Exhibition Archives

The UHI Perth Creative Graduate Showcase 2026 is an unmissable celebration of the creative talent shaping the future of art and design. Visitors are invited to immerse themselves in the bold ideas, powerful voices, and imaginative practices of the next generation of artists and designers.

Set to be the largest showcase to date, the exhibition will feature work from over thirty graduating students, presented across four vibrant venues in the heart of Perth: Perth Creative Exchange, Perth Theatre, Osteria Bau Bau, and St Paul’s Church – all conveniently located within walking distance of one another. Together, these spaces will transform Perth city centre into a dynamic hub of contemporary creativity.

This year’s exhibition, titled emerge, explores compelling themes such as social injustice, transformation, wellbeing, and identity. Visitors can expect a rich and diverse collection of work across multiple disciplines, including painting, sculpture, graffiti, textiles, photography, and design. From thought provoking pieces to visually striking installations, there is something to captivate both the eye and the imagination.

emerge represents the culmination of four years of dedicated study on the BA (Hons) Art and Contemporary Practices and BA (Hons) Visual Communication and Design programmes. The cohort brings together students from across the central belt and beyond, travelling weekly from as far as Carstairs, Dundee, Inverness, and Aberdeen to study in Perth.

The UHI Perth Graduate Showcase 2026 will be open to the public from 8th–17th May across Perth city. Save the date and come along to celebrate the creativity, ambition, and emerging voices of UHI Perth’s newest graduates, we look forward to welcoming you.

To mark their 50th anniversary celebrations, the AHF will host a special touring exhibition across the UK this year. Made possible with The National Lottery Heritage Fund, Architectural Heritage Fund: 50 Years of Reimagining Heritage will showcase the work of the organisation across People, Place and Heritage at The Briggait in Glasgow, following its inaugural opening in Northern Ireland in February.

Since its foundation in 1976, the AHF has supported 2,432 projects in the UK, with their 1000th loan awarded in March 2026 as well as 3,079 grants. The combined total of financial support awarded to projects in towns, cities and the countryside currently sits at £182,060,862. The anniversary programme will shine a light on AHF-supported projects in every nation and region of the UK, culminating in a celebration of a top 50 projects that demonstrate the enduring power of heritage-led regeneration.

In Scotland, the AHF has made 1,052 funding offers, totalling £43.6 million of investment. This includes 840 grant offers, totalling £8.2 million, and 183 loan offers, totalling £34.8 million, to 426 organisations developing 629 historic buildings projects, benefitting people in every single local authority area across Scotland.

The exhibition venue, The Briggait, is an AHF supported project and a thriving cultural hub in an historic A-Listed market hall complex in Glasgow’s City Centre. Dating back to 1873, The Briggait is the largest complex of Victorian-era halls in Scotland and is also headquarters for Wasps Studios.

After Glasgow, the exhibition will go on to tour Cardiff (June) and London (October) over the course of the year. Each exhibition will highlight outstanding local projects and the people behind them, with the Glasgow leg including nine Scottish projects: Former Grange Free Church (Above Adventure), Kerrera Old School, Leith Theatre, The Briggait, Fairfield Shipyard, Old Sail Loft Shetland, Ardnamurchan Lighthouse, Law’s Close Fife, City Observatory Edinburgh.

As well as giving visitors a chance to engage with the AHF’s nationwide work restoring historic buildings and supporting communities – from Jubilee Pool in Penzance, Cromford Mills in Derbyshire, Collective Gallery Edinburgh and Cardigan Market Hall – the exhibition wants to ask questions about the role of restoration in today’s society and the future of heritage in the UK.

Following Seas is a group exhibition born of the Sail Britain Hebridean residency programme. In this exhibition, Na Fir Ghorma (The Blue Men Of The Minch) rub shoulders with the Blue Economy as twenty diverse interdisciplinary artists explore the lore of the ocean through historical, cultural and conservational lenses.

Featuring photography, screen printing, music video, costume, films and more, as well as an eclectic symposium comprising words spoken and sung in Gaelic and English, Following Seas offers an insight into the vast range of work created in response to the beauty and importance of our ocean. Sail Britain is an annual programme which seeks to inspire positive change for the oceans under sail. Through hosting artists’ residencies, the programme works towards cultural exchange and ocean literacy through exploration and education on their expedition yacht, Merlin, offering the opportunity to collaboratively explore our marine environment, culture and heritage, whilst highlighting the beauty and importance of our oceans.

A spring exhibition of botanical artworks created with plant-based inks, celebrating renewal, growth, and the vibrant colours and rhythms of the natural world.

This exhibition explores the expressive possibilities of painting with handmade natural inks and watercolours – materials derived from plants, minerals, and organic matter that carry both visual and ecological narratives. Each work is created using pigments extracted through slow, experimental processes, where Libby engages directly with the environment as both source and collaborator.

At its core, the exhibition is a meditation on sustainability, impermanence, and connection to place. By using locally foraged or responsibly sourced materials, Mitchell foregrounds a slower, more attentive mode of making – one that resists industrial standardisation in favour of intimacy and care. Viewers are encouraged to consider the hidden histories of materials, and to reflect on how art can exist in closer harmony with the natural world while attempting to further answer what kind of art can provoke genuine environmental action.

Libby Mitchell is a multidisciplinary artist residing in WASPS Riverside House – Edinburgh, Scotland. Having completed an Advanced Diploma of Visual Art in Melbourne, Australia, she has since travelled New Zealand as a landscape artist, taking inspiration for her Art from the bush and her time working as a landscaper in Northland.

Sustainability is not an aesthetic choice but a guiding principle. By rejecting mass-produced materials and minimizing environmental impact, Libby challenges conventional art practices and invites a reconsideration of how art is made. Their process is intentionally slow and labor-intensive, emphasising care, patience, and a reconnection with natural cycles.

Influenced by both traditional botanical illustration, impressionism and contemporary environmental art, Libby navigates the space between documentation and emotional response. Each piece becomes a record not only of what is seen, but of what is felt: a moment of stillness, a seasonal shift, or the fragile resilience of plant life in a changing climate.

BONE-A-COD is an exhibition exploring speculative intersections of place, class, and gender in relation to the fishing industry in the North-East of Scotland.

“It was an Aberdeen Fishwife who, when speaking about the Motto of her native city, remarked, ‘Bone-a-cod! It taks me a’ my time to bone a Haddie!’”
-Canny Tales Fae Aberdeen

BONE-A-COD is an exhibition exploring speculative intersections of place, class, and gender in relation to the fishing industry in the North-East of Scotland. Here, Aberdeen’s ubiquitous town motto ‘Bon-Accord’ is reimagined, allowing overwritten and unfulfilled fishing histories to come to the fore. Through imaginal world-building and speculative fictioning, the artworks examine the lingering presence of fishing in Aberdeen, while considering the very real and lived realities of the fishing industry in Peterhead and Fraserburgh. The exhibition consists of printmaking, sculptural props and film.

Marie-Chantal Hamrock is a visual artist and writer based in Aberdeen. Blurring the line between the real and the imagined, Marie’s work explores speculative narratives of place, folk tradition, maritime histories, feminism and social class. These semi-fictional narratives are activated through props, performances and film-making. She is currently a practice-based PhD candidate at Gray’s School of Art. Her PhD project, Speculative Intersections: Class, Place and Gender in the North-East of Scotland’s Maritime Cultures is supervised by Dr. Jon Blackwood and Dr. Laura Leuzzi.

Prism comprises five artists – an ‘occasional collective’ – working in three dimensions presenting different perspectives on abstraction, minimalism, materiality and making methods. The exhibition forms part of Gray’s School of Art’s 140th anniversary celebrations.

Prism: A Continuing Process will be the second in a series of experiments in artistic interaction by the artists, each of whom uses colour in different ways and for different reasons – whether through process, material or aesthetic. We focus on the fact that colour is a property of light. A ‘dispersive’ prism – having five facets – transforms white light into the colours of the spectrum. The exhibition is supported by Gray’s School of Art which is celebrating 140 years of artist-led education with a major exhibition – Never make a head bigger than a melon – reflecting on the evolution of studio practice, teaching, and artistic relationships across generations. The exhibition is curated by Dr Judith Winter (curator, writer, researcher & artist-educator, and Sally Reaper, Director of Look Again, both working at Gray’s School of Art).

All the artists are closely connected to Gray’s School of Art in Aberdeen: Julia Gardiner and Robin Palmer being alumni, Carole Gray, Gordon Burnett and Allan Watson all former staff. Prism honours the teaching, mentorship and studio culture that continue to shape the School.

Collectively curated in association with Carole Gray, whose research into artistic pedagogy has shaped generations of artists, the exhibition reflects on how artists teach, how knowledge moves through making, and how ways of seeing are passed on.

Participating artists will also host weekly open studio discussions for current Gray’s students, creating space for intergenerational exchange. The art school extends into the city. The conversation continues.

Gordon Burnett has made work on time keeping (a variety of clocks), and looked skyward into the cosmos for inspiration (sculpture using granite and pewter). For this exhibition Gordon is peering downward into the ocean by making objects to celebrate the extraordinary diversity of Plankton.

Julia Gardiner’s work explores the subtle minimalist interplay between material, process, and form. Using paper as both medium and method, Julia builds complex, tactile surfaces that echo the rhythms of natural landscapes while resisting fixed interpretation. The work invites you in, revealing intricacy and imperfection within seemingly ordered geometric constructions. At the centre of the pieces are handmade paper pulp sheets where subtle imperfections of the process break up the uniformity, adding depth and character to each unique piece.

Carole Gray constructs geometric forms using new technologies (laser cutting) and materials (a variety of perspex types) to explore visual ambiguity and our perception of space. Carole will present recent three-dimensional constructions that materialise ideas about ambiguous space, using transparency, translucency and opacity to reveal, obscure and hide.

Robin Palmer constructs wall-based low relief boxed sculpture. His new pieces continue his journey amongst familiar landforms, walked through, drawn, photographed, revisited and reimagined. Robin is always searching and paring back his approach to the shapes he makes and to the structure and colour that emerges.

Allan Watson will present wall-based constructions in the tradition of geometric abstraction, working with the modernist and brutalist architecture of Aberdeen as a starting point.

CINQ is an exhibition of work by five Inverness artists inspired by their regular visits to France.

The work in the exhibition includes paintings and drawings in various media. Some have been completed en plein air in France whilst others have been worked on in the studio based on studies and supporting photographs. This group of five artists have known each other for many years and they are united by their love of the French landscape, climate, language and way of life. Three have studios at Inverness Creative Academy and the other two attend courses there on a regular basis.

Clare Blois is an oil painter living in Beauly, working from her studio at Inverness Creative Academy. Her expressive landscape paintings have won many accolades and have been exhibited widely over the years. Recent work has developed into a more abstract approach. Clare looks forward to annual painting trips to France with her artist friends and has visited many regions. The Languedoc is one of her favourites.

Margaret Cowie has taken her paints to France many times. She is well known for her flowing and direct use of line and colour, whether the subject be landscape, floral or still life. She particularly likes to seek out characterful buildings and village-scapes on her travels, and is equally at home with oil, watercolour, pastel or charcoal. She is particularly drawn to the unique light to be found in Provence. She also has a studio at Inverness Creative Academy.

As a student Elizabeth Joss spent a year in Millau, Aveyron as an English Language Assistante before going on to work as a language tutor and interpreter in French. A respected artist, she makes frequent trips to France. Her painting covers a variety of subject matter and she has become known for her delicate mixed media work featuring the natural world through the seasons. She enjoys plein air painting and sketching, which provides material for larger studio work.

Margaret McKay paints mainly in oil but also enjoys pastel and watercolour. The breathtaking highland scenery inevitably provides subject matter for many of her paintings but she is also drawn to still life, life drawing and architectural subjects, and especially to interesting interiors and she is much admired for her handling of tone. For many years she has spent time in France with a group of fellow artists, as well as taking trips to the west highlands and Orkney.

John Nicholson has visited France with his oil paints for at least forty years. Painting en plein air, he has been able to enjoy the climate and immerse himself in the French way of life. Favourite haunts include the Tarn, Corrèze and Dordogne. Trained at the Byam Shaw School of Art in London, John has exhibited widely throughout Scotland and beyond. With his family roots in Skye, he often paints on the west coast. Meticulous in approach, he combines subject matter and abstract elements in his search for aesthetic, intellectual and emotional significance. See www.john-nicholson-artist.com

This project started at Metropolitan Fukujusou, an Artists’ Residency in Kyoto, in 2024. There has been a longstanding fascination with toys, miniaturisation, automatons and play as precursor to art.

Dislocation from everyday life in the UK, and dis-orient-ation, intensified my perception of local toys, games, charms, replicas, childish things and the culture of childhood. Shedding a curious look at how Japan has shaped the post-World War II world, from toy pop- culture creations, from the techy to the super-kawaii. Japan’s toys, gadgets and fantasy worlds, profoundly transform every aspect of the way we live. Such toys transform how we connect, as well as isolate ourselves, opening pathways to social change. From a surrealist perspective on chance and indeterminacy, toys are bound up with judgment of value (i.e., not worth much). I have been revisiting modern and contemporary art, through the lens of its engagement with the way childhood has been understood and construed. How has a toy been adapted to new social/aesthetic circumstances? Revision of childhood emerges as a timely subject, the political dimension of play – things have significance beyond the intrapersonal. Marketing of stereotypes and fantasies, present as an endless stream of fun.

