Spring Fling 2010 Accomodation

Room 2.

Ed Baxter one of the Spring Fling 2010 participants who will be showing at Studio 61, and Jane offer superior B&B at Bank House, Thornhill. Bank House in situated in a central position in Thornhill, with 3 letting rooms. These are individually decorated and styled for your comfort where you will be treated to the luxury of a high quality breakfast served in the privacy of your room. Please see....http://www.bankhousethornhill.co.uk/

"Dodge" photography

Ed will be exhibiting photography and paintings at his studio in Bank House.

"Hurricane Hamish over Hightae" Acrylic on canvas

Spring Fling artists Wigtown bound

Heralding an exciting new collaboration between two of the biggest arts events in southwest Scotland, it was announced this week that Dumfries and Galloway-based multimedia artists Sarah Jackets and Chris Helson have been selected for a Spring Fling artists' residency project which will take place in Wigtown, Scotland's National Book Town, for 12 days in the lead-up to and during Wigtown Book Festival 2009.

Spring Fling, the annual artists open studios weekend, takes place every May bank holiday weekend across the region (next year’s event will take place from 29 to 31 May). Wigtown Book Festival, which takes place from 25 September to 4 October this year, has grown into one of the autumn's best-loved arts gatherings. With potential for much connection between the audiences of both events, it is hoped that the artists’ residency project will help enhance this relationship and prompt visitors from outside the region to return to Dumfries and Galloway more often.
The 12-day residency will culminate in a new piece of work to be shown during the final weekend of the Wigtown Book Festival 2009, in an open studios-style environment in the Hut at Reading Lasses bookshop. The results of this will then be shown in Wigtown during Spring Fling 2010.

The selected artists, who are based in Carsluith, have been working together on a number of arts projects for the past seven years and are interested in exploring the construction of spaces and peoples’ relationships to those spaces.

“It's a fascinating residency and we are very much looking forward to engaging with the people of Wigtown, Spring Fling and Wigtown Book Festival," said Chris.


For more information about Wigtown Book Festival, please visit http://www.wigtownbookfestival.com/.For more information about Spring Fling, or to sign up for a brochure for next year’s event when it becomes available, please visit http://www.spring-fling.co.uk/.

On your bike

Above are the hardy souls on the Spring Fling bike ride on the first day of Spring Fling. There were 17, inc myself, from the KM rally at Barnsoul. There would have been at least 6 or 12 more if the weather had been kinder. Much interest from the Rally folk; the weekend organiser even cancelled his own ride to come with us.

Visited Rodney Holland (27), Ruth Jones (25), Silvana McClean (24), Robert Leighton (28) and finished with Jason Shackleton and Lucianne Lassalle (29). About 35 miles Barnsoul back to Barnsoul. Packed the The Green Tea Room (Moniave) for lunch - too cold for the tables outside unfortunately. Much favourable comment especially Rodney Hollands's inpressive long wooden chain. On a bike you don't tend to buy much on the day (especially chain saw carvings!) but many took cards & notes for a return 'visit'.

We (the local CTC Group) have organised this SF ride for the past 2 years; last year Eskdale and the one before around Dalbeattie, Palnackie & Rhonehouse. Numbers this year were greatly boosted by attendees from the KM Barnsoul rally, but with publicity we could get more out locally.

It was a good day, despite the poor weather.

Regards
Mike Gray

More from Studio 17

"Just a quick note to say how much Catriona and I enjoyed our Spring Fling! We had over 160 people through during the weekend, and it was a really good experience. Some of the best bits though was just folk coming in and talking about their memories, telling stories." Jean Aitken (sharing with Catriona Taylor in Studio 17). More about this studio experience here.

From Studio 17. . .

Our byre at studio 17 on the Green route has been open this weekend for Spring Fling's first collaboration between an artist (my friend Catriona Taylor) and a poet (me). The idea for the installation was sparked by poems I wrote after I found a love letter tucked into the stones of the byre. Catriona and I researched the lives of the bothymen, who travelled from farm to farm as itinerant, seasonal workers. These were people who left very little trace - there is little documentary evidence of who they were - often their lives were not even recorded by the census.
Catriona made an amazing installation inside our haybarn, a flickering, candlelit space, where great translucent canvases swing in space, and the lives of the bothymen are captured in a series of simple wooden boxes, lined in shreds and layers of wallpaper, etched with their graffiti. Words from my poems and from the love letter are worked into prints and even painted faintly on the battered limewashed walls of the barn.
Catriona’s family and mine all turned to and helped, and had great fun (even trying to put up a gazebo in tipping rain while clearing up the preview party and bottle feeding the abandoned lamb just as the first visitors arrived - early). And it's made us clear up the garden, which probably wouldn't have happened, so thanks Spring Fling!
We've been inundated with lovely people visiting, talking and sharing ideas - thank you all!

