McGill Duncan Gallery supports Spring Fling

Before we opened the Gallery in 2007 we enjoyed touring round the region visiting all the Open Studios for Spring Fling. There were so many delightful surprises down country lanes and farm tracks. We have lived in Galloway for over thirty years but Spring Fling gave us the chance to explore the region in an entirely different way. The studio trails often took us to unexplored corners. We both have fond memories of driving along the Solway coast through Rockcliffe on a particularly hot and sunny Spring Fling weekend, eating ice cream, chatting to artists, buying art and genuinely feeling at the end of the day like we had been on a holiday. The reality was we hadn’t ventured more than a few miles from our house!

Last year was a very different experience. It certainly didn’t feel like a holiday as it was our first year being open as a Gallery during Spring Fling. It was a very busy weekend for us in Castle Douglas and what was fantastic about it was the fact that we got so many visitors from far and wide who appreciated our gallery and loved the art that we had for sale.

Some of our most memorable ‘Spring Fling’ customers were from Vancouver, Canada. If we remember correctly they had heard about Spring Fling through an article about artist Lizzie Farey and her work with willow in ‘Homes and Antiques Magazine’. Reading the article made them book a holiday in the region to coincide with Spring Fling. They arrived at the gallery by bus as they hadn’t hired a car and we gave them directions to Rhonehouse. We went through the maps in the Spring Fling brochure and told them they could walk to Lizzie’s studio via Hazel Campbell’s studio.

Rebecca Callis porcelain jugs.

Another couple from London came at the end of the day to collect their art purchases from us and their car was quite literally packed with all their finds from their tour round the Spring Fling studios, there were bits of willow sticking out the parcels in the back of their car! They had had a fabulous day complete with a cream tea in Gatehouse and were going back to London with happy memories of Galloway and many treasures for their home.
This year we are showing work by painters David Sinclair and Jonathan Mitchell with Porcelain tableware by Rebecca Callis, along with work by many of our regular gallery artists. We are also selling tickets for the ‘Spring Fling Ceilidh’ which promises to be a great night out in Castle Douglas!

Zoe Blamire