Sustainable media and aesthetics

I have expanded my artwork in terms of content, and more sustainable materials, i.e. Sumi pigments on paper. My drawings and transformed boardgames – as non- industrial media and timeless visual communication – act as a manifestation complementary to the ever faster renewal of mass messages. Working with the most direct and elementary materials, aids reducing artwork to its essentials and transcending technical constraints. My new drawings aspire to the condition of music, not in wishing to be relieved of the burden of reference, but in wishing to employ subtle allusions, rather than spelled out certainties. They celebrate hybridity and cultural collisions. My aesthetic communication is deliberately ambiguous to foster the use of different interpretative codes, by those who from diverse cultural backgrounds, will encounter the work. What constitutes a ‘toy’, what is a ‘work of art’?

Artist biography

Louise Schmid is a Glasgow based visual artist, with a special interest in drawing and work on paper. Currently working at Wasps South Block Studios. Most recent solo exhibitions held at Nomas* Projects Dundee, Monade Contemporary Kyoto, Galerie Rosenberg, Zurich and 201 Gallery in Strathkinness. Louise Schmid’s visual motifs evolved, especially in response to working as an artist in residence, in diverse locations, such as Metropolitan Fukujusou in Kyoto 2024, and Cité internationale des Arts Paris 2022.

A mixed-media exhibition amplifying diverse and often overlooked narratives from Glasgow-based artists and outsider practitioners, articulated through collage, print, photography, sound, poetry, and graffiti.

Stories from Glasgow is a mixed-media exhibition amplifying narratives often marginalised, softened, or excluded from dominant accounts of the city. Curated through collective making rather than extraction, the project positions lived experience not as content to be mined, but as knowledge in its own right.

Developed through artist-led workshops across three of Glasgow’s booster wards—Calton, Govan, and Govanhill—the exhibition foregrounds creative practice as a means of reclaiming space, articulating personal and collective histories, and building connection across difference. Booster wards are areas identified as experiencing the highest levels of child poverty, targeted by the Glasgow Child Poverty Programme with preventative, place-based interventions. Rather than presenting these neighbourhoods through deficit narratives or statistics, Stories from Glasgow centres the knowledge, creativity, and agency already present within them. The artworks emerge not as responses to intervention, but as affirmations of lived experience—complex, resilient, and irreducible to the language of need.

The exhibition brings together collage, screen print, photography, sound, writing, and graffiti—mediums selected for their accessibility, immediacy, and deep roots in community expression. Artist-participants collaborated with established Glasgow-based practitioners whose work prioritises experimentation, care, and co-creation, producing pieces that resist polish in favour of honesty, tactility, and presence.

Rather than presenting a single story of the city, Stories from Glasgow operates as a constellation of voices: some whispered, some defiant, some deliberately anonymous. Together, they form a collective portrait of a fluid city, resisting tokenism, branding exercises, or surface-level representation. The exhibition embraces the fragmentary and unfinished, acknowledging that many stories are still unfolding.

Care, consent, and accessibility are embedded throughout the project’s structure. Decisions around authorship, attribution, and display were made in dialogue with participants, recognising that visibility is not always synonymous with empowerment. In doing so, the exhibition challenges conventional gallery hierarchies, asking what it might mean to encounter art through mutual respect rather than consumption. Audiences are invited to move beyond passive observation: to feel, to listen, and to encounter the city through co-creation, imagination, and shared authorship.

In this exhibition, you will notice the absence of individual wall labels naming the creators of certain works. This is a deliberate curatorial choice. Many participating artists are currently in care or otherwise vulnerable, and for some, anonymity is a necessary form of protection. Others have chosen not to be individually named. Stories from Glasgow challenges the assumption that visibility must always take the form of bold, declarative authorship. Participation in an exhibition need not require self-disclosure, nor should artistic value depend on recognition within conventional systems. The works presented here are contributions to a shared cultural moment, not commodities awaiting extraction. Where consent has been given, artists’ names are included collectively

Home Energy is a new exhibition from the University of Stirling, in collaboration with INCH Architecture and Design.

This exhibition explores findings from a two-year research project that used sensing technology to assess how existing housing can be retrofitted to meet new Scottish Government energy standards.

Sensors were installed in eight apartments to monitor light, temperature, humidity, air quality and energy consumption before, during and after energy-efficiency improvements were made. The objective of this study was to establish the technical and financial viability of a fabric first approach to retrofit to meet forthcoming Scottish Government EESSH2 requirements.

INCH Architecture + Design is a dynamic, innovative, social enterprise architecture, design and research practice founded in 2012 in Glasgow. We work across a diverse range of fields with a focus on social and community enhancement. We strive to create architecture which benefits communities and increases peoples enjoyment of the built environment. We place an emphasis on inclusivity delivering high quality design for all.

This exhibition was funded through the Social Sciences Impact Accelerator Account.

In Viewfinder, Samuel O’Donnell presents a selection of recent works that explore the possibilities found within painting’s ability to frame the world.

O’Donnell’s paintings attempt to understand something of the immediate, contemporary environment – in particular the aberrations and oddities found in the home, the city and the landscape, views glanced at while travelling or compositions found in domestic life. Subjects for his paintings have been disparate as well as ubiquitous; a football stand, a bathroom sink, a streetlight, reflections in car bodywork, his children at home, an eraser on the studio table. They are subjects chosen for being both strange and familiar, aspects of the everyday that the artist is in equal parts devoted to and puzzled by.

A consistent motif in his work is that of the natural framing device of windows. The way windows create a view in and a view out, incorporating reflected light, interiority, doubling and a means to automatically crop the world. What we choose to include and what we leave out. For O’Donnell, framing the works in such a way becomes a game of endless visual variation, a way to consider line, colour, composition, materiality, gesture, edges and abstraction.

The exhibition is accompanied by a text by Jamie Limond.

Samuel O’Donnell (b. 1992, Bolton) is an artist based in Glasgow. He is founder/director of A_Place Gallery, Glasgow and together with Jamie Limond, runs the YouTube channel Painting Nerds. Exhibitions include Drive, Papple Steading, Haddington (upcoming). Open Return, A_Place Gallery, Glasgow 2024. Good Morning Have You Had Breakfast Yet?, Hweg, Penzance, 2024. The Very Hours Pass Unnoticed, Warbling Collective, Greatorex Street, London, 2023. Opening, A_Place Gallery, Glasgow, 2023. Homage to those green things where I found you, IOTA, Glasgow 2023. He was shortlisted for the Contemporary British Painting Prize, 2022 and completed a Royal Drawing School Dumfries House Artist Residency in 2021. He has received grants from Mondriaan Fonds (with Painting Nerds), Sputnik Arts and Hope Scott Trust.

For Beyond Waste, JUNELE brings 100kg of fashion waste to The Gannochy Project Space, transforming the industry’s excess into bold art that challenges how we define waste.

Beyond Waste, the first solo exhibition by Junele, presents a bold exploration of transformation and renewal through the lens of fashion industry waste. Bringing over 100 kg of discarded textile remnants to The Gannochy Project Space, Sandra Junele challenges us to reconsider what we define as “waste” and invites deeper reflection on consumption, sustainability, and creative possibility.

Using a unique sustainable technique she developed herself, Sandra transforms natural fibre fashion waste blended with an organic, plant-based glue into textured, fibreboard-like sheets. These are then shaped into striking, tactile artworks, statement wall pieces and décor, that redefine what we consider waste.

Before we wear our garments, piles of unseen waste are produced during manufacturing. My practice begins with collecting this fashion waste, often overlooked and undervalued. Through my work, I seek to uncover the hidden potential within these materials and give them new life as bold, textural artworks that stand out sustainably.

Combining my background in Interior and Textile Design, I developed a method that blends natural fibre waste with a plant-based glue I prepare myself. This process results in fibreboard-like sheets that I transform into unique pieces.

Recycling and reusing have been part of my life since childhood. Growing up in a family of makers in Latvia, I was inspired by my grandfather’s skill in transforming found wood into beautiful furniture.

Through Beyond Waste, I hope to spark conversations that extend beyond aesthetics… Conversations about responsibility, creativity, and the choices we make every day that shape the future of our planet.

Sandra Junele is an artist and maker dedicated to transforming fashion waste—what others see as discarded remnants—into bold, sustainable artworks. Born into a family of makers in Latvia, Sandra was inspired from a young age by watching her grandfather remake found wood into furniture. Making has been part of her life for as long as she can remember.

Sandra studied Interior Design at the Soules School of Art and Design before earning her degree in Textile Design from Duncan of Jordanstone College of Art and Design in Scotland, the country she now calls home. Drawing on decades of making experience and combining her expertise in both disciplines, she developed a unique technique to create a new material by blending natural fibre fashion waste with an organic, plant-based glue she prepares herself. This process transforms discarded textile remnants into textured, fibreboard-like sheets, which she then uses to craft one-of-a-kind statement wall art, business signage, and décor pieces.

Sandra’s work has been showcased in notable exhibitions including Forgotten Fleece Tales (2025–current), When the Canons are Silent at the Mark Rothko Museum, Daugavpils (March 2024), and the Kunstgewerbe Museum Berlin during Berlin Design Week (May 2023), just to name a few.

Her awards and recognitions include the New Designers Hallmark Connection Award (June 2022), Fife Contemporary New Maker Award (June 2022), The Tailor Incorporation of Dundee Award for Innovation in Style, Cut and Structure (June 2022), and the Award for Innovation in Fashion & Textiles by UNESCO City of Design (November 2023).

In 2024, Sandra was a finalist for the Global Youth Entrepreneur of the Year Award in Climate and was commissioned by Camira for Clerkenwell Design Week (May 2023).

Elements of Being explores the inner landscape through abstract expressions of Earth, Air, Fire and Water, using colour, texture and light to evoke spiritual connection.

Elements of Being is a new body of abstract and semi-abstract oil paintings that explores the interconnected energies of the four classical elements – Earth, Air, Fire, and Water. These forces, ever-present in nature, also mirror our internal emotional and spiritual landscapes. Together they form the foundation of both the natural world around us and the quiet, shifting terrain within.

Through expressive use of oils on canvas, I translate the changing moods of nature into colour, texture, and light. Each element becomes a visual language of feeling: Earth embodies grounding, stability, and stillness. Built through layered, organic tones and tactile surfaces, these works reflect the quiet strength of landforms, ancient rock, and the steady pulse beneath our feet. Air evokes openness, movement, and spaciousness. Soft transitions, diffused light, and luminous atmospheres capture the sensation of breath and the vastness of the Scottish sky. Fire represents transformation, passion, and vitality. Warm palettes, bold gestures, and energetic marks echo the element’s intensity, its ability to ignite, renew, and reshape. Water channels emotion, reflection, and fluidity. Flowing compositions and subtle shifts of colour reveal the element’s depth and its capacity to hold memory, intuition, and change.

The Scottish landscape, particularly the coastline, the North Sea, and the expansive skies of the Highlands, plays a central role in this work. Its shifting light, unpredictable weather, and raw beauty provide endless inspiration. Instead of depicting these environments directly, I work from the impressions they leave behind: the feeling of wind across open water, the warmth of late-day sun dissolving into cloud, the quiet rhythm of tides. My process is intuitive and meditative, allowing each painting to emerge organically through memory, emotion, and energetic response.

Elements of Being continues my ongoing exploration of nature’s power to restore balance, presence, and connection. It reflects my belief that the natural world holds profound, transformative energy, an energy that can ground us, open us, challenge us, and guide us back to ourselves. Working in oils allows me to honour this complexity, using depth, luminosity, and layered textures to create spaces that invite contemplation.

This exhibition presents a collection of wall-hung oil paintings, each capturing an elemental state of being. Together, they form an immersive journey through the forces that shape our environment and our inner lives, inviting viewers to reflect on their own emotional landscapes and to reconnect with the essential energies that move through us all.

Artist Bio – Erika Vado
Art has always been at the heart of my life. From an early age, I have been captivated by the colours, rhythms, and emotions of the natural world. Now, working from my studio at Wasps Creative Academy in Inverness, I create abstract and semi-abstract seascapes and landscapes that capture the ever-changing light, depth, and energy of the Scottish environment. The North Sea and the expansive skies of the Highlands are constant sources of inspiration, their moods and movement reflecting both nature’s wild spirit and its serenity.

I work primarily in oils, building expressive layers that convey atmosphere and emotion. My process is intuitive and reflective, allowing each painting to evolve through feeling and memory rather than strict representation. I aim to create spaces that invite calm, connection, and contemplation – moments where viewers can experience the same sense of wonder that I feel in nature.

Born in Lithuania, I hold a BA Honours in Art and have studied Fine Art and Art History. My creative journey spans painting, drawing, photography, sculpture, and textiles, shaped by nearly two decades working in early years education. Working with children has been especially transformative, reminding me of the joy of discovery and the freedom of expression that continues to fuel my practice.

Sustainability is an integral part of my work. I upcycle old canvases and choose environmentally conscious materials to honour the world that inspires me. For me, art is a lifelong journey of learning, renewal, and connection – a way to bring harmony, positivity, and beauty into the world.

An intermedia art and music exhibition tracing a river’s journey through animated paintings, an original score, and visual art. A immersive, sensory experience. The highlight performance is on the evening of 7 January, beginning at 7pm.

Rivers is an intermedia exhibition that traces the powerful, transformative journey of rivers through music, animation, and visual art. The work unfolds as a narrative that reflects both the changing nature of rivers and their role in shaping communities. Across five Acts, the river’s story emerges: from youthful beginnings, life-giving presence to wild rapids and mature serenity. Animated paintings and an original score for piano and symphony flow together to create a story, an immersive sensory experience, each phase echoing the rhythms and transformations of the river. The final Act culminates in a live piano performance accompanied by recorded footage of a local river, grounding the work in the cultural and historical fabric of the region. Complementing these moving images with music, oil paintings and prints of handmade digital collages extend the journey into a more tactile form, bridging the flow of water with the stillness of paint. Rivers is an invitation to reflect on how waterways shape landscapes, sustain life, and carry the stories of the communities that grow along their banks.

