Edible Spring Fling

From Spring Fling

From paintings made with pomegranates and coffee to huge stone pears – Spring Fling marks the Year of Food and Drink

An abstract painting created using tea, coffee, liqueurs, fruit and mustard powder has gone on show in an exhibition inspired by Scottish food and drink.

Spring Show: Art, Food & Drink, has just opened at the McGill Duncan Gallery in Castle Douglas and runs until 23 April. It also features giant stone pears and pictures made from kitchen garden herbs and petals among an abundance of paintings, jewellery, woodwork, photography and ceramics. The theme for the exhibition, which takes place in Scotland’s national food town, was specially chosen as part of the celebrations for Scotland’s 2015 Year of Food and Drink.

Around 90 artists and makers, mostly from Dumfries and Galloway, were invited to submit pieces inspired by the edible for the show, which acts as a taster for the Spring Fling visual art and craft open studios weekend in May.

Painter Annirose Ansbro decided to take the theme literally for her own work entitled Drool. “I thought it would be fun to take the food and drink theme all the way, so I scoured the kitchen for ingredients I could use as well as conventional paint. “In the end I used a pomegranate, a tangerine, sloe gin, melon liqueur, orange squash, herbal teas and fresh coffee. The smell of the painting was absolutely wonderful.”

In the gallery garden are three huge stone pears made by sculptor Max Nowell. The distinctive drystone sculptures Max makes have been commissioned for gardens and landscapes all over the UK.

Suzanne Stuart Davies had been wondering what to contribute when she arrived home from the shops one day. She said: “I had bought the veg for a ratatouille and shoved it in a bowl – then I suddenly thought ‘that’s just right’.” Normally a landscape artist working in oils, the experience has led her to create a whole series of still life watercolours.

Another of those taking part is Jennie Ashmore who uses leaves, plants and flowers – often edible – to make intricate pictures.

Spring Show: Art, Food & Drink has also led to collaboration, like the one between Clare Dawdry who has made hand-thrown bowls that nestle in slender woven willow baskets by Geoff Forrest.

Leah Black, Spring Fling Director, said: “The artists really warmed to the food and drink theme and came up with some amazingly imaginative ideas. There really is something to suit every taste. “It’s great to be able to have such a lovely food and drink themed exhibition in Scotland’s food town for the national year of food and drink.”

Rura at Dalry Town Hall

From Kirsten Ansell at The Catstrand


Rura will be playing at the Dalry Town Hall on Wednesday 15th April at 7.30pm. Details available here

Rugged yet disciplined, heartfelt whilst rousing and anthemic, refreshingly contemporary but rooted in tradition… Rura are a band inarguably at the forefront of Scottish folk.
Internationally renowned for their punch-packing mix of highland pipes, whistle, flute, fiddle, bodhran, guitar and voice, Rura are one of the most exciting bands of their generation. Steven Blake, Jack Smedley, David Foley and Adam Brown create muscular, yet intricately arranged and lyrical instrumentals to match singer/songwriter Adam Holmes’ haunting songcraft – a perfected mix that has seen them rise to headline status at festivals throughout the UK and Europe.

Since bursting on to the scene in 2010, as award winners at Glasgow’s Celtic Connections festival, Rura have firmly established themselves as a major force. The release of their heralded first album, Break It Up, in 2012 (produced by Lau and Kan fiddler, Aidan O’Rourke) was accompanied by multiple award wins and nominations – including the running for the BBC Radio 2 Horizon Award 2013 - and now the five-piece’s second release is just around the corner. Due for release in spring 2015, it is one of the most hotly-anticipated albums in recent years – and from a band of the very same.

“What every festival needs…barnstorming!” BBC Radio Scotland
“Scotland’s hottest folk prospects” The Scotsman

www.facebook.com/ruramusic
@RURAband

Festival Forecast In The Heart Of Galloway

From Sid Ambrose Wigtownshire Area Arts Convenor

Nostalgic acts booked for several of the regions festivals

Music lovers and festival fans may have noticed a strong nostalgic vibe emanating from some of our region’s major events being held in deepest grooviest Galloway this summer.
Lulu, Status Quo, Grandmaster Flash, Squeeze, the Waterboys and Big Country are like a who’s who of bygone rock royalty. In search of meaning l read some tea leaves and consulted with the bones to find out why, it appears that a frothy cloud of nostalgia has been snagged on the lofty peak of the Merrick and looks to be settled in place for our northern summer. However fans of contemporary and new music need not be alarmed as strong westerlies have blown in a smattering of current acts such as Example, Tom Odell and The Cat Empire.

