

Colin has produced a new linocut specially for this event (photographed below). Visitors to the gallery will be able to make their own print from Colin's linocut - perfect to take home and use as a special Christmas card. You will also be able to talk to Colin about his innovative printmaking techniques and see some of the equipment that he uses.

There is no charge for making your own print but Colin will be asking for donations to the Cumbrian Flood Appeal Fund.

The linocut will be printed on top of a screen print. Here is a video of Colin printing screen printed backgrounds in preparation for his demo here in the gallery.

We will be serving mulled cider or spiced apple juice and our coal fires will be lit to drive away any winter chills so it should be a very enjoyable Saturday in the gallery. Look forward to seeing you all there.

Ewan McClure Portrature Demonstration

At our opening on Saturday we were privileged to have Ewan McClure in the gallery painting a portrait of Simon.

In the early stages the painting was recognisably Simon.

Visitors were fascinated by Ewan's painting techniques.

The finished portrait. What an amazing painting. Thank you Ewan for sharing your talent with us and to Simon for sitting so patiently.

Winter Exhibition

Our Winter Exhibition opens a week today, on 7th November from 11am to 1pm. The exhibition features the work printmaker Colin Blanchard, ceramicist Sue Dunne and painters Ewan McClure and Alexander R Robb.

EWAN McCLURE, Self Portriat

We're delighted that artist Ewan McClure will be in the gallery, demonstrating portrait painting during our opening. Ewan was one of the finallists in Sky Arts Portrait Painter of The Year in 2013 and is a regular exhibitor at the PB Portrait Awards. Just pop in any time between 11 am and 1 pm to see Ewan at work.

ALEXANDER R ROBB, Venetian Sunset

The paintings and prints have now arrived in the gallery and we are looking forward to installing it all in the week ahead.

COLIN BLANCHARD A Flake of The Moor's Skin

All the artists are going to be at the opening so we are looking forward to the party! Looking forward to see you on Saturday.

SUE DUNNE Rowan Jug

Opening tonight

Opening tonight between 7 and 9 pm.

Our new exhibition features the work of Ian Rawnsley, Michael J Mashcroft MAFA and George Grant. Join us for a glass of prosecco and view all the wonderful new paintings that we have in the gallery.

 Ian Rawnsley Distant Storms Make Shore

George Grant, From The Firebox

Michael J Ashcroft Carlingwark Loch

Galloway Paintings

DAVID FARQUHARSON ARSA RSW 1840-1907 A Summer Day, Dalbeattie

Our Galloway Paintings exhibition opens on Saturday 1 August. Please join us for a glass of Pimms between 11am and 1pm.

We have such a lovely collection of paintings from artists who either lived or visited Galloway in the 19th and 20th century. This year we have an extensive collection of paintings by the Faed Family, spanning generations.

JOHN FAED HRSA 1818 - 1902 The First Bloom of Youth

Moniaive painter James Paterson RSA RSW 1854 - 1932 has an oil and a watercolour in the exhibition, both of Moniaive. We have found that the watercolour 'Autumn, Moniaive' was painted from Mill Dam at Dalwhat Water. The beautiful Paterson oil painting titled 'Moniaive' which belongs to the Hunterian Art Gallery in Glasgow is of the same area.

JAMES PATERSON RSA RSW 1854 - 1932 Autumn, Moniaive

 

Royal Academy Summer Exhibition

The Royal Academy Summer Exhibition opened to the public today. Four artists who exhibit with us have had work chosen for this prestigious show: Michael J Ashcroft, Susie Perring, Ian McNicol and Helen Fay.

Michael J Ashcroft MAFA, 'Lower Mosley Street, Manchester'

The exhibition is open to any artists wishing to enter but due to high demand is capped at 12000 entries.  The art works go through a demanding selection process and are shortlisted.  The shortlisted works are then whittled down again and only 1200 of the best works are then put on display in the Royal Academy in London. The exhibition runs from the 8 June to 16 August.

Ian McNicol  is exhibiting in our current exhibition. His etching 'Red Verses Blue' has been selling very well at the RA exhibition, with only seven left from an edition of 20.