Krzysztof Augustyn is a performing artist, pianist, composer, and interdisciplinary creator with a BA and MA from the University of Salford. His artistic journey spans across the UK and Europe, where he has exhibited works that merge music, visual art, and storytelling into immersive experiences. Before and during his studies, Krzysztof developed a strong practice in directing and conceptual creation, skills that continue to shape his multidisciplinary approach. His work often explores environmental and social themes, weaving together sound, image, and narrative to engage audiences in both thought and emotion.

An intermedia art and music exhibition tracing a river’s journey through animated paintings, an original score, and visual art. A immersive, sensory experience. The highlight performance is on the evening of 15 January, beginning at 7pm.

This exhibition showcases a series of recent works inspired by the interpretation of phrases, interactions, and the life of the artist, Catherine Lily Mearns.

Interpretations is a collection of works born from the individuality of perception. How each individual interprets what they hear and internalise. There are no facts, only interpretations; with every retelling of a story you change the original memory. Reframing our lives.

Inspired by phrases such as slipping through my fingers, and every cloud has a silver lining. I reflected on how certain sayings spoke to me, and how I personally interpret them. How they resonated with me when I pondered over them built up the composition. What in my life do I see through these sayings?

My creative process is reflection, I apply my vision through mark making and expressive forms, taking a painterly approach to my use of media. I love having fun with my work, while posing a question to the viewer and in this exhibition through a mix of media I was able to do so. In the last few years I discovered a love for ceramics and what they can symbolise, previously using them as a reference to the human form. Using paints, inks, and glazes for my expression I can capture the vibrancy, the delicacy and the rush of life. By reframing my experiences through each piece I create, I am better able to understand the world around me.

Catherine Lily Mearns is a multidisciplinary artist based in the North-east of Scotland. They studied Painting (Hons) at Grays School of Art RGU graduating in 2024. Colour harmony and fun palettes are hugely important in their work, expressing ideas using a range of mediums. “My work is an indirect link into my life, I want the viewer to feel closer to me through how they interpret my works.”

Catherine Lily Mearns is based in the North-east of Scotland. They studied Painting (Hons) at Grays School of Art RGU graduating in 2024. In 2025, Catherine exhibited as part of the The Graduates Show at Tatha Gallery. In 2024 they exhibited in the SSA Annual Exhibition at The Royal Scottish Academy, where they won the The Wasps New Contemporaries Award. Also in 2024, Catherine exhibited in exhibitions: New Year, New Me, New World Order! at Edinburgh Palette Gallery, Analogous at Moray Art Centre, Class of 24 in the Scottish Ceramics Gallery and Gray’s Degree Show at Grays School of art.

The artists tenants of Perth Creative Exchange are hosting their annual winter exhibition.

Works include painting, print, photography, and will be showcased in the Gannochy Project Space, next to reception.

The artists tenants of Inverness Creative Academy are hosting their annual winter exhibition.

Works include painting, print, photography, and will be showcased in the Assembly Hall.

Patriothall’s artist community are hosting a weekend-long open studios event, with tapestry artist Fiona Hutchison, ceramicist Tokes Sharif and painter Elaine Speirs taking part

The artist collective based at Perth Creative Exchange is coming together for their annual winter event on 6 and 7 December.

They will be hosting an open studios event, festive market, exhibition and pop-up cafe. Both artist tenants and independent makers from across Perthshire will be in attendance.

Mimae: the edge of sleep explores an actuality of abstraction across layered realities, exposing aftershocks of sensation and dissonant emotion through metaphorical and physical planes. The 2024 exhibition is awarded to artist, Sooun Kim after being selected by Wasps’ Arts Programme Manager at the RSA Annual Show. Sooun is currently represented by Patricia Fleming Gallery.

In Mimae: the edge of sleep, Kim presents a new suite of paintings, through which he explores the mobility of consciousness, the misalignment of sensation, and the residue of emotion in the body. Beginning from a metaphorical place of psychological delay, the works embody the perceptual tremors and fissures that arise in the gaps between diasporic senses, physical location, and emotional attachment to place. From there, Kim translates those slipped layers of sensation into a distinct visual language.

“Mimae” is a Korean term created by the artist, implying the residual sensation between sleep and wakefulness, the lingering of emotion, and the overlapping of alternate layers of reality. These sensations are presented as a response to invisible dissonances such as the failure of emotional attunement, linguistic delay, and temporal gaps of the body that the artist experiences as a Korean immigrant. The “edge” is where the strata of these sensations unfold, and is not a boundary but an aftershock, transcending through metaphorical and physical planes. It is another secondary modality of reality, and ontologically, it is reality.

In Mimae, Kim layers painting and sculptural elements on cold metal surfaces. Arranging the fluidity of image, materiality, and emotion in multiple strata across the works. The recognisable traces of imagery and the fused masses of material coexist in an unfamiliar juxtaposition, constructing spatially condensed matrices of emotion. Within this pictorial plane, abstraction functions not as a residue of impression, but as embodied form — a sensorial concreteness of abstraction, where emotional sensation attains a presence of actuality.

Sooun Kim works across painting, video, sound, and installation. Embracing a process of abstraction shaped by mediated perception, his artwork appears as shifting terrains; hybrid surfaces where his lived experience of diasporic migration drifts in and out of proximity. Refusing romantic notions of cultural fusion, Kim’s work foregrounds how identities and images fragment and reconfigure under postcolonial and technological conditions, accentuating the psychological distance between simulation and human embodiment. Sooun Kim is represented by Patricia Fleming Gallery.

Solo exhibitions: Glasgow International (Upcoming); NADA, New York (2025), Bank Commissions, Outer Spaces, Glasgow, UK (2025); Echoes, Patricia Fleming Gallery, Glasgow, UK (2024); Ramifying Frost, Goethe-Institut, Glasgow, UK (2023). Two-person and group exhibitions include: 198th RSA Annual Exhibition, The Royal Scottish Academy, Edinburgh, UK (2024); Begin Again, the Korean Embassy Cultural Centre in London, and Berlin, UK and Germany (2022); Rencontres Internationales Paris/Berlin 2022, Berlin, Germany (2022); NOWNESS Experiments: Yellow Fever, NOWNESS ASIA, Hong Kong (2022); Art Lovers Movie Club: Born Beneath, ArtReview (2022); The Auto-Buzz of Hybrid Kim and Rabbit, Intermedia Gallery of Centre for Contemporary Art, CCA, Glasgow, UK (2021); CIRCA Class of 2020, Piccadilly Lights in Piccadilly Circus, London, UK (2020); Aesthetica Short Film Festival, York, UK (2020)

Join us in the capital of the Highlands this December for our Shop the Halls event, which will feature open studios, exhibitions, a festive market and more.

The entire building will be getting in the festive spirit, with the artist community based there opening their doors to invite visitors in for a chat and a browse of their creative spaces, plus the two stunning halls will be transformed for you to feast your eyes and fill your pockets with all different kinds of art and craft.

Participating artists that are opening their studio doors are: Marina Gjertsen, Bebecca Bolland, Fiona Matheson, Ross Mcateer, Susan McCreevy, Evija Laivina, the Highland School of Jewellery, Clare Blois, Erika Vado, Ali Mackay,Jacqueline Mackenzie, Gael Hillyard, Velvet Purls, Isle of Riso, Yelena Visemirska and Carolyn Johnston. Please note, some artists will also be hosting stalls at the festive market in the Gym Hall.

For the festive market, we will have the following stall holders: Ailsa Robertson, Leila Ross, Martin Irish, Jenny Hepburn, Cecilia Mann, Alicia MacInnes, Ali Mackay, Crunch Willoughby, Louise Scott, Inverness Openarts, Holly Meiklejohn, Inverness Darkroom, Jupiter’s Grace, Andrea Johnson, LaKrista Morton, Spicy Chameleon, Steve Plowman, Zoe Yan, Geraldine Sekan, Tim Palmer, the Art Society of Inverness, Fodderty Woodturning, Beti Bricelj, Geddes Designs and Susan Plowman.

Thank you to Alice Prentice of Isle of Riso for the design of the Shop the Halls poster.

A retrospective? Yes! A studio sale? Yes! Lots of framed/unframed work? Yes! A bit chaotic? Probably! Retirement? Probably not!

An exhibition of mostly, but not exclusively, figurative paintings covering a very long period. Paintings of people and their various activities. I paint ordinary people doing ordinary things. Other visual diversions.

Gerry McGowan is a painter based at Patriothall in Stockbridge, Edinburgh. He was most recently selected as a finalist for the Scottish Landscape Awards 2025.

SEE / AND KNOW / BOTH SIDES OF THE QUESTION is one of a stream of imperious commands and statements issued in a set of textile scrolls, stitched by Lorina Bulwer (1838–1912) while interned within a Norfolk workhouse.

Glasgow-based artist Poppy Nash enlarges phrases from Bulwer’s testimony and stitches them into fragments of repurposed fabric. To produce these textile works, Nash layers and scrunches carefully constructed composites of cloth scraps into a digital embroidery machine. She mirrors and mediates this process through screenprinting on paper, building up textures and motifs on the matrix like patches stitched onto cloth. To create her prints, Nash places fabric directly onto the screen; these burnt fragments are then reused within the stitched works, forming an interpolation of print and textile. In doing so, Nash stages a dialogue between the embroidered and the printed word, encouraging us to consider the neglect of the former in favour of the latter in dominant modes of history-telling. Nash’s approach to printmaking is deeply embedded in Feminist agitprop and the use of printed matter by activist movements. In reconstituting Bulwer’s embroidered words as print and translating them into banner-like compositions, Nash compels us to view them as materialisations of a subversive voice: tactile history from below.

Nash’s interest in entangling the mechanics of printmaking with the pliancy of textiles is shared by her friend and mentor Fraser Taylor, an interdisciplinary artist also based in Glasgow. Taylor’s longstanding interest in the co-constitutive relationship between graphic design, printmaking techniques, and the materiality of textiles has led him to incorporate garment construction, graphic design, and performance into his artistic practice. Screen-printing has been a significant part of Taylor’s technical arsenal since the late 1970s, allowing him to translate the immediacy and specificity of a hand-drawn mark into a replicable unit of form. Unlikely Architectures features printed textiles alongside thick, gestural oil marks layered onto collaged cardboard, produced between 2020 and 2025. The shapes that comprise the visual skeleton of both printed and painted works are taken from Taylor’s observational drawings of architectural details, abstracted into elemental structures. Through a stark, monochromatic palette, fragmented curves and grids invoke the shadows of an arch or gable; the curve of a tunnel; the mullion of a window. Together, the works conjure an imagined topography, or the disjointed glimpses of an unfamiliar city seen by night.

Both Nash and Fraser Taylor’s artistic practices mobilise collaboration across disciplines to make work embedded in life outside of the studio or gallery space. Taylor has worked closely with musicians, producers and fashion designers, lending his visual language to album covers, theatre sets, and wearable textiles; Nash collaborates with charities, archive holdings and community centres to create site-specific, accessible artworks. The two artists have materialised the intersections between their practices by producing a set of nine collaborative works, displayed on street poster sites around Edinburgh and Glasgow during their parallel exhibitions at Patriothall.

With support from the National Lottery through Creative Scotland.

Skin, cloth, needles, text, ink, printing, stitching, folding: these elemental materials and actions form the bedrock of Poppy Nash’s artistic practice. Poppy activates the potential of textile and tactile materiality to mitigate oppressive circumstances; whether through research-based projects that look back to historical subversive craft practices, or in the implementation of her work to enrich and soften environments that provide public care. She has collaborated with the Wellcome Collection, the National Disability Arts Collection & Archive, Hospital Rooms and Tate Modern, conducting archival research, creating commissioned works, and holding public talks and workshops. Her permanent artworks include The Welcome Room at Sandwell CAMHS; a public art intervention at the Boghall Community Centre; and Disability Rights! Are Human Rights!, for the NDACA. Solo presentations include Glasshouse, Gathering (2025); Walpole Bay Hotel (2022); Review Gallery (2019), and Patriot Hall (upcoming). Poppy’s work has been included in group exhibitions at Cornell University in New York, Hauser and Wirth in London, Site Gallery in Sheffield, and The Grundy, Blackpool, among others. Poppy lives and works in Glasgow.

Invisible lines, fragmented time is this year’s cross estate exhibition at Inverness Creative Academy, featuring work from four artists based at different Wasps locations across Scotland. The purpose of the cross estate exhibitions is to foster connections between artists across the network, with curatorial support from the Arts Programme Manager to produce the project.

This exhibition brings together four artists whose practices converge around memory, materiality, and the hidden connections that shape our lives. Though working in different mediums (textiles, printmaking, painting, sculpture, and assemblage) each artist explores the fragile intersections of time, place, and human experience.

Laura Derby translates resilience and storytelling into hand-tufted wool rugs, fusing art and functionality through tactile, sculptural surfaces that hold echoes of heritage and landscape.
Christine creates prints in muted tones and monochrome, layering stillness and shadow to shift the atmosphere of a space and invite quiet contemplation.
Kayleigh Sarah McGuinness works in rope, brass, stone, and steel, embedding physical energy into sculptural gestures that trace ancestral memory and overlooked histories.
Fiona Stewart draws on natural decay and discarded fragments in paintings and assemblages, weaving theatre and narrative into evocations of forgotten environments.

Together, their works form a dialogue of fragmented moments and invisible lines, threads that bind past to present, resilience to fragility, and imagination to lived experience. The exhibition invites viewers to consider how memory, material, and making can connect us across time and space.