This retro and newbie mash up may have been influenced by the Gulf Stream which flows northward past our shores, but it is more likely that the population demographic of ageing stalwarts and bright young things have championed for a series of line up’s that reflect the eclectic musical tastes of our collective shires and dales. Wickerman, Eden and now Palmerston Park may have secured some of the music industry heavy artillery but let’s not forget the likes of Knockengorroch who have booked timeless acts such as Shooglenifty and the Peatbog Faeries for their World Ceilidh in May. Electric Fields who champion new Scottish music have just released their line-up of new pretenders and our "way out west" event Park Fest in Stranraer will probably combine a weekend of Young Guns and veteran performers in late August. Youth Beatz are building a national reputation amongst a tween audience whilst Dumfries and Galloway Arts Festival continue their 30-year run of bringing quality and diversity to pocket sized venues all along the A75 corridor.

So what’s the long range forecast for the regions festivals and events l hear you ask. Well barring external factors such as those that affect the economy and travel l feel that future of our festival industry is so bright we are probably going to need shades, the combination of niche market events, family friendly gatherings and rock offerings means that we must be several isobars above other comparable regions when it comes to outdoor live music. In my experience live performance can never be matched by pub jukeboxes or in- car stereos and luckily for us you can hardly swing a selfie stick in Galloway without hitting a festival.

Treats in store from The Bakehouse

From Chrys Salt


Warm yourself up for Big Lit with the rare opportunity to hear Hungarian poet and translator George Szirtes - one of the UK’s most respected poets. You’d have to travel a long way to see George, but he’s at The Bakehouse on March 28th. Don’t miss him. He’ll be joined by one of our best local poets and translators, Donald Adamson reading from A Landscape Blossoms Within Me his stunning ( and sexy) translations of Finnish Nobel Nominee Eeva Kilpi. For more details see the Bakehouse website here  (Maybe this will inspire you to come to Booker Prize nominee, Michèle Roberts’ BIG LIT workshop on Friday April 17th The Pleasures of the Text.....!?) Followed by an open mike session. I’m sure George would love to hear what the region has to offer. Come and read! The evening will not disappoint! 

TICKETS: Tel: 01557 814175 or email: chrys@chryssalt.com

Daimh at the Catstrand

From the Catstrand

Dàimh celebrate 15 years since their first album with a Scottish tour that showcases why they have earned the reputation of being the "Gaelic Supergroup" in the intervening years. 2014 saw the group win the “Eiserner Eversteiner” European Folk Music Award in the 23nd German Folkherbst competition and also nominated for Folk Band of the Year in the Scots Trad Music Awards.

A unique concert presenting a mixture of self penned material from their most recent ***** album, Tuneship, combined with some choice old Highland favourites arranged anew in Dàimh's inimitable style. Much of the material performed will be featured on the band's first live album, due to be recorded in the Hebrides this spring.
The archetypal pipe and fiddle led instrumental powerhouse of Angus MacKenzie and Gabe McVarish with Ross Martin on Guitar now sees Gaelic Champion Griogair Labhruidh cemented as the vocal Main Man and features a new member in the shape of Murdo "Yogi" Cameron on Mandola and Accordion.

This is a great Gaelic band and definitely worthy of the title Gaelic Super Group.
BRIGHT YOUNG FOLK

Dàimh have carved a reputation from the bedrock of Gaelic culture... authentic Gaelic music with a modern edge and a magnificent range of expression. This could be one of the best Scottish releases of 2014.
FOLKWORLD

Love, life, loss and Lochaber; Tuneship displays the growing maturity of a group whose work screams of place but which is rooted firmly in the present.
SUNDAY HERALD

The Big Lit returns this month

From the Big Lit

Big Lit imports leading contemporary writers to darkest Dumfries and Galloway and provides a showcase for talent from the south west. Organisers have today unveiled the programme for the four-day book festival in Gatehouse of Fleet from 16 to 19 April. Booker nominee Michèle Roberts will be one of the main attractions at Big Lit when she runs a workshop on writing about sex. 

