Success for Spring Flingers

These happy Spring Fling artists were photographed outside the Royal Scottish Academy building on the Mound in Edinburgh, last Thursday night, 18th March. They were attending a Salon Evening organised by the Friends of the RSA to publicise the work of exhibitors.

From left to right, they are- Jennifer Watt, Silvana MacLean, Patti Lean, Denise Zygadlo, Gill Shreeve, Bella Green and Dougie Muego. Not present, but also exhibiting, were-Hazel Campbell, and Sam, Nancy and John Chinnery.

All these artists were successful in having their work selected for the recent annual exhibitions of premier Scottish Arts Societies held at the RSA. Their work was shown at the Royal Scottish Society of Painters in Watercolours, the Scottish Society of Artists or Visual Arts Scotland exhibitions.

Fierce competition comes from artists from all over Scotland for places at these prestige
shows. It is a mark of the quality of the work produced in Dumfries and Galloway and by Spring Fling artists that so many successful artists were selected from within this region.

Well done to all!

Launch Event

Guest of Honour Alex Fergusson MSP and Spring Fling Chair Natalie Vardey


The well-attended Spring Fling brochure launch and taster exhibition opening event (held at Gracefield Arts centre, in Dumfries, on 12 March) was hailed a massive success by members of the Spring Fling committee. Special thanks must go to staff at Gracefield for the care and skill shown in hanging the collection of works on display - no mean feat!
Following nibbles and pink fizz, visitors and contributors perused the collection of works made by artists and makers participating in this year’s Spring Fling weekend, taking in six rooms of displays and soaking up the atmosphere of the launch experience.
Spring Fling Chair, Natalie Vardey, cordially welcomed everyone to the event and introduced Alex Fergusson, Presiding Officer of the Scottish Parliament and MSP, as guest of honour. Mr Fergusson spoke of his interest in and respect for the work of the region’s artists and makers and the contribution they make to the cultural diversity of the region (as well as to the region’s economy and tourist industry). Mr Fergusson also relayed personal experiences of his own and his family’s experience of enjoying Spring Fling first-hand.
For those who missed the launch, don’t panic! There’s still time to catch the taster exhibition, which will be running at Gracefield until 8 May. A second taster exhibition will also be running at Stranraer Museum from 24 April to 5 May and we hope to include some images of the Stranraer launch at a slightly later date (to which all are invited, incidentally, at 2pm on 24 April)…

Spring Fling 2010 Taster Opening

This coming Friday, March 12th from 4pm till 7pm Gracefield Arts Centre in Dumfries will be hosting the launch of Spring Fling 2010 with the opening of the Taster Exhibition to be held there until 8th May. We are very pleased to say that the guest of honour at the event will be Alex Fergusson MSP and Presiding Officer for the Scottish Parliament.

This is a great opportunity for participants in this years event to get together before the weekend itself and of course to see a taste of what will be on offer at the studios over the Spring Fling weekend. Every participant in this year's event has submitted work to the exhibition so if you are planning to visit some studios over the weekend this is an ideal opportunity to see what takes your fancy and start to plan your route. The beautiful new brochure will be available at the opening on Friday so if you haven't already got your copy do come along and collect one. It is very different from previous years and I think you will all agree does Dumfries and Galloway proud.

Spring Fling Brochure 2010

Here it is! The Spring Fling 2010 brochure has arrived with us. Participants can collect their copies to distribute later this week when they deliver their work for the Gracefield and Stranraer Taster exhibitions.
In these images of the brochure in production you see Peter who oversaw the printing of this years brochure at Stewart's in Livingston. Start to finish a massive 30 hours but a beautiful job very well done as I am sure you will agree.

Pop into Gracefield for a copy if you are near or visit the website to download a digital copy.

www.spring-fling.co.uk

Morag Muego - Love Tokens

Morag Muego has a new solo exhibition called Love Tokens at Castle Douglas Art Gallery. the "love tokens"of this title, are in fact, the paintings themselves.

A love token can be described as something given as a sign of affection, and each piece of work celebrates something that the artist has seen, heard, remembered or experienced with love or affection and wants to share.

This allows a very wide range of subject matter, including landscape, figure and abstract work. The style of the paintings also varies, as each idea is allowed to speak with it's own voice.

This exhibition space has given Morag the opportunity to work on a much larger scale and several of the pieces have been made with the Castle Douglas art gallery in mind. These large panels are full of intense colour and simplified shapes - some are filled with the clear light and shade of the Mediterranean, others with softer, more mysterious forms.

Morag trained at Glasgow School of Art and works from her studio in Dumfries. She will be in the Castle Douglas gallery throughout the exhibition time and will be happy to talk to visitors. She is also taking part in Spring Fling Open Studios, Venue 76, May 29th - 31st and has another exhibition later this year in the Gracefield Cafe Gallery.

The exhibition runs from Tuesday 2nd March until Saturday 13th March and is open daily from 10am till 5pm, closed on sundays.

Do Your Bit

It's that time of year again for all Spring Fling participants, and supporters too of course, to start spreading the Spring Fling word. Of course your SF committee through the fantastic aid of your Spring Fling coordinator Rhiannon have already started planning and activating the marketing campaign for 2010 but you need to play your vital part too.
Through each individual participant SF can access a huge potential audience with not too big an effort on your part. Are you a member of an arts organisation? The National Glass Society / Scottish Potters Association / Axisweb / craftscotland / Applied Arts Scotland / Visual Arts Society? Most of these organisations to name but a few offer the chance for members to put "what's on" listings in their newsletters and on their websites. Those organisations that produce a newsletter are always on the look out for articles about what their members are up to, why not tell them about your Spring Fling experience or why you have decided to participate this year and send an image with it. It's exposure for yourself and for the event. Happy promoting everyone!

Digital Photography Courses

Spring Fling 2010 participant Ed Baxter is running a series of digital photography courses for 2010 from his studio in Thornhill.

"Learn how to create better photographs, with your digital camera, from a lifelong professional photographer. You will be based in a working studio using all the equipment and facilities along with shooting at local locations. You will be encouraged to be more creative in your approach to the work. The emphasis will be on how to get the most out of your digital camera using natural and artificial lights. There are two levels of courses available, the basic introductory and the more in-depth intermediate courses."

For more information see Ed's course website http://www.photosws.co.uk/