Christine Goodman is a painter and printmaker who studied at Duncan of Jordanstone College of Art, Dundee and graduated with BA Hons and Masters in Fine art. She has exhibited in Perth, Dundee, Edinburgh, Glasgow and London and internationally in Brazil, Sweden and Lithuania. She currently works part time as an artist in the Centre for Brain Injury, Dundee; facilitating creative process for patient rehabilitation and has also delivered creative workshops for Art in Hospital at St Andrews Community Hospital, Fife. Christine’s current work concerns juxtapositions of visual elements through combining monochrome and muted colour, to produce individual series of prints. These can subtly influence a space they inhabit through imbuing stillness, sensual lightness and shadow.

Laura Derby is a textile artist who creates one off, hand crafted wool pile textile rugs to her own design and to commission. The hand tufting technique allows Laura to paint and sculpt with wool to fuse artistic expression with functionality. Based in the rural Artist’s Town of Kirkcudbright her work bridges art, nature, human connection and is infused with themes of resilience, connection, and a sense of storytelling, reinforcing the importance of craft as a bridge between past and future. To help sustain her small craft business Laura also sells prints of her one off works, as exhibited here. Some are of her own designs and some are collaborations with commissions she has made.

Kayleigh Sarah McGuinness is a Glasgow-based visual artist whose sculptural practice explores women’s heritage, ancestral memory, and material traditions. Invisible lines, fragmented time highlights the physical energy embedded in her making process, from manipulating brass and stone to the large rope forms that connect and divide space. Through these material gestures, McGuinness traces hidden connections across time, revealing the resilience and fragility of overlooked histories. Recent projects include a permanent steel sculpture for Glasgow’s Tron Steeple, commissioned as part of the city’s 850th celebrations.

Fiona Stewart is a multidisciplinary artist based in Inverness. Her work navigates memory, time, and place through painting and assemblage, often blurring the lines between reality and imagination. Influenced by natural decay, discarded materials and forgotten environments, she creates emotionally charged works that evoke the remnants of lived experience and the quiet resilience of the natural world. Trained in Theatre Design at Edinburgh College of Art and the Bristol Old Vic Theatre School, Stewart weaves atmosphere and narrative into her visual work, echoing her background in theatre design. She has exhibited across the UK, including the Royal Scottish Academy, and has been shortlisted for the John Byrne Award and the Canal Boat Miniature Painting Prize. She is a gallery artist with the Lido Stores in Margate and the Lilford Gallery in Canterbury.

The Future We Breathe is this year’s cross estate exhibition at Perth Creative Exchange, featuring work from three artists based at Wasps’ buildings in Glasgow. The purpose of the cross estate exhibitions is to foster connections between artists across the network, with curatorial support from the Arts Programme Manager to produce the project.

Ilona Kacieja is a versatile and passionate artist based in Scotland, whose practice spans painting, film, and immersive media. A graduate of Edinburgh College of Art, where she received the Special Distinction Prize, she has been nominated for major awards including the Grierson Award in London and BAFTA New Talent in Glasgow. Her work has been exhibited internationally and recognised for its creativity and distinctive vision. Between 2018 and 2021, she pursued Advanced Painting studies at Glasgow School of Art, later expanding her practice into immersive art through the Artists Into Immersive programme with Glasgow School of Art and the National Film and TV School, where her final project received an award. Ilona has been part of the Wasps Studios community since 2020 and has taken part in collaborative initiatives such as the Critical Art Forum at Glasgow Lux. In 2023, she completed a month-long internship in Venice with the A Fragile Correspondence project at the 18th International Architecture Exhibition- La Biennale di Venezia. Her project Sola will be exhibited at Perth Creative Exchange from September to November 2025.

Han (Hannah Read) is an experimental musician, sound artist, and healthcare worker based in Glasgow. She runs Events Research Programme (a monthly subscription-based events series) and helps to run DIY listings site Communal Leisure. She likes to make weird industrial music about institutions, and her artistic practice focuses on the political and environmental implications of DIY culture. This is her first art installation.

Daira Ronzoni is a multidisciplinary artist, born in Buenos Aires, raised in the UK, and now based in Glasgow. Her practice spans sculpture, painting, and virtual landscapes, incorporating colour theory to create imagined worlds influenced by her Indigenous Patagonian heritage and contemporary narratives. Her work researches Indigenous/queer cosmologies, earthly rituals, and ecological care, blending personal and cultural histories to reflect on resilience and the evolving relationship between land, nature, tools and technology, often in collaboration with coders and musicians.

Unlikely Architectures presents works spanning a five-year period, made from direct observations of architecture. Drawings provide shapes and gestures that are reconfigured onto different substrates.

Fraser Taylor is an interdisciplinary visual artist based in Glasgow with a studio practice rooted in drawing. Fundamental to his making is the transference of images onto cloth by screen-printing, a process that was introduced to his practice in the late 1970s.This allows him to shift the urgency of a drawn mark directly onto fabric, permitting a change in scale and the chance to repeat imagery. Unlikely Architectures presents select works spanning a five-year period, made from direct observations of architecture. Drawings provide shapes and gestures that are reconfigured onto different substrates including board, canvas and cloth. Collectively the work interrogates a language of embedded mark making and materiality which visually hints at an imagined topography.

Fraser Taylor studied Printed Textiles at Glasgow School of Art and the Royal College of Art. He co-founded The Cloth, a creative studio focused on contemporary textile design and production. Since 1983 he has developed an interdisciplinary art practice and exhibited internationally, and his collaborative works includes projects with visual artists, designers, and contemporary dance. As an educator he has lectured at leading fine art and design institutions, and from 2001 until 2017 was a Visiting Artist and Adjunct Full Professor in the Department of Fiber and Material Studies at the School of the Art Institute of Chicago. In 2017 he was awarded an Honorary Professorship from The Glasgow School of Art, University of Glasgow and in 2018 he was appointed the Curator of the Visual Arts Program at the Beacon Arts Centre in Greenock, Scotland. Taylor established HAXTON Studio in 2020 allowing him to revisit methods of making which were prominent in his practice in the 80s. He currently lives and works in Glasgow.

Wonderlands & Otherlands is a new body of painted works by Nairn-based painter Shaun Macdonald AKA Shaunie Boy.

It has evolved out of recent journeys into new forms of digital image manipulation, self-administered psychedelic folk rock conversion therapy, transcendental meditation and pure focus.

A reflection of time spent in the ancient woodlands in the North and West of Scotland. Fragmented and challenged, soon, there may be only photographs.

This photographic exhibition is a reflection of time spent in the ancient woodlands in the North and in the West of Scotland during the Winter, Spring, and early Summer of 2025.

In recent years, the Atlantic Oak Forests, which run from the north of Scotland down its west coast, and through England and Wales, have become known as the Scottish Temperate Rainforests. They are pockets of wet and warm woodland, whose climatic conditions allow for rich biodiversity and abundance of highly specialised species of lichens, liverworts and ferns.

‘Ghost Woods’, is also a recent term coined in Scotland to describe an ancient wood with less than 20% of its canopy remaining, reducing the chance of natural regrowth in the face of predation by deer and sheep. They are some of Scotland’s most at risk ancient woodlands.

My project did not set out to develop an ecological argument for the restoration and maintenance of these woods. I simply wished to experience them and to photograph them in that moment. However, as I was working in the hottest, driest Spring and Summer in 60 years, with climate change high in the news agenda, it became inevitable that as I explored and experienced these fragile and isolated fragments of ancient woodland, that I reflected upon their predicament.

The concept of a ‘fragment’ crystallised as I was preparing my prints between field trips. My imagined woodland looked nothing at all like the photographs I had made of the dry and brittle areas I had visited. Supposed wetlands, were crunchy and dry underfoot. My photographs reflected instead a bone-dry environment at risk from wildfires, with little sign of the wet, verdant, moss and lichen dripping tree branches of the Forestry Commission websites and textbooks. As I walked in the woods, I was surprised at how small a space they occupied in the landscape and how fragmented they really were. I also reflected on the nature of the photograph as a ‘fragment’ of a scene, both in time, and in essence.

I found that I was capturing a fragment of a fragment.

I was left with the feeling that at some point soon, there may be only photographs.

The exhibition is supported by a VACMA from Highlife Highland, and a grant from Wasps.

Matt Sillars taught photography at Inverness College UHI for over 25 years, developing photography as part of the Art and Design Curriculum. He developed the stand-alone Higher photography curriculum at Inverness and helped establish the UHI Fine Art Degree, He has taught practical photography at all levels and specialises in darkroom printing and processing, with a special interest in alternative process such as lith printing, cyanotype and anthotypes. He taught photography theory modules on the Culture and Heritage degree for 20 years, focusing on the role of the still image historically in the development of cultural identity.

He jointly manages, on a voluntary basis, the Inverness Community Darkroom, a charity based in the WASPS Inverness Creative Academy, where he teaches and runs workshops. Matt chaired FLOW Photofest, the biennial International Photography Festival held across the Highlands and Islands and Moray, for six years. He was also a board member of the Scottish Society for the History of Photography, and for 20 years he organised the quarterly portfolio sessions for Scottish Photographers, a group focused on the development of independent photography in Scotland. Matt continues to exhibit his own work widely and was shortlisted for the Scottish Portrait Awards in 2020.

The artists of Inverness Creative Academy are looking forward to hosting an open studios weekend this September to coincide with Doors Open Days 2025.

Visit the building to admire the restored school building’s architecture, and meet the artist community based there.

Studios open on Saturday 20 September: Leila Ross, Alice Prentice, Gael Hillyard, Jacqueline Mackenzie, Hazel Passmore, Martin Irish, The Inverness Framers, Erika Vado, Carolyn Eva, Liz Green, John Nicholson, Yelena Visemirska, Jane Nestor, Ross McAteer, Highland School of Jewellery and Margaret Cowie.

Studios open on Sunday 21 September: Leila Ross, Susan Mccreevy, Gael Hillyard, Jacqueline Mackenzie, Hazel Passmore, Martin Irish, The Inverness Framers, Erika Vado, Liz Green, John Nicholson, Yelena Visemirska, Jane Nestor, Ross McAteer and Highland School of Jewellery.

Wasps Studios is proud to celebrate 20 years at Langstane Place in 2025, marking two decades of supporting and nurturing the creative community in Aberdeen.

Since being established, the building has grown to become a vital space for artistic growth and collaboration.

Participating artists include painters, printmakers and textile workers across Langstane Place’s three floors.

The event’s artwork, commissioned for the occasion and designed by Langstane Place-based printmaker Jonathan Comerford, is called Ladders to Success to reflect the many paths artists take in pursuit of their own creative journeys and individual definitions of success. Each ladder suggests both progress and uncertainty, symbolising the challenges, choices, and determination that shape a visual arts career.

Recurring Themes is a ceramics and glass exhibition which presents the intriguing and unexpected creative art works by Simon Ward and Keiko Mukaide.

From Keiko: The title Recurring Themes reflects my search for meanings that return yet transform with each encounter. I have long been drawn to glass, a material that reveals its character through light.

Since moving to the countryside, I often look up at the sky, noticing how it changes daily, from morning to evening. One day, I discovered my work illuminated by sideways morning light, appearing entirely new. This exhibition seeks to capture such moments. I hope visitors will experience the works in natural light, engaging all their senses.

At the centre of the back gallery, a suspended glass chandelier reimagines my installation Memory of Place in York, where glass columns stood before medieval stained glass to symbolise the ascent of the soul.
In this exhibition, I also explore the use of gold and silver leaf. In Japan, such materials have long reflected light into the dim interiors of temples. By connecting these traditions with my own practice, I aim to create a space where my roots, surroundings, and daily life come together in art.

Keiko Mukaide is a visual artist from Tokyo, now based in Fife. She is a graduate of the MA Ceramics & Glass course at the Royal College of Art, and holds a BA in Communication Design from Musashino Art University in Japan. She primarily works in glass to make large-scale sculptures.

From Simon: Found objects such as kitsch ceramic windmills, Chinese vases, hot water bottles, fishing lures and toys are somehow combined with clay, plaster, wood, metal and concrete. For this exhibition I am exploring a developing and evolving personal creative language with clay materials and processes being the main vehicle. A recurrence of previous decades of work have an influence but the evolving work perhaps starts to show an emerging influence of Pop Art, Surrealism and Sculpture. Both wall based and floor based pieces include works which focus purely on swiftly composing found ceramic materials together. While other work is quite meticulous and time consuming. Arrangements of ceramic cast porcelain multiples such as birds and fish are grouped in shoals and framed in Perspex boxes. There is still a strong nod to an interest in both Chinese and Japanese ceramics, specifically blue and white underglaze decoration. In this show there is a playfulness and a balance between finished and refined work and work which is teasing out new thoughts and ideas for the future of my practice.

The main focus for my practice concentrates on traditional Ceramic processes across broad spectrum of contexts including one off gallery pieces, ltd batch production and work produced for permanent installation in the public realm. Objects and collections/archives of objects have played a prominent role in influencing ideas. Work in the past revealed layers of cross-cultural influences working with an eclectic palette of materials, which are used to collaborate with and elevate crafted ceramic vessels. I have an underlying fascination of the traditional craft methods and printed surfaces both on-glaze and underglaze techniques. Recent work is quite whimsical with layers of nonsense and narrative. Most recent work has involved the exploration of ceramic surfaces using under glaze print techniques and traditional Chinese blue and white decoration. Follow Simon on Instagram here.

Caroline Coolidge presents a new series of paintings that center on the technique of sfumato. Through abstraction, she explores blurred realities, memory, and perception.

Visitors are welcome to stop by on Friday 5 September (6pm-8pm) for the exhibition’s opening event at Patriothall.

The blur, as first understood through the lens of European Renaissance painting techniques, is the starting point for Caroline Coolidge’s most recent body of work. She begins with “A Treatise on Painting” by Leonardo da Vinci, which describes how to effectively paint light and shadow by utilizing the technique of sfumato. In this manual, Leonardo explained that when two sections of paint meet, the colors should blend “as smoke loses itself in the air.” Coolidge appropriates this phrase and places the blur within our contemporary moment.