Among the highlights will be a reading by local author Karen Campbell from her new post-referendum book Rise. Karen was made famous by her four crime novels, which were based in Glasgow and featured Sergeant Anna Cameron and Cath and Jamie Worth. There will also be the chance to meet Terry Darlington, whose Narrow Dog books enchanted the world – selling more than 250,000 copies.

Rally and Broad and their spoken word cabaret

Chrys Salt MBE, festival organiser and Artistic Director of the Bakehouse, said: “For four days in April we will be turning a quiet and pretty historic town in the depths of rural Dumfries and Galloway into a den of sex and revelry - which will be great fun. “We are expecting lots of interest from writers and the public as we have so much going on, including authors like Michèle Roberts’ tackling juicy subjects like how to write about sex, and whether porn silences or empowers. “We are developing Big Lit into the Stewartry’s own book festival, bringing in some of the best contemporary writers and showcasing some of our excellent home-grown authors.

“Big Lit will also be offering poetry, song, installation art and special activities for children, including as an exploration in Cally Woods where they will encounter some of their favourite fictional characters. “Our event is helping build Dumfries and Galloway’s reputation as a region full of festivals, attracting visitors from all over the country and overseas and enriching the cultural lives of the people who live here.”

Karen Campbell added: “Big Lit is a wee jewel of a festival. You're guaranteed a warm welcome, and an eclectic mix of writers, talks and art - everything from guerilla poets to word sculptures. It's one of my favourite literary festivals, tucked away in such a beautiful part of the world, and I'm delighted to have been asked to take part again.”

Michèle Roberts’ workshop The Pleasures of the Text will consider issues like whether authors get trapped in flowery writing or clinical writing and whether the Bad Sex Award encourages good writing or puts authors off completely for fear they will be mocked. She said: “I am delighted to be coming to read, talk, teach, listen and learn at BIG LIT. I look forward to meeting other readers and writers and to being in Scotland again.”

Audiences will be able to enjoy the lyrical delights of Rally and Broad’s marvellous spoken word cabaret with its melange of music, spraffing, spikiness and other assorted nonsense.

Other attractions include:

• Ladies who Launch – Elspeth Brown and Vivien Jones launch new poetry collections
• Candlelit readings in The Temple, a Georgian folly deep in the forest with Liz Niven
• A typically crazy Bill Barlow interactive art installation in The Bakehouse Studio
• And you can rub shoulders with everyone from Leonard Cohen to Ivor Cutler in the Murray Arms with one of Galloway’s longest-standing pub sessions.

Author Karen Campbell

And as if that wasn’t enough there will also be a Big Lit Mill Session with Gerda Stevenson (nominated Scots Singer of the Year, MG Alba Scots Trad Music Awards, 2014) with her new album Night Touches Day. She will be accompanied by Norwegian musician Kyrre Slind, on lute, sitar, guitar and mandolin.

Plus the poems of Hugh MacDairmid will be set to music and sung by popular composer and singersongwriter Nicola Black.


Lots of the events are free while many others are as cheap as chips. For further information visit www.biglit.org or you can always email Chrys@chryssalt.com. 

Absolute Classics concludes the season with the Fournier Piano Trio

From Ivy Moon Press

Outstanding, astonishing and unique, are just three of the adjectives which have been used to describe a concert by the Fournier Piano Trio. “When you can blow off a 400 seat concert hall with just three people playing, you know something extraordinary has happened,” said one enthusiastic reviewer.

And a mini tour of the region by this distinguished and exciting trio, will mark the grand finale to the highly successful 2014/15 Absolute Classics series. Since winning the 2013 Parkhouse Award, the London-based trio has been rapidly emerging as one of the world’s leading young piano trios. The young group of classical musicians are Taiwanese-British pianist Chiao-Ying Chang; Korean violinist Sulki Yu; and Australian cellist Pei-Jee Ng. All are leading musicians of their generation and have given recitals at some of the world’s most prestigious classical venues, including the Purcell Room and the Wigmore, Carnegie and Royal Festival halls.

As a trio, these three remarkable musicians have made critically acclaimed debuts at both the Purcell Room and Wigmore Hall in London and in 2011 embarked on its first European Tour after being selected for New Masters on Tour at the International Holland Music Sessions which culminated in their debut at the Amsterdam Concertgebouw. They have appeared at music festivals across the world, including Singapore, Hong Kong and Australia and have made regular visits to the Trondheim International Music Festival. Plans are afoot to record their debut album later this year for USK Recordings.