From Jean Atkin

Post Spring Fling Pictures from Studio 1

Gill Shreeve at Studio 1 on the Orange Route has sent us the photographs taken over the weekend and says:
"My visitor figures over the 3 days were 143 - need to attract another artist/maker to Moffat area to create more of a cluster.
The positive side is that I was able to talk at length with everyone who wished to. I had Greek, Italian and German visitors to my studio as well as from Worcestershire, Yorkshire, Ayrshire, Edinburgh and Glasgow, an ex professional punk band lead singer and a composer and viola player with the BBC Symphony Orchestra!"

During the event. . .

Studio 50 in the sun, willow weaving demonstrations with Lizzie Farey.

Studio 59, Kay Ribbens' fabulous hats being tried out and bought by visitors today.

Naomi Lethbridge's Preparations

Naomi Lethbridge doing her preparations for the weekends events. Pop in to Studio 11 on the Orange route to see how she has been getting on and what she has on display at her studio this year.

MMV Art Current Exhibition

Dougie and Morag Muego, studio 16 on the green route, have an exhibition currently running at Hullabaloo Restaurant in, Dumfries this goes until the 2nd June. Dougie is showing six paintings of Mediterranean fishing boats there, which he specially made for that show. There are new ideas in these paintings, which are richer and more concentrated than those at his recent show at Kirkcudbright. It enabled him to push his ideas about colour a bit further. The paintings have a cheerful look to them and were made after visits to the south of France in 2007 and 2008. The boats come from the ports of Nice and Villefranche and some from fishing harbours on the Italian Riviera.

Morag is showing paintings on themes related to ideas, feelings, memories and relationships. Her “landscapes” are landscapes of the mind, pictorial maps which chart unseen and intangible worlds.
She uses a vocabulary of favourite motifs placed against strong colour fields and uses the subtlety and richness of oil colours to create mood and atmosphere in them.

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

Kate Anderson has been. . .

The Garden of Cosmic Speculation

. . . completing two little screens in hand-painted ceramic and smalti, (a temperamental material!) . I took a break to re-visit The Garden of Cosmic Speculation on Sunday while the sun shone, and then back to work on Monday cleaning and preparing a local historic floor to be returned to after Spring Fling and restored in places. A hectic but interesting week!

Portrack.

You can visit Kate at Studio 57 on the Red Route of the Spring Fling this very weekend coming!

The Myth of Place

This week in the Gracefield Office. . .

Colin and Rhiannon in the office at Gracefield Arts Centre.

The past week has largely been spent tying up the final push of press coverage and advertising for Spring Fling. Another thing we’ve been planning to do this year is to commission a photographer to take some specific images of the event that we can then use to publicise various elements of Spring Fling in future (as well as providing a record of the 2009 event). We put this out to tender last month and the job has gone to Angus Bremner (http://www.bremnerphoto.co.uk/) whose work many of us recognise from the stunning images he shot for last year’s Wigtown Book Festival programme. Angus is based in Edinburgh but his parents live just outside Castle Douglas so he does quite a bit of work in the region and is a big fan of Dumfries and Galloway .The other big job has been getting some publicity material designed for Tim Taylor’s residency in Kirkcudbright and sending it out to the Spring Fling mailing list and local organisations. We’re pretty pleased with the result (see picture attached), especially given the distraction of working at Gracefield while the building is undergoing a big refurbishment. Just as the final countdown to Spring Fling began, a team of builders arrived - bearing hammers, drills and anything else that bangs, whirrs or clatters - and started orchestrating a symphony of disruption around our desks. What this picture (sent earlier), which was taken a few weeks ago, doesn’t show is the electrician currently up a ladder re-wiring the ceiling lights above our heads and the flock of confused quilters who wandered through our office earlier this morning having misguidedly taken a scenic route from Gracefield Galleries to the Café Bar.

By Rhiannon Batten, Spring Fling coordinator extraordinaire!

Lisa Hooper in Port William

Lisa Hooper is an artist printmaker based in Port William. She can be found in Studio 61 on the yellow route throughout Spring Fling (photo above by Euan Adamson). Here follows a slice of Spring Fling life by Lisa.....

With Spring Fling approaching fast and a busy summer ahead I seem to be flitting from one thing to another – one minute printing labels and cards, the next finishing frames and cutting mounts - seldom, at the moment, managing to squeeze in much creative work. This week, I have a couple of chaps coming to do woodcuts with me for the day on Wednesday, and on Saturday I have three women coming to do batik on paper, so I’m also having to keep the studio clean and tidy which is a bit of a discipline! The workshops will be a prompt to have a think about my demonstration during Spring Fling, which is likely this year to include doing some batik on paper for the first time. I’ll be trying to think of a fairly short but productive demonstration so that visitors see as much as possible of the technique whilst also allowing me to produce something of quality which I can perhaps use on greetings cards for instance.