By employing this 500-year-old technique, she reinterprets sfumato within her abstract language of the present. Her use of the blur is reminiscent of work created by painters during and after World War II, who sought to bring order to the chaotic world around them. The blurring approach provided a different lens through which to see the world. These two opposing uses of a soft, smoky stroke, which allowed Renaissance painters to enhance reality and the early modernists to obliterate it, create a dynamic tension within her work as she reflects upon the chaotic, dystopian atmosphere of today.

The shapes and forms Coolidge creates are intended to evoke places, figures, and emotions, which are filtered and screened. Some become distant and unstable memories, and others become overtly sensitized. All reflect upon what a painting is and how the truth of the materials intersects with the reality of its environment. There is a surrealist element to Coolidge’s paintings, which at once recalls natural forms and also digitized imagery, juxtaposing the two. Coolidge’s paintings remind us that the world is a place of great multiplicity. A unified viewpoint no longer exists. It is hard to discern what is real and what is not. We are all left with an inward search for these answers, which Coolidge tries to answer in her painting. She does this in color and form, and in the content that emerges for the viewer. This is a new body of work for Coolidge, who developed many of these ideas of disorientation and unravelling while participating in a residency at the Vermont Studio Center in the spring of 2025, later completing the series in her Edinburgh studio.

Caroline Coolidge’s interdisciplinary work has taken her throughout Europe and the United States. She is currently based in Edinburgh, Scotland, and has a studio at Wasps Riverside House. Her work has been exhibited in solo and group shows at venues including Breakers Gallery, London, England; Carpenter Center for the Visual Arts at Harvard University, Cambridge, MA, USA; Dolphin Gallery, St John’s College, Oxford, England; Edinburgh Printmakers, Edinburgh, Scotland; and Fundación Maceta, Mexico City, Mexico. Coolidge has held residencies at the Vermont Studio Center and the Salzburg International Summer Academy of Fine Arts, has worked as a teaching assistant in the Art, Film, and Visual Studies department at Harvard University, and has been a Curatorial Research Fellow at the MIT List Visual Arts Center. Coolidge completed her undergraduate studies at Harvard College in 2022 and earned an MFA with distinction from the Ruskin School of Art, University of Oxford, in 2024.

A glimpse into my artistic mind—this exhibition reveals the creative journey through finished and experimental works, inspired by nature and connected through process and intuition.

Flow is an invitation to step inside my creative world—a space where nature, intuition, and imagination move together in an ongoing dialogue. This exhibition brings together a collection of new works, both finished and experimental, to offer an intimate glimpse into my process and how ideas take shape in my mind before they become paintings.

At its core, Flow is about connection—the flow between elements of nature, like the curve of a wave echoing the softness of a flower petal, or the quiet rhythm shared between stone and sky. These natural forms and patterns constantly inspire me, not just visually but emotionally. They enter through observation, memory, and feeling, and then move through me in ways I can’t always explain—becoming brushstrokes, textures, or entire compositions.

This exhibition includes pieces in various stages of completion: resolved works, sketches, studies, and experiments. By showing the full spectrum, I hope to share the often unseen layers of the creative process—the parts fueled by doubt, instinct, and spontaneous discovery. Creation, for me, is rarely linear. It’s fluid, unpredictable, and deeply personal, much like the forces in nature that inspire it.

The works are connected by more than just visual themes. They share a rhythm—a kind of internal movement that reflects how I work and think. I often revisit ideas, letting them resurface in new forms. Colors, lines, or feelings from one piece may find their way into another, creating a subtle thread that runs through the entire collection.

With Flow, I want to reveal not only what I create, but how and why I create. This is a space of honesty, where the viewer is invited into the behind-the-scenes—the raw, intuitive, often messy parts of making art. I believe that sharing the journey can be just as powerful as showing the result.

Ultimately, this exhibition is about movement: the movement of nature through me, the movement of thought into form, and the flow of one work into the next. I hope viewers will feel that same sense of continuity—that everything here, whether fully formed or still becoming, is part of a larger, living process.

Glasgow Close Knit will bring together hundreds of knitted and crocheted blankets, carefully crafted by churches, community groups and individuals, for an exhibition in The Briggait’s 1873 Hall.

All are welcome…

Throughout 2025, countless people have been celebrating Glasgow 850 in a city-wide communal activity of knitting and crocheting patchwork blankets for Glasgow Close Knit. The hundreds of blankets and thousands of squares that have been brought together for the exhibition in The 1873 Hall, represent the work of many hands and speak of the generous creativity of Glasgow’s citizens. Glasgow Close Knit is a communal expression of care for the most vulnerable individuals across the City of Glasgow who live in need of security and warmth.

Later in the year, the blankets will be distributed through the Lodging House Mission to people experiencing homelessness and isolation across the City.

Glasgow Close Knit is project of Glasgow Presbytery (SCO07691) and The Lodging House Mission (SC017283), curation by Gardner & Gardner.

The exhibition will feature cyanotypes, using plant material and film negatives, evocative of the abundance of summer vegetation and the nostalgia of summer holidays.

From the artist: I have been exploring cyanotypes since 2020, when Covid lockdowns pushed me into exploring art practices that used very little resources. The history of the cyanotype process, its simplicity – using the reaction of chemicals to UV light – and the resulting intense blue all attracted me. Recently I have been using film negatives, both my own photographs from the 1960s and 70s, and found negatives; they have a certain nostalgic appeal and in the case of the found negatives a touch of melancholy – who were these people? what are the stories behind the pictures?

This show is the second annual Festival Fringe exhibition of work by 30 artists based at Patriothall Studios.

A selling exhibition of work by professional artists based at Patriothall Studios in Stockbridge. The show includes a range of artwork – ceramics, jewellery, mosaic, painting, print and mixed-media – and is run by studio artists, many with national and international profiles. Patriothall is one of Edinburgh’s longest running studio complexes and incorporates a unique, industrial style gallery in the centre of Stockbridge. Join artists on the final weekend for their Open Studios event and see their creative working spaces.

Visit the Open Studios event on Saturday 23 and Sunday 24 August (11am-5pm).

Join Gael Hillyard as she reflects on her journey to Britain’s most remote inhabited island, where she spent the winter capturing its raw beauty.

Fair Isle: An artistic journey to the edge of the world is an exhibition of work created during a two-month Winter residency on Fair Isle, one of Britain’s most remote inhabited islands. The collection comprises fifty pieces, including large-format watercolours, oil paintings, collages, night photographs, and written reflections. While the majority of the work was created on Fair Isle, several pieces are from Inverness, London, and Shetland.

This body of work is shaped by weather, solitude, and the slow unravelling of time. Fair Isle is not approached here as a static subject, but as something distant, mythic, half-known, and disappearing. Many paintings view the Isle from afar, as if arriving or leaving. These distant perspectives evoke something inward: a feeling of travelling to somewhere magical, with a sense that it would, or could, never be returned to. The Isle appears and disappears through veils of sea, light, and weather. Its scale is felt most strongly in its almost complete absence.

The watercolours respond to the Isle’s changing weather and light. Several were exposed to the elements and are marked by wind and rain, which have altered the surface. Oil paintings offer a slower, richer expression, carrying the weight of the Isle’s winter skies and seas, as well as the stillness that precedes and follows storms. In some works, the aurora borealis appears as something remembered, rather than copied. A small number of night photographs offer additional moments of stillness, capturing the dark threshold between weather and sky.

Collage is present in a few of the pieces, where found materials, stone, plant matter, and fleece are discreetly embedded into the texture of the works. These layered compositions reflect the ephemeral nature of memory and the dreamlike quality of long days combing the shorelines and fields. There are also fragments of maps and metals discovered in forgotten drawers after returning to the Inverness studio.

Short written reflections accompany the work, drawn from notes made during the residency. They speak quietly of exposure, ritual, uncertainty, and the comfort of repetition. The writing is not explanatory, but reflective, giving form to the inner experience of being alone with the elements.

Gael Hillyard’s practice is shaped by place and what it evokes: memory, arrival, departure, presence, and longing. She is drawn to edges, and to the sense of standing just outside something precious, watching it drift. Her work does not aim to capture a place, but to witness its resonance, especially in moments when it feels as though it is already slipping away.

The exhibition is both a record of arrival and a farewell. A limited-edition, hand-bound book, ‘Fair Isle Field Notes’, will accompany the exhibition; each copy will include a small original watercolour and a selection of writings from the residency.

Her Fair Isle Residency in November and December was immediately followed by a residency in January at The Booth, Scalloway, Shetland, managed by Wasps.

Gael Hillyard is a watercolour artist, oil painter, and creative workshop provider, with a studio at Wasps Inverness Creative Academy, where she has worked since 2019. She also keeps an office at Wasps for her writing practice.

Raised in a creative family, Gael spent much of her childhood in a large working studio where artistic expression was instinctive and encouraged daily. Her practice has been shaped by a lifetime of self-directed learning, guided by a deep sense of visual curiosity and intuitive discipline.

Before establishing her full-time studio practice in 2019, Gael worked across multiple sectors, combining strategic thinking with creative problem-solving. For twelve years, she managed the training of professional helicopter pilots, a role requiring precision, clarity, and adaptability. A desire to return to the creative world followed, and she created an interior design practice, which she later taught to international students for almost a decade.

Her artistic practice encompasses a range of media, including watercolour, oil, acrylic, ink, collage, and photography. Drawing on landscape, memory, light, and weather, Gael’s work often touches on subtle emotional undercurrents and the quiet intensity of solitude. She is known for her sensitive use of colour and atmosphere, and for exploring what lies just beyond the reach of language.

Gael has exhibited regularly, including numerous group exhibitions at Wasps Inverness Creative Academy, and has received support from Creative Scotland and Highland Council. She was awarded funding for Spirit:360 as part of Inverness Castle’s development. Her work is held in private collections throughout the United Kingdom and the USA.

She delivers thoughtful, well-structured workshops on painting, creative process, and professional development for artists. Her sessions, offered both in-person and online, are known for being warm, practical, and grounded in lived experience. As a neurodivergent practitioner, Gael brings clarity, depth, and a distinct perspective to both her teaching and her artwork.

Her latest exhibition, Fair Isle: Windswept Voices, will be showing at Inverness Creative Academy in Autumn 2025 and is based on residencies in Shetland over the Winter of 2024/5. She is currently writing a book on creativity, drawing on insights from her studio practice, philosophy, and her earlier career. Going forward, her focus is on expanding her exhibiting profile, strengthening relationships with collectors and galleries, and making meaningful contributions to the cultural landscape of the Highlands and beyond.

A visual scream that breaks the silence of sexual abuse and gives visibility to the trauma survivors live with.

An Open Secret is a self-initiated project born from urgency. From the need to speak after years of silence. From the need to break the taboo surrounding sexual abuse and rape, and to challenge the shame placed on survivors. Above all, it was born to give voice to those of us who have lived through it, and to those who still cannot speak.

This exhibition does not aim to provoke for the sake of impact. Instead, it opens a quiet and powerful space. A space for truth, for vulnerability, and emotional reality. Through photography, design and personal reflection, it gives form to what is usually hidden — the emotional aftermath that remains long after the event itself.

At the heart of the exhibition is the book. It is a testimony, a process and a scream. Around it, selected portraits and fragments of the making offer a behind-the-scenes view into moments of trust, fear, courage and healing. Every image was created through a real connection, with care and consent.

What began as an academic project soon became something deeply personal. After years of therapy, reflection and fear, I realised I no longer wanted to carry this truth in silence. I needed to speak. And through photography, I found a way to do it. A way to turn pain into something that could be seen, held and shared.

As a visual communicator and a woman, this work reflects my journey but also echoes the experiences of many others. Throughout this process, I have found community, recognition and healing in ways I never expected. Art became the language I needed when words failed me. It helped me reconnect with myself, and I hope it helps others do the same.

Together, we began to heal wounds. Through the lens, we created something that felt almost sacred. A visual scream that, though silent, carries weight. It speaks of pain, yes, but also of strength, empathy and light.

An Open Secret is not the end. It is a beginning. A beginning of healing, of conversation and visibility. For me, and I hope, for many more.

Teresa Caralampio Iniesta is a Spanish artist and designer from Madrid, currently based in Edinburgh. Her practice spans design, photography and visual storytelling, always rooted in emotional depth and human connection.

She began her creative journey studying Fashion Design at IADE in Madrid, where she discovered a passion for visual language. During her studies, a graphic design module sparked her interest in composition, communication and the power of imagery. This interest led her to further explore UX design and eventually specialise in Visual Communication.

She recently graduated with a BA Honours in Visual Communication from Kingston University. In this final year, photography — once a hobby — became a tool for expression. After years of therapy and personal growth, she found behind the lens a way to speak, to feel and to connect.

While living in Edinburgh, she worked as a photographer and content creator for local businesses, where she strengthened her relationship with photography as a medium that is both honest and emotive. These experiences helped her build confidence and embrace visual storytelling as a powerful form of communication.

Her final major project, An Open Secret, marked a turning point in her practice. A deeply intimate work where photography, design and emotion come together to speak about trauma, voice and healing. The process allowed her not only to reconnect with herself but also to create something collective, a visual space where many women could feel seen.

Her work is quiet but powerful. It does not seek spectacle but truth. Honest spaces where one can witness, feel or be. She believes in the power of art to heal and raise awareness and continues to explore ways for design and humanity to move together.

A colourful and fun exhibition inspired by sailing journeys in the landscape of the North West Highlands and Islands.