The Fournier Piano Trio begin their four-day concert series at Kirkcudbright Parish Church on Thursday, March 26, at 7.30pm. On Friday, March 27, the performance will take place at Annan Academy Performing Arts Centre, at 7.30pm. The venue is Greyfriars Church Dumfries on Saturday, March 28, again at 7.30pm, and Sunday, March 29, sees the final date in the Absolute Classics 2014/15 series when the trio will play out the last performance at the Buccleuch and Queensberry Arms, Thornhill, at 3.30pm.

Programmes include pieces by Haydn, Faure, Tchaikovsky, Schumann, Schubert and Dvorak.
Tickets in advance from www.absoluteclassics.co.uk or on the doors.

Absolute Classics returns in August with its popular summer festival and will once again feature the International Music Platform, bringing some of the world’s most highly-acclaimed musicians to Dumfries and Galloway. Director, Alex McQuiston, said: “It’s been an amazing year for classical music in the region. We have hosted some truly astounding performances, many to packed audiences and the feedback has been inspiring as well as very encouraging.

“The success of the programme is evidence that the people of Dumfries and Galloway are fully supportive of what we are trying to achieve: to bring the best calibre classical musicians from across the world to this predominately rural region. “We’re back in August with the popular International Musicians Platform - a 10-day concert series and weeklong masterclass series attracting performers and students from all over the world.

“In the meantime, Absolute Classics would like to thank everyone who supported us - the venues, the performers, the funders and, of course, the audiences - over the 2014/15 series and who all helped it to be so successful. “We look forward to seeing you all in August.”

Spring Fling flagship exhibition at McGill Duncan Gallery

From Spring Fling

Anupa Garner Green Peas and Casserole, linocut, £700

WENDY KERSHAW, The Tea Girl, ceramics, framed illustrated porcelain panel, £330

George Szirtes at the Bakehouse

From Chrys Salt

THE BAKEHOUSE PRESENTS

George Szirtes with Donald Adamson
Saturday 28 March 7.00pm for 7.30pm

George Szirtes was born in Budapest in 1948 and came to England in 1956 after the Hungarian Uprising. He is the author of some fifteen books of poetry and roughly the same of translation from Hungarian. He was joint winner, with Hugo William, of the Faber Prize with his first book, The Slant Door (1979and has won a number of prizes since. In 2004 he was awarded the T S Eliot Prize for his book, Reel, and was shortlisted for the prize again in 2009 for The Burning of the Books and for Bad Machine Subsequent awards and prizes, including International awards for translation, are too numerous to mention. George will be reading from his many collections.

“Brilliantly virtuosic” -
Douglas Dunn, Eliot Prize judge

“His triumph is to wring lyrical language from grim subjects without averting his eyes”
Peter Porter, The Observer

Donald Adamson is both poet and translator, dividing time between Galloway and Finland; co-founder of Markings; first prize Herald Millennium Competition, prize-winner McCash Scots Poetry Competition, 2014. His new collection Glamourie, which has a Scottish background, is due this year from Indigo Dreams Publications. Donald will read from A Landscape Blossoms Within Me ( pub: Arc 2014), his fine translations of Eeva Kilpi, one of Finland's best-loved writers, and a Nobel Prize nominee.

‘…individualistic, sincere, rhythmically subtle, holding and exploring a genuine vision of the world…’ James McGonigal, Former Editor New Writing Scotland)

" Urgent, honest, compulsive, funny - poems I'd send to friends who say they don't like poetry."
Jen Hadfield

Tickets £7.00

To book ring 01557 814175 or email chrys@chryssalt.com

DG Arts Festival Programme Announced

From DG Arts Festival

The Scottish Chamber Orchestra and comedian Hardeep Singh Kohli will be among the headliners at the Dumfries and Galloway Arts Festival.

A total of 82 acts will perform at 42 venues across the south-west over 10 days at the end of May. The event, which is in its 36th year, will also feature performances by the award-winning folk singer Bella Hardy and Scotland's Makar Liz Lochhead.

Young musicians: John Gilderdale-Smith, from Castle Douglas; Zoe Bestel, of Wigtown; Robyn Stapleton from Stranraer; and Deri Ronan, of Thornhill.