This year there should be quite a buzz at Seymour House as, following on from last year’s one day experiment with teas, two of our neighbours will again be occupying the kitchen and offering cakes and hot drinks (proceeds to a local charity): this year on the Saturday and the Sunday.

I’ve been very fortunate this summer with my exhibiting opportunities, which means that I am now thinking two or three exhibitions ahead of Spring Fling! In June I have a solo exhibition at the Rockcliffe Gallery in the Baron’s Craig Hotel, followed by almost continuous exposure right through until October. Last week I was offered a stall in the Art Marquee at the annual British Birdwatching Fair at Rutland Water in August, which although I’d been hoping it would happen, came as a bit of a wake up call. So, I started yet another list of works and set about finding a B&B for four nights. I’m now doing evening shifts making 300 cards featuring birds….

In spite of all these distractions, I’ve been working on a new piece featuring a fox (perhaps to go with all my hares!) and I’m just starting out on a woodcut of the neighbours’ gardens in Port William (featuring fish floats, lobster pots, a boat, a washing line and – why not? – the washing machine as well). But don’t hold your breath for that one….

Lisa

www.hoopoeprints.co.uk

SFOS Committee Members Updates.

Here are a few updates from some of your Spring Fling Open Studios Committee members just to get a feel for some of the things they are up to at the moment. More to follow soon so watch this space.

Having come back from Glasgow Art Fair slightly disappointed, then back from London rather confused after talking to some of the gallery owners there, I was really delighted to hear that I had won the Plein Air prize at Paisley Art Institute which is a week in a studio in BURGUNDY !! Brilliant!! We are going in the middle of September. Definitely feel much more enthusiastic!

Best wishes Hazel Campbell - Studio 49 on the Red Route.

Having participated in every Spring Fling to date I am now having a year off. One of the downsides of the event for me has always been the envy invoked by Spring-Flinging visitors' accounts of their visits to other studios. So this year, though I will have my own studio open as usual on the Saturday and Monday, I am very excited at the prospect of spending the Sunday seeing Spring Fling from the other side.
Jo Gallant

Lizzie Farey - Studio 50 on the Red Route - has been recently appointed as a Specialist Advisor for Crafts to the Scottish Arts Council. Definitly good to have someone from the region there.

Spring Fling Open Studios Committee members at their post Christmas meal.

Don't forget if you are a Spring Fling Participant and have a story to tell about your Spring Fling 2009 preparation do let us know. Or have you visited Spring Fling in previous years? Tell us about it.

The Bakehouse Studio in Langholm

Julie Dumbarton is an artist based at Studio 7 on the Orange route. The Bakehouse Studio is Julies' working studio. Situated in Langholm , it was previously a bakery, but was left unoccupied for over 13 years after its closure, until Julie discovered and fell in love with the building in 2004. "I’ve tried to keep the character of the old building - the old oven remains, along with the first aid kit and, of course, the baker boys bike! Retaining its previous life has been really important to me, whilst also nurturing it to a new focal point of Langholm. " Mike Day from the Scotsman newspaper took the above picture of Julie in her studio for the magazine.




Recently Julie held a 6 week painting course that was targeted at people who had no experience of working with oil paint, to give them an idea of working in a professional studio. "I had 19 people who all completed a painting of high standard, this all came together in a show in the studio. We had a huge turnout, I even involved them with hanging the work to give them an idea of what's involved in putting on an exhibition. The whole experience was a great success."

"I spend so much time in my studio it was such a nice change to open my doors and have such a nice group of people to enjoy the experience of painting with. Not just the highs but working out difficulties and learning about patience and how an image evolves through a process. Its been a great experience for me."

"The bakehouse is such a great old building, many of the people
who came to paint had stories of when it used to be a bakery years ago,
saying it had the best warm rolls for miles around."

Some comments from the participating students:

"I have just loved the whole experience and discovering the delights of creating a picture that i love. Thank you for such a great experience and finding the delight of colour and being able to do a picture I'm delighted with. " Jean Miller

"I've really enjoyed these classes, I was so out of my comfort zone but today i finished a painting I'm really pleased with and would love to do more". Ann Dalgliesh.

"This will be an exciting spring fling for me. I am selling really well at the
Morningside Gallery in Edinburgh and had great sales too at the House for an
Art Lover exhibition and The Red Barn in Cumbria. I'm exploring elements in
my paintings that I always have in my work in finer detail. I have loved
painting poppies and sunflowers in landscapes and this year I have been
invited to Chelsea to paint some of the gardens and plants that are
built in a short time."