‘And in their wake happiness’ (from the poem Dolphins by Andrew Greig in Found at Sea, 2013) – is an exhibition inspired by sailing journeys in the landscape of the North West Highlands and Islands where Morag and her siblings ran free and wild, exploring the land and the sea. The pieces in this exhibition evolved from an initial study of thistles, focusing on the contrasting softness of the flower heads and jaggedness of the plant.

Colour and a sense of fun is hugely important in Morag’s work with the palette in this exhibition taken from the purples and pinks of thistles, the blues of the sea and the incidental vibrant colours of the landscape found at our feet. The shapes and colours reflect a seamless journey between sea and organic plant life., while reflections created by the addition of window vinyls add an additional layer of subtle movement, surface and flow.

Morag is a contemporary artist working from the Wasps Links Studios in Nairn. She works in sculpture, installation and digital media. Key decisions in her work focus on shape and colour which are combined with industrial materials such as perspex, concrete, nuts and bolts. These materials attract through their sensual textures and visual stimuli. Working within a limited range of materials reflects a personal minimalist approach.

Coming to an understanding of why some landscapes are more interesting to her than others, a sense of the familiar is important to Morag, achieved through repeated journeys by sea or on foot, or from a quickening of the heart that she feels when in places such as the high sandstone cliffs of Caithness. And in considering her own recollections of this landscape, the historical evocations held within it create another layer of memory. All these layers inform her understanding of her roots, her connections and her personal sense of belonging.

Morag graduated from Moray School of Art UHI in 2018 with a Fine Art (Hons) degree. In 2019 Morag was one of three artists commissioned by Moray’s Great Place to respond to historical characters. She exhibited in 2020 with An Tallas Solais as part of a Highland Graduate show, entitled ‘Landscape of Place’. This ultimately moved to an online exhibition and was one of three online shows previewed in the Scotsman’s Magazine by Susan Mansfield. In 2022 she was part of Circus Artspace Graduate Programme concluding with a group show titled ‘Cianalas’. In 2022 she exhibited with VAS North at the Inverness Creative Academy and in 2023 with VAS West at The Briggait in Glasgow. In 2024 Morag was one of three artists commissioned by the Grampian Hospital Art Trust to exhibit in the Suttie Arts Space, titled ‘Bilberry Lane’. In June 2025 she was invited by The Cabrach Trust to exhibit as part of a group show entitled ‘Inspired by’.

Morag Smith is a contemporary artist living in Nairn exploring ideas around Landscape, People and Places. She works mainly in a sculptural format. Morag studied Fine Art (Hons) at Moray School of Art UHI graduating in 2018. In 2016 she was one of a cohort of third year students selected to exhibit at the Nairn Book and Arts Festival ‘New Highland Contemporary 3’. Her work was awarded the inaugural Highland Fine Arts & Decorative Society Prize. In 2018 her degree show was shortlisted for the Visual Arts Scotland’s Graduate Showcase. She was one of three artists commissioned by Discover Moray’s Great Places to respond to historical characters (2020), was part of an online group exhibition entitled ‘Landscape of Place’ with An Tallas Solais (2020), exhibited in a group show as part of Circus Artspace Graduate Programme (2022), with Visual Art Scotland North in Inverness (2022) and Visual Art Scotland West in Glasgow (2023). Morag was commissioned as one of three artists to create work for an exhibition at the Suttie Art Space, GHAT in Aberdeen (2024). She was also the recipient of grants from Creative Scotland (2023), tsiMoray (2022) the Visual Arts and Crafts Makers Award (2021) and Adriana Sjim Bigman Art Grant (2020). From 2023 – 2025 she was involved in a major project delivering creative workshops to women across the Highlands and Moray. The aim of this project was to deliver a programme of activities at diverse locations, including deprived and remote/rural locations, using creativity to promote women’s confidence and wellbeing.

With special thanks to The Sign Centre, Inverness for their excellent support, knowledge, expertise and sense of humour. A fantastic service was received – I will be back.

This exhibition is a letter to my parents, an explanation to my friends, and the truth of it all for myself.

My art acts as a diary, allowing me to spew my emotions out in a way that doesn’t eat me alive, and my work itself is expressive, which means I can disappear into the work without having to keep a foot in the real world. I use different mediums as tools to communicate, the focus being the thoughts and experiences behind the work rather than the skill in the use of the tools. The use of language runs through all my work, as I believe that not only is the use of language an art, but also that it creates a work that is accessible to wider audiences.

The exhibition is titled Grief Talks, as I have used text to express the thoughts from my grief, and because of the constant chatter of grief, the ever-present monologue of grief in my head. It snakes its way into your daily activities, voicing itself at the slightest moment. As humans, we experience a range of emotions and thoughts, but are restricted by ideas of what is acceptable and appropriate, which limits what we express and the extent to which we express it. However, it is vital that all our emotions and feelings are expressed and understood to live fully. I hope that by exhibiting my grief, I provide a means of engaging with your own thoughts and emotions.

I have used fabric and embroidery for this exhibition because it is a gentle medium, and the process of moving through grief is about allowing gentleness and giving yourself space to feel the emotions that you need to without judgement. I also used cardboard for my paintings because it doesn’t have the crisp professionalism of the more conventional canvas. It is found in every home and buckles and buckles as the paint is applied, forcing you to mold it into the shape you want, as the griever does under the emotions of loss.

The after isn’t spoke about much, the part where you decide it’s time to return to the world and realise how bent out of shape you have become. It forces you to look at yourself from a different perspective, to allow yourself the softness of textiles, or the brutal re-shaping of clamps on damp cardboard. It forges a new you, with kinks and misshapings, with rambling monologues in the back of your head, seen in winding threads. The displayed work is the start of that.

Caitlin Hanna is a neurodivergent, queer artist based in Perth, Scotland.

At a young age Caitlin discovered art as a way to express internal struggles, during a prolonged period of mental illness. This creative drive has fuelled further studies and Caitlin’s continued artistic practice. Caitlin studied Fine Art at the University of Cumbria, graduating in 2021, and has since worked on a variety of projects as a professional artist and practitioner. Recent projects range from aiding in research investigating the accessibility of creative courses at university, to their ongoing role as a freelance creative practitioner at a local social enterprise, supporting and enabling young people to get into the creative industries and positive creative destinations. Caitlin’s interests lie in working in the community, supporting people, and sharing the freedom creativity has given them.

Caitlin is a contemporary artist working across a variety of media. With a prime focus on the message or feeling at the centre of the artwork conveying more than the media itself, the media is selected based on what feels best for each intention. Caitlin’s creative work often features confessions, drawing direct inspiration from their own emotions and life experiences. The incorporation of text, and the idea of language as part of artistic expression is a prominent theme across Caitlin’s work.

A vibrant sensory map of neurodivergent perception, merging nature, emotion, and structure – blurring boundaries between feeling and form, intuition and method, chaos and clarity.

Rooted in the language of nature, my work uses this as a source and platform to navigate and express my own experience of the world.

Through vivid colour and layered forms, I explore how internal emotional landscapes are reflected in the external environment and vice versa, blurring the line between what is seen and what is felt. My process begins by creating a new structure to build upon, using my love of pattern, sharp edges and boundaries. Within this structure my creative output balances the methodical with the intuitive, guided throughout by sensory response and immersion.
The act of creating is a form of regulation, meditation, and dialogue—just as vital as the final image.

This exhibition charts the meeting points between mind and matter, feeling and form, chaos and clarity. It invites viewers to enter not only into the natural imagery, but into a way of seeing—and sensing—that is fluid, raw, and vivid.

Originally from Ayrshire, Michelle Campbell graduated from the Glasgow School of Art in 2006 and now works from her studio in The Briggait, Glasgow. She is currently represented by Art Pistol Gallery, Glasgow, and The Velvet Easel, Portobello.

Her work is inspired by various themes, all rooted in her personal experiences and observations. The natural world, with its multitude of patterns and colours, is a constant source of inspiration.

Michelle’s creative process involves breaking down an image and restructuring it bit by bit, a method that reflects her own perception of her surroundings. This approach gives each small part of the composition equal status, challenging the traditional idea of a main focal point. Through this technique, Michelle invites viewers to experience the world from her perspective, where every small detail holds significance and contributes to the overall narrative.

Patterns and repetition are central to her work, serving both as a form of stimming and a working meditation. The repetitive nature of creating patterns provides a sense of calm and focus, allowing her to connect with her art in a deeply personal way. This practice is meditative, helping Michelle to process her thoughts and emotions while creating an organic and rhythmic structure within the painting.

This exhibition marks four years of risograph printing in the Highlands and seeks to celebrate the experimental, collaborative spirit that has shaped Isle of Riso.

For up-to-date details from Isle of Riso on the exhibition and additional workshops, please click here.

Hosted at Inverness Creative Academy’s Assembly Hall, the exhibition transforms the space into a vibrant, layered showcase of community-driven printmaking — featuring artists, processes, and practices shaped by Risograph’s distinctive aesthetic and experimental nature.

Alice Prentice drives Isle of Riso, an Inverness-based print and design studio. After graduating with a BDes Hons Illustration in 2020, her passion for Risograph printing birthed the studio in March 2021. Alice champions Risograph art in the North Scotland, emphasizing collaboration, education, and accessibility. Isle of Riso offers diverse services including Risograph printing, design, and illustration, providing a platform for local creatives and businesses to bring their ideas to life sustainably and affordably. Through workshops and community engagement, they advocate for eco-friendly creativity. In essence, Isle of Riso is a creative sanctuary, fostering innovation and collaboration.

Alice’s artistic vision is deeply rooted in her connection to nature and Scottish Highland culture. Her own designs resonate with authenticity and reverence for the natural environment surrounding her. She mostly makes Risograph prints, zines and occasionally stationery inspired by native beasts, wild landscapes, and Scottish heritage.

At Isle of Riso, they offer a diverse range of services encompassing Risograph printing, design, and illustration. The studio serves as a hub for artistic expression, providing a platform for local creatives and businesses to bring their ideas to life sustainably and affordably. From stationery and posters to comics and zines, Isle of Riso offers a plethora of printing solutions tailored to meet the diverse needs of its clientele.

Through workshops and community engagement, they endeavour to educate others about the benefits of Risograph printing, advocating for a greener approach to creativity.

In essence, Isle of Riso is more than just a printing studio—it’s a creative sanctuary where innovation thrives, collaboration flourishes, and the beauty of Risograph printing comes to life under Alice’s guidance.

The Exhibition Includes:

Open Call Installation

A Large-Scale installation of over 100 A5 Risograph prints by artists, spanning 27 countries on the theme of Islands.

Highland Artist Showcases

Six invited affiliate artists respond to Riso printmaking with new and past work rooted in their practices.

Studio Archives & Ephemera

A curated display of posters, editions, and test prints from 2021–2025, offering insight into the studio’s creative journey.

Public Print Events
Opening Night – Friday 27 June, 5–8pm, Assembly Hall (Free)
https://lu.ma/ov7o0pfh
Drink & Draw – Friday 11 July, 7–9:30pm, Workshop Space (£5)
https://lu.ma/45ibkq3t
Risograph 101: Design & Print Your Own Artwork – Saturday 19 July, 1:30–5pm, Workshop Space (Pay what you can)
https://lu.ma/m9wvn7n5
Demo Days: Make Your Own Postcard – Saturday 5 July & Saturday 2 August, 1–4pm, Assembly Hall (Free)
(Link TBC)

Throughout the summer, the Assembly Hall will transform into a multi-layered showcase of bold colour and creative experimentation. Isle of Riso – A Celebration of Risograph Printing in the Highlands invites artists and audiences alike to reflect on what it means to build a print community — and how print can connect, amplify, and archive creative voices.

This exhibition is a showcase of linocuts by 50+ artists across four continents, collaboratively printed by Jonathan Comerford, exploring identity, culture, and connection through 30+ years of printmaking.

The Wonder Wall: Printmaking sans frontiers is the culmination of over three decades of collaborative printmaking, led by South African artist and master printer Jonathan Comerford. This powerful exhibition brings together 50+ linocut prints by 50+ artists from Africa, the UK, Europe, and the United States, all working within the democratic, accessible tradition of relief printmaking. A passionate advocate for collaboration and inclusion, Jonathan founded the program in 1991 as part of his workshop, Hard Ground Printmakers, in Cape Town, South Africa. Born during the final years of apartheid and expanding internationally over time, the project has always championed the idea of art without borders—art that is not limited by geography, medium, identity, or ideology.

The linocut—long valued for its directness and affordability—serves here as an egalitarian means of visual expression. Whether in the hands of an experienced printmaker or a first-time block carver, the medium offers immediacy and impact. The artists represented in the exhibition range widely in background and approach: some are seasoned printmakers, while others are better known as painters, sculptors, photographers, or designers. Each was invited to respond freely to the open-ended concept of art sans frontiers—art beyond boundaries.

Their carved impressions reflect a diverse and deeply personal set of responses to the world around them: its fractures and fusions, its injustices and joys, its shifting politics and enduring human stories. These prints are not only individual voices—they are also the outcome of shared studio time, technical dialogue, and mutual trust. All the works were printed by Jonathan himself, using traditional hand-press methods in both South Africa and, since 2007, in the UK under the evolving banner of Printmaking Sans Frontiers.

This exhibition is not just a survey of artistic styles or techniques; it is a living archive of connection—of one artist reaching out to others across geographic and cultural boundaries. Jonathan’s collaborative ethos has embraced artists across race, gender identity, artistic discipline, and experience level. The result is a rich visual tapestry that foregrounds inclusivity, accessibility, and the shared language of print.
As we look back on this 33-year journey, Printmaking Sans Frontiers stands as a testament to the enduring power of the print studio as a place of experimentation, exchange, and solidarity. In a world that often feels fragmented, these works offer clarity, resistance, humour, beauty, and connection.