The programme was launched at Loch Arthur, Beeswing, on Wednesday. Organisers have pledged to showcase world-class music, theatre, comedy and literature in towns, villages and remote rural areas across the region.

Highlights include:

HARDEEP SINGH KOHLI – HARDEEP IS YOUR LOVE
FRIDAY 22 MAY, 7:30 PM. £15
THE CORNER HOUSE HOTEL, HIGH STREET, ANNAN DG12 6DL
Master of pace and quick-witted patter, there’s much more to Hardeep Singh Kohli than being a media funny man in a colourful turban.

SCOTTISH ENSEMBLE FROM RUSSIA WITH LOVE
FRIDAY 22 MAY, 8:00 PM. £20
EASTERBROOK HALL, THE CRICHTON, BANKEND ROAD, DUMFRIES, DG1 4TA
This event was kindly supported in memory of NLH.

A celebration of two of Russia’s most celebrated composers heralds the sensational start to this year’s Dumfries & Galloway Arts Festival.

KIDDER THEATRE NORMAL / MADNESS
SATURDAY 23 MAY, 7:30 PM. £10
THE SWALLOW THEATRE, MOSS PARK, WHITHORN, NEWTON STEWART DG8 8DR (also showing in New Galloway)
Kidder Theatre brings the very best in drama to the region with its critically acclaimed humorous and heart-breaking play Normal / Madness.

GAVIN MARWICK’S – JOURNEYMAN SPECTACULAR
SUNDAY 24 MAY, 7:30 PM. £15
CASTLE DOUGLAS TOWN HALL , ST ANDREW STREET, CASTLE DOUGLAS DG7 1DB
Described as ‘a folk festival on stage’, Gavin Marwick’s Journeyman Spectacular is a phenomenal musical experience of short sets of 10 performers and a constantly changing musical line-up.

STANLEY ODD
SUNDAY 24 MAY, 8:30 PM. £12
THE CORNER HOUSE HOTEL, HIGH STREET, ANNAN DG12 6DL
5.00PM – WORKSHOP WITH DAVE HOOK
Alternative Scottish hip-hop with heart, mind, wit, grit, conscience and superb live musicianship, Stanley Odd’s sound is reaching well beyond the rapidly burgeoning subculture from which it emerged, borne on an escalating grapevine buzz that’s set to ramp-up several notches further, with the release of their second album Reject.

The Pleasures of the Text

From Chrys Salt

BIG LIT: The Stewartry Book Festival April 16th – 19th.
On Friday April 17th 3.00pm – 6.00pm A WRITERS WORKSHOP with Michèle Roberts
Venue: The Faed Gallery: Mill on The Fleet, Gatehouse of Fleet.
Price: £25

Booker award nominee and award winning novelist Michèle Roberts will run a writers workshop as part of To book and for more information: chrys@chryssalt.com Places are limited so first come, first served.

The Pleasures of the Text: a fiction workshop with Michèle Roberts exploring writing about sex. How do we write about sex? Do we get trapped in flowery writing or clinical writing? Does porn silence us or empower us?

The winner of the Literary Review's 2014 Bad Sex Award, Ben Okri's The Age of Magic

Does the Bad Sex Award encourage good writing or does it put authors off completely for fear they will be shortlisted and mocked? Why write about sex at all? What does that word mean and involve? This workshop will explore these questions through a series of short writing exercises, which will be read out so that participants can learn from each other in a safe, friendly, lighthearted atmosphere. The aim is to have fun, write differently, discover new pleasures in our texts.

Jennifer Walker at The Nail Factory

From Rupinder Dulay

Jennifer Walker will be exhibiting at The Nail Factory 2-31st March. Everyone is welcome to the private view on Friday 6th March 7-9pm.
Jennifer will be joining Mary Smith's writing group on Tuesday 10th Mach, 7-9pm, come along and have a chat with both Mary and Jennifer.

Susan Calman Lady Like at the Catstrand

From Claire Hoyda

Susan Calman and her tour ‘Lady Like’ which is coming to the CatStrand @ Dalry Town Hall (venue moved due to flooding) on the 13th March.

Writer’s Guild Award– Best Radio Comedy 2013
Chortle Award – Best MC 2012
Real Radio Scottish Variety Awards – Best New Scottish Comedian 2009

Fresh from the successful first leg of her debut tour, the multi award-winning Susan Calman takes her hit show Lady Like back on the road this spring.