Michael J Ashcroft MAFA painting (pictured above) has also sold. He is exhibiting with us at the end of August and in preparation for the show he's coming to Galloway to paint this week. A lot of his work is 'en plein air' so we are hoping for a good week of weather.

Print makers Susie Perring and Helen Fay are long standing exhibitors at our gallery. They have both been getting work into the RA Summer exhibition for many years and this year is no exception. 

If you can't get down to London you can view all the works in the exhibition online. It is the first year that you have been able to do this and I must say I'm really impressed with the web site. You can have a browse through the exhibition here.

Spring Fling @ McGill Duncan Gallery

It's Spring Fling time again (23 - 25 May 2015) and we will be open all weekend, including Sunday, from 10am to 5:30pm.

Leo Blamire will have his studio in the gallery. We look forward to welcoming visitors from far and wide. Here's a selection of his work:

Leo Blamire 'Partridge, Winter Sun' oil on panel

Leo Blamire 'Game Set and Match' oil on panel

Leo Blamire 'Peaceful Plant' oil on panel

Leo Blamire 'Pomegranate on Gold' oil on panel

Leo Blamire 'Favourite Green Chair' oil on panel

Spring Fling Exhibition - Art, Food & Drink

Suzanne Stuart Davies with her Still Life 'Ratatouille'.

Sculptor Max Nowell with his garden piece 'Three Perry Pears'.

Annirose Ansbro with her abstract painting 'Drool'

Claire Dawdry and Geoff Forrest with their collaborative pieces 'Fruits of the Forrest'.

The Spring Fling Flagship Exhibition 'Art, Food and Drink' is well underway now. Here are some photographs from our opening day when photographer Colin Hattersley took photos of some of the participating artists with their work.

The diversity and quality of the work, I hope you'll agree, is something Dumfries and Galloway should be proud of. Many of the artists taking part chose to make something specifically for the exhibition and this was very exciting for us. It certainly made installing all the different work much easier as we were working towards a cohesive exhibition. With 87 artists taking part this was always going to be a challenge. Visitors have been commenting on how good the show is and how well it showcases the work of the 2015 Spring Fling artists.

The exhibition runs until 23rd April 2015.

Tracy Levine Film

Here is the Tracy Levine film that we made in conjunction with our current exhibition. Tracy talks about some of the paintings in our exhibition.

Lisa Hooper @

Lisa Hooper photo credit: Euan Adamson

This Saturday, 14th February, Lisa Hooper will be in the gallery. She will be demonstrating tessellation lino cut print making. Come along between 11 am and 1 pm and see Lisa making a print using this fascinating technique. No need to book, just drop in. We will be open until 5 pm. The demonstration will be informal and you can ask Lisa questions about her work and view the exhibition.

Fields and Feathers

We are busy getting the gallery ready for our 'Fields and Feathers' Tracy Levine and Lisa Hooper exhibition. You can read the email that I have just sent to our mailing list here.

TRACY LEVINE Dallam Park

Please join us on Saturday 7 February from 11 am to 1 pm for the opening (the gallery will be open as usual until 5 pm). Both the artists will be in the gallery to meet customers and and talk about their work.

 LISA HOOPER Moving On

RSW Prize

SUSIE HUNT 'Night Meets Light' watercolour

The 134th Annual Exhibition of The Royal Scottish Society of Painters in Watercolour is currently on show at The Royal Scottish Academy in Edinburgh.

This year we have presented the McGill Duncan Gallery Award to Susie Hunt for her watercolour 'Night Meets Light'. We were due to travel to Edinburgh last Thursday to present Susie with her award but the dreadful weather conditions scuppered our plans and we had to post her the cheque instead.

However, we are delighted that Susie Hunt will be exhibiting her work here at McGill Duncan Gallery in the future.

Susie's painting really stood out for us when we went to Edinburgh in early January to select the winner of our award. 'Night Meets Light' is incredibly atmospheric and the reflection of the moonlight on the woodland path combined with the torch light from the dark figures certainly gives the painting mystery; you are drawn into thinking about what the story behind the painting might be. We don't think you would ever tire of looking at this painting.

If you can get to Edinburgh we highly recommend going to see the RSW show, which is on until the 31st of January. You can read more about the RSW here.