Julie has some exciting work commissions coming up; she has been commissioned to paint a piece involving local schoolchildren to celebrate their school as it is under threat of closure.

You can see many more paintings at Julies website.....http://www.juliedumbarton.com/index.html

Spring Fling Taster in Stranraer

The Spring Fling 09 taster exhibition travelled to Stranraer at the weekend and can be seen at the Stranraer Museum until 16th May. It looks fantastic in the upstairs gallery space with a great range of work from Spring Fling 09 participants.

Stranraer Museum

The Old Town Hall, George Street, Stranraer, DG9 7JP

01776 705088

Open weekdays 10am to 5pm and Saturdays 10am to 1pm & 2pm to 5pm

The exhibition opened with pink fizz and strawberries by Meg McColl, a great supporter of the Arts in Dumfries and Galloway, and who used to run a gallery with her husband.

Some of the work is displayed in beautiful 'museum' grade cabinets; below is a huge slip trailed jug by Jason Shakleton (Studio 29 on the Blue route).

A sculpture by Jennifer Watt, dancing through the paintings (Studio 21 on the Blue route).

Many thanks to everyone at the Museum for putting on a wonderful show and supporting Spring Fling.

Textile Art in Castle Douglas Art Gallery

“Connection” is the new exhibition by textile and mixed media artist (and Spring Fling participant), Maggie Ayres, showing at Castle Douglas Art Gallery, adjacent to the library, from 21st April until 2nd May.

Maggie was born and brought up in Dumfries and Galloway and returned to the area about four years ago with a new focus on her developing artwork.

Maggie says, “I have a particular fondness for this venue; I love the space and natural light. And not only is it conveniently placed for my husband to nip across the road with fresh coffee, but it is also the place of my first solo exhibition 2 years ago. I'm really looking forward to it”.

Maggie constructs textile pieces from both natural and hand-dyed silk fibres, loosely woven cottons and soft felted wool. She applies a variety of stitching and acrylic paint to add further texture and depth.

Maggie is taking part in the Spring Fling open studio event and can be visited at studio 48 on the red route.

For more information, visit http://www.maggieayres.co.uk/ and http://www.spring-fling.co.uk/

Maggie will also be showing her work "Connecting the Threads' at Farfield Mill in Sedburgh (http://www.farfieldmill.org/), near Kendal in Cumbria, running from 18th July to 31st August.

'Magical' Mystery Tours

If you’re feeling adventurous, why not sign up for one of our new Magical Mystery Tours?

These three different day tours leaving from Dumfries on 23rd May, from Newton Stewart on 24th May and one from Castle Douglas on 25th May. They will start at around 10am, finish at around 4pm and take in five different studios along the way.

The surprise is that you won’t know which ones until you’re on the bus!

Tickets will cost £10 for adults, or £8.50 for concessions. For more information, or to book a place, please call 01387 262084 or email rhiannon.batten@ dumgal.gov.uk.

Spring Fling Fling

Whether you’re a dab hand with a dashing white sergeant or you’re a ceilidh virgin, all are welcome at the Spring Fling Fling, an evening ceilidh which will kick off at 8pm on Saturday 23 May at Castle Douglas Town Hall. With music by Two Left Feet, one of the finest ceilidh bands in the land, and songs from Damsel Jam, as well as Sulwath Brewery at the helm of the bar, good times are guaranteed.

Tickets cost £7.50 (adults) and £6.50 (concessions) and are available from The Booth or at the McGill Duncan Gallery (231 King Street, Castle Douglas).

Sculpture Workshops

Lucianne Lassalle - Studio 29 on the Blue Route - Born in Paris, she has traveled widely working and exhibiting in Canada, USA, Europe, London, and the South East and South West. Recently she moved to Dumfries Scotland and will be exhibiting for the first time at Spring Fling (sharing studio space with the potter Jason Shackleton).

As well as being a full time sculptor, she runs 6 weekend workshops a year working from the model in clay. These are informal classes studying a life model, each student working at their own pace, class sizes between 8 and 12 students. Workshops are suitable for all students from absolute beginner to the more experienced.

Lucianne is also running a residential workshop in Tuscany 18th - 27th June 2009......

A Residential Sculpture Workshop and a Taste of Beautiful Tuscany, Italy!!
At 'La Meridiana' an International Ceramic Centre and 15th century farmhouse in the Tuscan hills. Clay studios, kilns and equipment, good food, wine and company
"The workshops will be focused, creative and intensive, for students to gain a good working understanding of the human form. We will work in clay directly, making clay sketches from the model and then working on a longer pose for more in depth study. There will be flexibility for students who wish to move from direct representational interpretation to creating their own expressive or abstracted interpretation of the human form."

Please contact Lucianne for more details or see her website under Workshops and Courses (linked via her name above)