Lady Like is a chance to spend an hour with the woman known as “The Mad Cat Lady” to her neighbours, and Calman promises to reassure you, make you feel better about your own life and let you find out what being lady-like really means. How will she do this? With anecdotes, observations and no-holds-barred honesty of course, such is the manner of the feisty scot The Times called a “diminutive lesbian” with “chirpy, optimistic level-headedness.”

But Susan has a confession to make, and it’s a heart-warming one. Through plunging to life’s lowest depths she has, fortunately, come out the other end and wants to share her story. The show is, above all, a call to like ourselves no matter what others say; a journey of self-awareness, self-discovery and – here’s the fun bit – self-indulgence. Indeed, as the lady says: "All of us have mental health issues, it's just that for some of us, our issues make us go more mental than others".

Since reaching the semi-finals of the BBC New Comedy Awards in 2005, she has appeared on QI, Would I Lie To You?, Rab C. Nesbitt, BBC Radio 4’s The News Quiz, CBBC’s Extreme School and Channel 4’s Blowout, which won a Scottish BAFTA in 2007. She also won the Best MC Chortle Award 2012, and Best New Scottish Comedian at the Real Radio Scottish Variety Awards in 2009.

Recently, Susan Calman has presented Don’t Drop The Baton, a BBC comedy broadcast during the Glasgow Commonwealth Games and STV quiz show The Lie. Susan Calman Is Convicted, her debut BBC Radio 4 series, won Best Radio Comedy at the 2013 Writers' Guild of Great Britain Awards. It has now been commissioned for a third series.

What the press have said about Susan Calman

“Feisty Scot Calman is one of the best female comics to ever come out of the land of bagpipes and haggis. She’ll make you chuckle your pants off”
Time Out

“Susan Calman exudes a cheery joie de vivre, but behind it is a steely Glaswegian defiance”
Chortle

THE WHITEHOUSE GALLERY PRESENTS ‘KALEIDOSCOPE II’

From The Whitehouse Gallery

SATURDAY 28TH FEBRUARY ~ SATURDAY 25th APRIL 2015

The Whitehouse Gallery is to spring to life in an explosion of colourful Fine Art and Applied Art & Craft. ‘Kaleidoscope II’ will run from 28th February to 25th April, with the preview opening starting from 11am on Saturday 28th February. All are welcome to attend, and will be treated to a complementary glass of fizz and handmade chocolates upon arrival.

This exhibition welcomes a handful of new Fine Artists to the gallery for the first time, alongside some of our more regular exhibitors. Internationally renowned Scott Naismith finds much of his inspiration for his vibrant, atmospheric oil paintings from the many glens, lochs and isles of the West Coast of Scotland. Scott’s vigorous application of his vivid colours with palette knife and brush represents the fast changing light conditions of this part of the world.

Also inspired by rugged northern landscape or coastal scenes, Louise O’Hara likes to work with mixed media , incorporating hand dyed vintage fabrics which are hand and machine stitched with acrylic and drawing materials. Louise’s work explores the richness of light, colour and texture of her surroundings.

Cameron Watt delights in his use of colour. Although a distinctively contemporary painter, Watt works within a painterly tradition, depicting the everyday quiet moments which often go by unnoticed in his own unique painterly style.

‘Connections’ by Scott Naismith

Sylvia Paul has been a professional artist for more than thirty years and still enjoys challenging and developing her creativity. Sylvia is known for working with a range of mediums including collage and textiles, but it is her oils which will be the focus for this exhibition. Sylvia paints bold and colourful still life paintings, having developed a free and expressive style of working with oils using a knife over an under painting of acrylics.

Sophie McKay Knight’s work has always been based on the human figure, with an interest in the things that make up a whole person, including inside the body and mind. Sophie’s work is mixed media, layering acrylic paint with screenprint, often finished off with pastels and drawing materials.

William Neal’s iridescent paintings are the result of a unique approach to painting which Neal has developed over the years. What results are rich and luminous colours which change depending upon the light source they are presented with, each with its own unique translucent quality.

We welcome the return of Borders based Moy Mackay, who uses merino fleece fibres in the same way that a painter uses brushstrokes, to create ‘felt paintings’ with extraordinary warmth and texture. Her vibrant works have gained her popularity on an international scale.

