Private View

Just back from our Private View and Jill and I are feeling pleased that all the work setting up the Exhibition is over and that the Gallery looks so nice after feeling rather chaotic while we were deciding how to hang the paintings! The afternoon was a happy gathering; it was very enjoyable talking to the artists and our friends and customers. Here are some snaps I took of the artists with their art ~

Mark Gibbs

Joe McIntrye (sitting in E. A. Taylor's chair)

Barbara Robertson

Barbara & Me

The nicest part of working in the Gallery is chatting to artists!

My Dad & Tommy

-It was a warm sunny afternoon (how rare!) and we even had some men sitting in the Gallery garden putting the world to rights whilst drinking Prosecco.

Zoe

Getting everything ready

We've been busy this week setting up the new exhibition. On Friday Mark Gibbs came bearing all manner of wild and domestic beasts from Aberdeen Angus to Musk Ox. Here's Jill unpacking the Bison ~


Here's Mark with his Reindeer, which is now looking very regal on the wall above its own icy landscape~


Hopefully see you tomorrow from 2 - 4 pm.

Zoe

30 years with Bourne Fine Art

Charles Oppenheimer RSA RSW Mill Pool

Our new Exhibition with Bourne Fine Art opened today. I remember coming here as a child for the Galloway exhibitions. The atmosphere of the place is so clear in my memory, the table lamps lighting a dark but welcoming interior, the bowls of mints, the flock of familiar faces…and here I am, age 31, celebrating 30 years of these enchanting exhibitions in the Gallery. It looks quite different now, but we hope still has the original charm.

When the paintings arrived last week Jill and I had a most enjoyable afternoon unwrapping all the works. The printed catalogue is lovely but in reality the light and detail in the paintings shines in a way that only an original painting can.

The Gallery was bursting at the seams this morning with people drinking Pimms and catching up with old friends. It was lovely to see the place so full of people and hear all the enthusiasm for the paintings.

The exhibition runs until the 30th of August.

Cheers!

Zoe

Summer Exhibition

Hello,

Welcome to our new Gallery Blog. I thought I'd start by giving you a review of our current exhibition. The gallery really does look lovely with Bridget's amazing porcelain and Di and Jenny's wonderful paintings. Catch the exhibition while you can as it finishes on July the 27th.

Look forward to seeing you in the Gallery.

Zoe

Review ~ Summer Arrives at McGill Duncan Gallery

Summer has arrived at the McGill Duncan Gallery with a vibrant three woman show by Bridget Drakeford, Diana Hope and Jenny Richardson.

Diana Hope from Edinburgh is showing extensive new work based on her travels in India and Scotland. Her collection of paintings titled ‘Two Lands’ is both landscape and still life. She says ‘Colour is of primary importance in the work, as is memory and experience.’ One of her central works is ‘The Loch at Glen Roy’. Diana shared her inspiration behind the piece saying ‘The painting is recently finished and is of a loch from my childhood. My memories of going there provide the intensity in the painting, mainly through the colour use. It is therefore a personal evocation of a place and time rather than an observed piece of description’. Another stand out work from the exhibition is ‘Rajasthan Night’ where Diana has used an intense combination of blue hues overlaid with jewel like detail to draw the viewer into an exotic Indian garden scene. ‘Indian Still Life’ is a lively composition using a strong element of pattern and shape. Diana’s distinctive rainbow markings draw the eye to a beautifully crafted painting.

In contract to the exoticism of Diana’s paintings Jenny Richardson from the Beara Peninsula in West Cork has used the landscape and wildlife of the rugged Irish coastline as an inspiration for her paintings. None the less her paintings have a mysterious quality to them, sometimes reminiscent of animal fables. ‘Jimmy’s Bull’ is an unusual head composition of a bull with a knowing look in its eye. ‘Kathleen and her cows’ depicts a farmer with her herd of cows in a wild rocky setting. Jenny’s bird paintings are an important part of the exhibition, presented on box shaped wooden panel. The shapes of the painted board present them in a covetable form. Her bird paintings are full of character and personality without being twee or in any way cute. Closer to home Jenny has included affectionate but unsentimental depictions of her dog Dora. ‘Dora Sleeping 2’ is a composition looking down on a sleeping dog as sunlight streams across the floorboards. The warmth, both from the rays of sun and her emotional attachment to the dog, is extraordinary.

Serenity and high craftsmanship mark out potter Bridget Drakeford’s work as outstanding. The exhibition is something of a homecoming for Bridget and local people may remember her potteries at Laurieston and then Gatehouse. Bridget’s first workshop was established in South West Scotland in 1977. She moved to Hereford in 1994 where she now has a studio at home. An interest in oriental ceramics led her to develop her own style and she works exclusively in porcelain taking her inspiration from Eastern ceramics. She makes a speciality of teapots, incorporating silver and wood in the detailed fittings. Looking round the exhibition the viewer will be struck by the colours used in Bridget’s glazes which she makes herself based on traditional Chinese glazes. The principal colours in her glazes are beautifully muted celadon blue and pale copper green sometimes juxtaposed with an intense copper red. Bridget says inspiration for her pottery is drawn from ongoing study of examples of decorative arts and from other cultures in museums and art galleries and when possible by travelling. Bridget’s work has been internationally acclaimed and she has exhibited in Mashiko in 2006, Tokyo in 2005 and 2007, the World Ceramic Exposition in Korea in 2001 and at the Mashiko International Pottery Contest in 2000. Don’t miss this opportunity to see all three artists work in Castle Douglas at the McGill Duncan Gallery at the bottom of King Street.