Jonathan Comerford continues his printmaking work today in Scotland, where Printmaking Sans Frontiers remains a living, evolving program—open to new voices, stories, and impressions carved in lino.

Jonathan Comerford has been both a practising artist and collaborative printmaker for the past 34 years, working formatively in South Africa and, for the last twenty years, in Britain, previously in London, now living and working in Scotland. He has always been interested in the role of collaborative printmaking between the printmaker and the artist or artisan. Coming from the socio-political backdrop of the pre- and post-Apartheid era, he experienced the deep divisions and exclusions shaped by race and culture. This led him to commit to working with artists from diverse socio-political and cultural backgrounds and learning difficulties, both as a personal and professional mission. In addition to working directly with individual artists, collaborating through print studios and pop-up print studios offers an added opportunity for engaging a wider community, both the artists associated with the studio and the broader public in which the studio is situated.

Fragments of Reality is the debut exhibition in Wasps’ new programme of cross estate events, which brings together artists from the breadth of Scotland, curated by the Arts Project Manager.

From Stuart: Outside of secondary school I’m a self taught artist, I began with life drawing which developed into practice based on direct line drawing. I started my practice in Vancouver Canada 25 years ago, since then I have worked in diffrent media specialising in ceramic figurative sculpture, there are quite strong narrative themes through out much of my work but it is still fundamentally based on form. I have been based in Vancouver and London as well as Scotland and participated in ceramic based residency’s in Canada and the Netherlands.

From Yelena: Growing up in a ‘sleepy district’ filled with khrushchevka prefabricated panel houses gave my childhood a distinct flavor. Picture this: a landscape dominated by raw concrete, blocky structures, and a vibe that felt both gritty and oddly comforting. I was surrounded by these exposed concrete constructions, where rough textures and angular forms reigned supreme. Honestly, the place had character—lots of it.

Some of the buildings in my neighborhood were a little more than just concrete shells. They were unfinished, almost ghostly, with their interiors spilling into the open air. Pipes snaked across walls, and skeletal frameworks jutted out, creating a curious blend of inside and outside. It blurred lines for a kid like me, sparking my imagination and shaping the way I see the world.

As I began painting, my early experiences took form on canvas. The structures that once surrounded me became more than just memories; they evolved into a celebration of brutalism. I express this through my art using oils and acrylics—each brushstroke a homage to that stark beauty of my upbringing. Additionally, I often dabble in making small sculptures from concrete and wire, merging my love for three-dimensional forms with the two-dimensional worlds I create on canvas.

So, when you look at my paintings, I hope you catch a glimpse of that world. The unrefined beauty of concrete, the interplay between raw structures and the chaos of urban life—it’s all there, a reflection of my childhood and the inspiration that continues to drive my work. I aim to share not just an aesthetic, but a whole vibe that resonates with anyone who appreciates the rugged charm of concrete and steel, just as I did growing up.

Born in Latvia in 1984, Yelena Visemirska‘s journey took an unexpected turn in 2003, leading them to the captivating landscapes of Scotland. Now calling Scotland home, the artist’s work is a fascinating tapestry woven from the threads of two distinct cultures, demonstrating a remarkable talent for integration and creative expression.

After graduating from the University of Highlands and Islands in Moray in 2014, the artist became an integral part of the vibrant Wasps art community. This association has undoubtedly provided a valuable platform for collaboration, growth, and exposure within the Scottish art scene.

While immersed in the Scottish community, the artist remains deeply connected to their Latvian heritage. They acknowledge the profound influence of their upbringing, stating that their homeland is a constant source of inspiration. This connection is evident in their paintings, where echoes of Latvian culture blend seamlessly with observations of their Scottish surroundings. The resulting artworks offer a unique perspective – a visual dialogue between two worlds.

The artist’s creative arsenal is diverse and dynamic, encompassing the rich textures of oil and acrylic paints, alongside experimentation with other mediums. This versatility allows them to explore a wide range of subject matter and express their vision with nuanced depth. Architectural studies serve as potent symbols of decay, resilience, and the enduring power of the built environment. Perhaps these concrete forms, often weathered and worn, offer a poignant reflection on the passage of time and the transformation of landscapes – themes resonant in both Latvian and Scottish contexts.

Ultimately, this artist’s story is one of cultural fusion and artistic exploration. They have embraced their new home while honoring their roots, forging a unique identity that shines through in their diverse and compelling artwork. By blending the familiar with the foreign, they offer us a glimpse into a world where cultural boundaries blur and artistic expression knows no limits. Their work serves as a testament to the enriching power of cultural exchange and the enduring influence of home, wherever that may be.

This vibrant showcase promises to be a feast for the senses, featuring a diverse range of contemporary artwork, innovative designs, and thought-provoking visual communication pieces.

This year’s exhibition features the work of students from the BA (Hons) Art and Contemporary Practices and BA (Hons) Visual Communication and Design undergraduate programmes. Visitors can expect an exciting array of artwork and projects, reflecting the breadth and depth of contemporary art, design, and visual communication. From thought-provoking installations to innovative design solutions, the exhibition highlights the talent and dedication of these emerging artists and designers as they take their first steps into the professional creative industries. Each piece represents the culmination of years of hard work, experimentation, and personal growth.

Speaking about the exhibition, the UHI Perth lecturing team, who have worked closely with the students throughout their journey, said:? “We are immensely proud of what our students have achieved this year. Their work is a testament to their creativity, resilience, and innovative thinking. This exhibition is a celebration of their growth as artists and designers, and we can’t wait to share their talents with the wider community.”

The event is free and open to the public, making it a perfect opportunity for art lovers, design enthusiasts, and community members alike to come together and celebrate the incredible accomplishments of these students. Whether you’re seeking inspiration, looking to connect with emerging talent, or simply want to immerse yourself in the world of contemporary creativity, this exhibition is not to be missed.

Finn Scott (@sharktinn)
A graphic designer with a flair for brand identity and abstract poster art that fuses traditional and digital techniques.
Molly Freeman (@molly.f.illustration)
An illustrator and designer passionate about social change and collaborative practice.
Findlay Todd (@fin_26t)
A contemporary artist working in abstract expressionism, influenced by music and inspired by Basquiat.
Williamina Puddleduck (@williamina_puddleduck_)
A nature-inspired artist exploring spirituality through printmaking, clay, and community workshops.
Lorraine Ward (@lorraineward9350)
A multidisciplinary artist creating emotionally resonant works centred on memory, identity, and the ‘self’.
Milo (@milo._.design)
A playful illustrator and graphic designer combining vibrant textures and traditional media in fresh, exciting ways.
Nicole (@nm_design_photos)
A local-based designer and photographer, passionate about social and environmental topics and seeking a career in urban design.

The exhibition Blessed is grounded in exploring human beings and their relationships with religion.

Mariia Nechaluik’s artwork is grounded in the exploration of human beings and their relationships with religion. This inspiration comes from her own life and childhood experiences. Growing up in a religious family, she attended church every Sunday and prayed every night before bed. Although she sometimes found this routine challenging, she was always deeply inspired by the aesthetic of churches and religious symbolism. The captivating stories from the Bible further fueled her imagination and artistic direction. These formative experiences have left a lasting imprint on her work.

When Mariia is working on a new project, she draws initial inspiration from the aesthetics of Orthodox and Catholic churches. She delves into the intricate details of these religious settings, selecting elements that resonate. This process involves extensive research, often down to the minutest detail, which informs the depth and nuance of her art. Through her works, she explores how people communicate with religion and how they believe in their own ways. Her intention is not to convince viewers of any particular religious perspective, but rather to offer a space where each person can interpret the work through their own lens—whether they are atheists or devout believers.

Mariia was born in Ukraine in 2003. She began painting when she was very young. At the age of 9, she enrolled in her hometown’s art school and completed her studies by the age of 14. Afterwards, she continued her artistic journey through private lessons with a local artist. In 2022, when the Russo-Ukrainian war began, Mariia moved to Scotland. Initially studying architecture and design online at the Kyiv National University of Construction and Architecture, she soon realized that her true passion lay in art. In 2023, she pursued her passion further by starting an HND course in Contemporary Art Practice in Aberdeen, Scotland.

Collective Effervescence is an exhibition that celebrates the power of live music, its atmosphere and the beauty of the collective experience.

From 30 April to 5 May, photographers and artists working in the music industry will be coming together to show their work at Wasp Studios, South Block Gallery in Glasgow, in an exhibition titled Collective Effervescence. Participating artists are: Alannah Stirling, Barry Douglas, Dale Harvey, Diana Dumi, Elliot Hetherton, Euan Robertson, Hope Holmes, Isla Kerr, Jack Geddes, Jos Hurley, Laura Hegarty, Maia Allison, Niamh Campbell, Niamh McInally, Rachel Cuthbert, Reanne McArthur, Ryan Johnston, Serena Milesi, Tim Craig, Yuxin Zhang and Zoe Wallace.

Collective Effervescence is a celebration of the power of live music, its atmosphere and the beauty of the collective experience.

Work will be exhibited by over twenty artists, all working within live music here in Scotland, at a variety of different levels. This event gives artists from all stages of their career, the chance to show their work physically, in print, away from social media. Work encompasses the feelings of togetherness, energy and beauty that are experienced within these live music environments.

This exhibition follows on from a solo project by organiser and curator Hope Holmes. Working as a photographer within the music industry fostered an interest in documenting and studying fan culture, community, and identity. Hope decided to pursue this further through a group exhibition, collaborating with other photographers and artists.

The title Collective Effervescence is in reference to a sociological concept coined by Emile Durkheim in the early 20th Century. It is used to describe ‘the considerably amplified emotional state manifested by the participants of a collective assembly’. It often involves singing in unison, chants, movement, and dance, as well as sharing emotions and feeling part of something greater than oneself. This level of connection and community is commonly found at music concerts, sports matches, and other social events.

Collective Effervescence is a form of light and escapism, in the sometimes dark and uncertain world that we live in.

Confluence is a gathering together and presentation of work featuring colour, texture and surface through collage, drawing, mixed media, painting and print.

Graeme Swanson has chosen the title of Confluence have chosen this title because his work is an interpretation of places been and seen, the atmosphere, weather, mood and he is now happy to show this to anyone who wishes to view. The art of confluence is all about exploring the intersection of different artistic forms, styles, and cultures. It is about finding common ground between different art forms and using that common ground to create something new and exciting. In weather, “confluence” refers to a pattern of wind flow where air flows inward towards an axis oriented parallel to the general direction of flow, essentially a coming together or meeting of airflows. In the context of people, “confluence” refers to a gathering or coming together of individuals, a meeting, or a union. It can also describe a place where different groups or cultures converge.

Graeme Swanson describes his painting process as a form of visual narrative, like imaginary adventure stories. He likes to convey the joy of discovering new places, the aura of ancient or historical sites by visually describing the atmospheric effects, the contrasting moods of the weather, the natural and man made patterns on the surrounding landscape. Through building, spreading and wiping paint and then working back through layers, he reveals hidden stories beneath. He creates more surface and colour to explore new avenues and directions giving the previous expressions of these works a new visual story.

Graeme Swanson is an abstract visual artist and an art tutor based in Edinburgh, Scotland. Born in Aberdeen, Swanson graduated from Grays School of Art in Aberdeen. He won the Royal Scottish Academy (RSA) Latimer Award in 1985. Awarded professional memberships of the Aberdeen Artists Society (1981), The Society of Scottish Artists (SSA, 2008) and in 2020 he became an Artist Member of the Paisley Art Institute.

This exciting and vibrant group exhibition explores the diverse ways that the artists have looked to capture the moment in the life room.

“A great way to start the week,” is a sentiment that is echoed by the artists/enthusiasts who eagerly attend the Monday morning Life Drawing sessions held here in Perth’s Creative Exchange. Through a shared passion of drawing from the life model, this collective peer support group has formed organically over the last two years. Largely self directed, different ideas, techniques and media are regularly explored through the practice, bringing a fresh energy and discussion into each session.

Throughout the history of Art, from the earliest cave paintings to the cutting edge of our modern times, artists have sought to convey through divergent means the difficult and often tricky practice of the human figure, ranging from realistic representation to illustration, modernism and abstraction. It would be safe to say that it’s all subjective and that there is no definitive argument in which the genre can be bracketed. Thus the practice of life drawing, normally from the nude model, can vary from a detailed study over a period of time, as preparation for a longer painting, or a quick and explosive burst of creative energy on the drawing plane, as the artist responds to the pose and timing of the model.

Presented here in this exciting and vibrant exhibition is an eclectic mixture of the many ways that the artists have looked to capture the moment. In the life room patience and sharp observation is a fundamental requirement, which takes time and practice for the result of a successful outcome. The images on show here reflect the artist’s acute studies using various media that both injects a spontaneous reaction and a more detailed response to the poses.

It also goes without saying that none of this would be possible without the professionalism and expertise of the models. Experienced models will get to know and often have their own input into the requirements that the class seeks. Ranging from swift dynamic short poses to more lengthy sittings where the ability to remain almost static for a time requires a great effort of mind and body. Many thanks to them and enjoy the exhibition.

Sheena Hewitt has an unconventional background. Falling severely ill with M.E. as a child, she quickly dropped out of school. She was home taught French and algebra one day a week but was unable to pursue any formal qualifications. Her only creative outlet was art, including making items for a dolls house and art competitions. As an adult, she taught herself how to make jewellery, starting with beads and now soldering and stone setting. She also crochets. This year, she made a scarf for her boyfriend. Last year, she found out about life drawing classes through Instagram. Always having had a passion for portraiture, she was thrilled to be able to take part. She is hoping this will feed into her jewellery design skills as well as making great art. Sheena has found the classes welcoming and inspiring with a great bunch of people.