Patricia Sadler is delivering a selection of landscapes and still life paintings, all with the colour theme in mind. Her landscapes depict richly coloured rolling hills and the patchwork quilt of fields with dark shapes of woodland which are all inspired by her love of her native Scottish Borders. Her still life works are as equally rich in colour and texture, using acrylic and watercolour then being built up in layers of mixed media.

Rona Lee also returns with a selection of landscape and still life paintings, working with acrylic washes which are applied layer by layer, a style which has evolved over Lee’s twenty five years as a professional artist.

We are delighted to welcome back Emma Williams, whose contemporary still life paintings have a soft colour palette, making them a clean and fresh inclusion in an otherwise bold and vivid exhibition.

Este Macleod works primarily as a colourist painter applying a unique sense of design to her work, which is strongly influenced by her training as a textile designer with a background in ceramics. Shirley Vauvelle also comes from this background, and still produces her quirky and popular ceramic sculpture, but has more recently begun to focus on painting as a creative medium. Her paintings are concerned with exploring colour, texture and space on the canvas, inspired by moments which inspire her on a daily basis.

Ingebjorg Smith is exhibiting a collection of her extremely popular evocative and magical collage works which feature birds and animals, alongside Jennie Ashmore's leaf works collection, featuring a range of wonderful flower and leaf collage works. Recent Leaf works have been made using plant materials mostly from Jennie's garden in Auchencairn, reflecting a good summer where colour was rich and in abundance.

Debbie Lord is exhibiting some of her colourful and fun framed glass pictures which depict coastal scenes and landscapes, not only inspired by her home of Cornwall but also Dumfries & Galloway, as she spent many years living here in her childhood. New sculpture will also be exhibited by Michael Lythgoe, Urpu Sellar and Cheryl Smith. There will also be a wide selection of Applied Art & Craft, including handblown glass by Elin Isaksson which are simple in form, and feature subtle colour blends with beautiful results.

Jewellery will be exhibited from two designers: Becky Crow returns with some of her evocative work, which is a mixture of wearable jewellery and three dimensional illustration. Her work is inspired by the great outdoors, and she usually works with silver, copper and gold leaf. Heather Andrews also takes inspiration for her work from her surroundings, and her silver jewellery is beautifully and ethically handmade from her studio in SW Scotland.

Textiles will be on show from three different makers. Heather Potten is giving us some of her felted bowls and wall hangings, Karen Suzuki is delivering some of her quirky handmade textile animal sculpture whilst Jo Gallant is giving us a brand new collection of her cushions including new designs for the new year.

There will also be a new collection of ceramics by Isabel Merrick, as well ongoing sculpture, furniture, baskets, glass, ceramics and much more.

For more information please contact us on 01557 330223 or info@whitehousegallery.com

Lisa Hooper demonstration at the McGill Duncan Gallery

From The McGill Duncan Gallery

Lisa Hooper. Image credit: Euan Adamson

This Saturday, 14th February, print maker Lisa Hooper will be demonstrating tessellation lino cut print making at McGill Duncan Gallery in Castle Douglas. 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. The demonstration will be informal and you can ask Lisa questions about her work and view the exhibition. The gallery will be open as normal until 5 pm.

Cultural D&G - signposting, mapping and consultations

From Cate Ross, Stewartry Arts Hub Convenor

There have been many great successes in arts development over the last years in D&G! And now there are so many ways to get directly involved in the arts, heritage and culture in your area. Just now, you can help shape the look, feel and function of the DG Unlimited (D&G Chamber of the Arts) website available here, go see it at and get involved. We can populate it with images and information or use it to make connections. You can complete the survey there to help make this exciting new creative forum fit your needs.

You can also use any of the DGU channels set up to support individuals and arts organisations that are now working at quite a pace, the area Arts Hubs are there to help feed information between the D&G Council (Community and Cultural Services and Local Area Committees), cultural organisations and creative people via the mechanisms of the DGU membership organisation. The area Arts Hub Convenors offer signposting and professional support for funding applications, practice development and integration with information networks. They also gather information from artists and organisations that inform developing recommendations for best practice and strategic funding directions to help meet the needs of our creative community.

Community Poetry Tree Installation by Bill Barlow. Image: Cate Ross

Many of you participated in the Cultural Mapping project that happened in 2013 as part of the Fresh Start for the Arts pilot. About a thousand artists, creative organisations and cultural bodies shared their contact information and since then D&G Council‘s ‘Business and Technology Services’ department have been building a ground-breaking online Cultural Map of the region to share the information. The online map will put us all in touch directly with artists, heritage and cultural organisations, linking us up with contact information, web links and pin points on an responsive map that shows you exactly where to find certain art, heritage or cultural treasures, you can submit your own information, amend and delete your records as you see fit. Now in the fine-tuning stages, the D&G cultural map has recently had a thorough ‘user-test’ by members of the arts community prior to final solutions and a public launch as soon as possible, watch this space!

Self Portrait from The Stove Network's Parking Space. Image: Cate Ross

Grass roots (the grass is greener) at Cairnholy. Image: Cate Ross

Also, just now, you can join in the Spring Fling Evolution consultation; some feel that we’ve consultations coming out of our ears, which is true enough! But, consultations mean that you are put in the driving seat and your opinions are heard and help shape ‘the engine’ design- metaphorically speaking. These are opportunities to inform the development of services you need to best meet your ambitions. Contact consultant Steve Brown or look up the dedicated website to have your say.

So let’s keep up the information stream. It is unusual and valuable that so many people and organisations are working together to make D&G a creative haven with access to professional support for all creative people at all stages of development. If you don’t join in the consultation or the process then you really can’t complain if developments don’t fit your needs…


All these things increase our creative capacity individually and as a region, to maintain and grow this vitality and fortitude join the DG Unlimited membership to make sure you have a vote in what happens next. Download an application form online here.

Help to shape the environment you wish to live in.

Freedom Square and Unite Don’t Fight to Tour Dumfries and Galloway

From Carolyn Yates and Sid Ambrose

Two hard hitting new plays based on Sectarianism, will premier across Dumfries and Galloway over the month of February. Freedom Square and Unite Don’t Fight will be performed by young people from the Ryan Youth Theatre and Dumfries Junior Guild. The free shows will embark on a pan Galloway tour with performances scheduled to take place from Stranraer to Dumfries.

Freedom Square has been described in promotional material as “The spark of first love across Scotland’s New Divide in the incendiary week of the referendum. She’s a Yes, he’s a no, their parents are bigots, and the Orange Lodge are gearing up to attack the square – what can possibly go wrong”?

Dumfries Young Guild of Players

Whilst Unite Don’t Fight, portrays a gritty and extreme example of Sectarianism. It tells the story of how four siblings have their family and home destroyed as victims of a religious hatred attack.  What starts as banter results in an arson attack and the death of their parents.  Hear them tell their side of the story as their nightmare is relived over and over again in the mind of the killer.

Both plays are supported by grants from the Voluntary Action Fund, Scottish Government’s Tackling Sectarianism Small Grant Programme and have been assisted by the Kirkcudbright based South West Scotland Sectarian Project.

Chris Taylor ( Freedom Square Director)

Freedom Square has been commissioned by Wigtown Festival Company, It was written and devised by award winning playwright Des Dillon in conjunction with the Ryan Youth Theatre, and is directed by Chris Taylor. Unite Don’t Fight has been written and directed by Dumfries based James Napper who has had a long association with local youth theatre groups.

The intention of the performances is to raise awareness of sectarianism which blights many communities across Scotland. Stevie Carr from the South West Scotland Sectarian Project Commented “Sectarianism can take many forms, from so called banter to prejudice and violence, l believe the plays are a great way to communicate with young people and make them better informed about sectarianism which at the end of the day is just another form of bullying.”

The inaugural performance of both plays will take place in a double bill at the Ryan Centre Theatre Stranraer between 6 and 8 pm on the 16^th February. The free performances will be followed by a meet and greet session with the cast and crew, for those interested in finding out more about the plays and the issues raised.

Other double bill performances will take place on the 17^th February from 7 to 9pm in New Galloway Town Hall and on the 27^th February at the Brigend Theatre Dumfries. A further solo showing of Unite Don’t Fight is scheduled for the Old Well Theatre Moffat on February the 20^th starting at 7pm.

For further information on the performances please contact Carolyn Yates, Literature Development

carolyn@literaturedevelopment.org  Phone: 01988 402036, Mobile: 07717179653

Please note although these are free events you may need to register your interest first to guarantee entry.