Dougie Paterson is a Dundee based artist who graduated from Dundee University in 1999 with a BA in fine art and then worked extensively in community arts and taught at Dundee and Angus College while maintaining a professional gardening practice. He recently began life modelling for academic institutions and local classes. He began drawing dancers at The Scottish Dance Theatre and this became the main focus of his art practice but he also began attending life drawing classes and this sparked an interest in the human figure which led to taking courses in anatomy. This interest in the body extended to taking daily yoga and ballet barre classes and to becoming a model. These passions feed of each other with life drawing being at the core. He has been attending the Perth class for two years.

Bruce Shaw graduated as a mature student in 2009 from Duncan of Jordanstone College of Art Dundee with BA/Hons Fine Art. He now works as a self employed artist from Wasps’ Meadow Mill in Dundee, where the main focus of his practice is in printmaking and drawing. He also facilitates / tutors art workshops etc within the community for the health and wellbeing sector.

Malcolm MacConnachie has lived in Perth for 46 years and is a retired hydrologist. He continues to apply his knowledge and professional experience to support Perth Community Flood Aid. Malcolm was born into an artistic family and started drawing and painting before school age but midway through secondary school chose to follow a science career. Following his successful 42 year career as a hydrologist, he is now pursuing his lifelong passion for art. In 2016 he started attending life drawing classes with local artist Bruce Shaw and joined the Monday Morning Life Drawing Sessions in 2023. Malcolm’s art focusses on figurative art and portraiture and he says the Monday Morning Life Drawing Sessions currently helps satisfy the creative need in his life. His work has changed in the two years of attending the life drawing sessions going from black on white to exploring the use of colour.

Theresa Lynn is a sculpture graduate of Duncan of Jordanstone, Dundee. She spent around 30 years in Community Engaged Art at Dundee City Council. Working alongside other artists, she engaged together with communities to explore their own creative judgement: this practice produced a great deal of publicly visible artwork, both temporary and permanent. Alongside this, she always continued to produce a strand, however small, of her own artwork, with an interest in how people relate to their environment. Since retiring from DCC and returning to independent working, she has taken on anything interesting that came along, including some tutoring at Dundee University and holding a studio at Dundee WASPS. Returning to life drawing among the happy band at Perth studios has been a joy, exploring techniques that are having a hugely positive impact on her art-making. Which all makes her really happy and energised…

Paul Sanders retired from a career in social work and child protection in 2012. In 2015 he moved to Devon and joined a group of artists for regular studio sessions having not been near a sketch pad for a very long time. He also attended a life class at a local college and tried to develop a blended pastels approach to the model having attended a class with Rebecca de Mendonca who has gone on to become a prize winning pastel artist. He moved to Perth in 2021 and continues to persevere with pastels in the hugely supportive life group at WASPS.

Kim Somerville originally trained as a hairdresser where she applied her artistic flair. Hairdressing was a vehicle into the world of lines, shapes and colour – a form of sculpture. Life drawing is the foundation that she underpins her work through an abstract lens using the visuals of the life form. The door was opened at WASPS, through an artist friend, into a space filled with amazing and creative artists.

Angela Buchan is a local lass! Following a sales career with global drinks company Diageo, Angela completed a BDES(Hons) in Interior and Environmental Design at Duncan of Jordanstone College of Art in Dundee as a mature student, going on to complete a post graduate certificate in teaching.
As part of Dundee Universities’ Adult’s Continuous Learning Initiative Angela taught Interior Design evening classes in the University and also within wider local communities. Angela also taught adults with learning difficulties in Forfar and Arbroath while working for Arbroath College. Angela discovered her love of life drawing while attending University, where it was part of her course curriculum. Angela stumbled upon ‘Lifelines’ while visiting an exhibition in WASPS Studio’s, housed coincidently, in her old Primary School, she has been attending drawing sessions there for two years.

Alison Price is a Fine Art graduate from DJCAD where her love of working from the figure began. After bringing up family she returned to her art practice 10 years ago. The launch of WASPS Perth Creative Exchange provided a permanent studio space for her where she met Reuben Sian De Gourlay. Their mutual desire to have a regular life drawing practice led to them setting up informal sessions in Reubens studio. Numbers gradually grew and they moved to the Forteviot Teaching space in PCX. Reuben then moved to London but Alison continues to host the regular sessions on a Monday Morning and has found herself part of a wonderful community of artists. Alongside this she facilitates art sessions with adults including patients in a Stroke Rehabilitation Unit which is the focus of her current Masters of Fine Art at DJCAD.

Linda Cullis is a retired Art Teacher now based in Alyth. She attended Art Colleges in Lancaster, Bristol and Hornsey, London gaining a BA fine art degree and a post graduate Art teaching certificate. Her secondary teaching career was mostly spent in West Cornwall where she lived for thirty five years. Linda was introduced to life drawing at the age of sixteen at Lancaster College of Art and she has continued to draw from life on occasions over the years. Drawing from the model gives her time to experiment with a variety of materials and styles. She has particularly explored colour, line, texture and collage. The concentration on the model during the drawing sessions is quite intense and this helps to sharpen her eye hand coordination. She finds this is a positive way to start the week with a supportive group of people in a creative setting.

Andrea Elles studied photography Edinburgh in the 1970’s then focussed on family life until the 90’s returning to her life long passion of painting while living in London and Berkshire. She Studied painting with Robin Child, Lydgate Art Research Centre and joined The Rosvik Group of Artists. Since moving back to Scotland she has continued to grow her painting practice Mentored, influenced and encouraged by Paul Keir, Arthur Neal and Eleanor White. Andrea finds life drawing a wonderful self teaching eye opener (there is nowhere to hide, you have to look hard!) and so much fun, especially with such an interesting, relaxed group and the great selection of professional models.

Christine Mitchell’s art journey began around ten years ago, attending some drawing/painting courses, which cemented her love for creating. Her eyes were opened to the beautiful Perthshire countryside and surroundings, she is so lucky to live in. Along the way she has met many other artists and enjoyed creating a range of work, often wildlife, flowers and landscapes. Life drawing has featured more recently and has proved to be a high point. Drawing alongside this group of incredibly talented artists has helped hone and develop her drawing skills thus benefiting her art practice. Drawing from life is a privilege and calls for intense concentration and observation. Experimenting with different mediums and seeing how others use them, is invaluable. The possibilities are endless, as she continues on her wonderful journey.

Morven Stewart has taken great enjoyment in being a jack of all trades. Her career path has taken her from Art School to hospitality to car fabrication, laminator and welder to vet receptionist, until finally settling as a wandering landscape artist. She attends the life drawing class sporadically between adventuring up mountains and working in her studio in the Creative Exchange. She approaches life drawing much as she does landscapes, pushing and pulling lines to find fluid shapes, constantly re-seeing and re-drawing her marks, and enjoying happy accidents! A Monday morning spent in deep focus and observation adds a jolt of productive creativity to her week. She takes skills developed during these mornings to trad music sessions across Scotland, filling her pocket sketchbooks with music and movement, all originating from the Monday Life Drawing classes.

Gareth Magee has always loved drawing, even just watching drawing – whether pouring over Tony Hart’s techniques on the limited TV of the time, or getting his Dad, an Engineer, to ‘draw a digger’. Later at school, then University, when he made the choice to go into Science he still retained a healthy interest in creativity. First year was spent painting designs on jackets and boots for himself and friends, and as years passed, most of his social circle at Uni were from the Art College opposite the Sciences building. Life drawing first came about around 30 years ago, while working at the Medical Sciences Institute at Dundee – fast forward, including a career change into Osteopathy and, a few years back, the WASPs group welcomed him in to come and play. Superficially, the collective is hard to describe due to the wide ranging backgrounds of the participants (actually, they’re more like a family now), but the common thread is that they all find the class an essential and supportive ‘creative safe-space’. It’s proven itself to be a necessary part of not only Gareth’s working week, but to his overall health and development – who knew?

The Redcastle Art Group was formed in 2013 when a small group of Highland artists felt a need to work and interact with others who, like themselves, had found a commitment to painting, whether as a full time profession or not. Since then the members of Redcastle Art Group have met every month on the Black Isle to paint together (occasionally en plein air, and always with cake). This vibrant exhibition from 15 painters brings together their most recent work, and encompasses a great variety of styles, subject matter and scale.

The Group members are: Avril Marr, Clare Blois, David Brown, Elizabeth Joss, Frances Baxter, Gay McKeown, Hilma Rask, Jane Weston, Katherine Sutherland, Liz Hoey, Margaret Cowie, Margaret McKay, Meg Milne,
Morven Boardman and William Mather. Artist Jonathan Shearer is consultant to the Group.

Following the success of previous exhibitions BACKSP!N & SP!N – we’re back with a 3rd instalment ‘TOPSP!N’, a bold fusion of art, sport, and community.

This charitable exhibition brings together leading and emerging artists to reimagine table tennis paddles as unique works of art. Paddles are sold through a silent auction with all funds raised donated to the Drumchapel Table Tennis Club.

Visitors are invited to the opening night at South Block on Thursday 10 April, 6pm-9pm.

The paintings are playful, fun, affectionate reflections on Edinburgh’s residents and visitors, they are reflections on romance, commerce, exercise, festivals, and entertainment.

Since moving to Edinburgh in 2017 after living and working as an artist on the Isle of Lewis in the Outer Hebrides my work and exhibitions have increasingly focused on aspects of Scotland’s capital city. It has seemed both natural and logical to use the city as a source for new collections of work, these latest paintings build on previous exhibition collections with the addition of a narrative. They attempt to be humorous reflections on people’s interactions with Edinburgh.

The paintings are based on observation and the images have been created to reflect romance, commerce, exercise, festivals, and entertainment. I wanted the paintings to be playful, fun, and affectionate reflections on the city, its residents and visitors.

In addition to supplement the theme of this exhibition, I had the images made into printed postcards. One of the ten postcards was then sent to a friend, relative or work colleague. They were asked to write on that postcard and pretend to mail it.
Those responses are included in the exhibition alongside their chosen painting.

The works introduce a bold figurative aspect to my cityscapes with a strong painterly style and bold composition. Traditionally, postcards were a medium used to relate scenes and experiences to friends and relatives. They continue to convey a tangible reminder of an enjoyable experience. This collection of paintings explores this concept by depicting everyday scenarios glimpsed when exploring the vibrant city of Edinburgh

From the artist, Simon Rivett: I trained at Goldsmiths College in London and gained a BA (Honours) in Fine Art in 1984. In the years since graduating my practice has primarily concentrated on painting landscapes. My early paintings focused on making images documenting the declining industrial landscape of my birthplace in Newcastle-upon-Tyne. In 1993, after a few years in Edinburgh I began living and working in the Outer Hebrides on the island of Lewis. For twenty-five years I explored the unique rural landscape of the Outer Hebrides; I also made trips to Iceland, the west coast of the Scottish mainland and Northumberland. My subjects, whether painting mountains in Iceland, the peaty moorland of Lewis, or the gentle hills of the Borders and Northumberland, tended to look for strong light and shapes to make strong, dramatic compositions.

In 2017 I moved back to the mainland and the city of Edinburgh, and as a result I began a completely new body of work. The first of my new paintings were made in the Borders and focused on line and shape, contrasting the farmed land with the hills that separate Scotland and England. These works have evolved from previous, less dramatically lit, landscapes, pushing forward with stronger use of line and shape.

My next collection of new works then took this developing structured approach and applied it to the cityscapes of Edinburgh. My use of colour was also bolder.

My most recent work has focused on drawing, and began when I felt the need to reset and refocus on the interest and subjects that drive my approach to making art. My motifs have typically been the closes and suburbs, often the less-noticed, quiet places of Edinburgh. They are chosen to facilitate the pictorial interests that inform the needs of the work. I like those pictorial elements to be enhanced by light that produces strong shadows and deep contrasts. The result is numerous angles, strong shapes and defining lines.

I am find drawing has an immediacy and freshness that can be revised and manipulated quickly. The materials I use, ink, gouache, charcoal, graphite and lead pencils, ink pens, brushes, soft cloth and erasers, and the surface qualities of different papers can bring an exciting multitude of mark-making possibilities.

This April at Inverness Creative Academy, we are looking forward to hosting a group exhibition of works by our resident artists that have stayed at The Admiral’s House in Skye and The Booth in Shetland over the past three years.

With around 20 artists participating, viewers can expect to see a variety of practices on display in the Assembly Hall at Inverness Creative Academy. The exhibition will open with an event on Friday 4 April (6pm-8pm) and all are welcome.

Liv Tsim’s Living Syntax explores how materials shape ecosystems beyond the human era. Joining this Non-Solo are three Guests from HK: Lee, Monti, and Carrie.

In Living Syntax, Liv Tsim explores the materials of our environment as active participants in the evolution of ecosystems. Looking beyond the human era, she examines how minerals, biological entities and artificial substances interact – merging, transforming and shaping the world in ways we rarely notice. By exploring their physical relationships, cultural meanings and chemical processes, she uncovers the hidden structures within materials, offering new insights into our ecosystems.

Human language cannot communicate with all species, but materials speak through their changes. Many life forms and natural elements exist quietly, evolving without recognition – each deserving care, attention and deeper discussion. Through experimentation, data analysis and shifts in perspective, Liv brings these overlooked materials into focus, giving them a new significance in today’s environmental narratives.

She is joined by three guest artists from Hong Kong, each offering a unique perspective on materiality and transformation:

Lee Suet Ying (Bio-plastic Sculpture) – Crafting sculptures from organic and edible materials, Lee’s ever-changing works embody the fragility, decay and renewal of life.
Monti Lai (Soil-driven Art Installation) – Blending agriculture and art, Monti traces the journey of Choy Sum across cultures, celebrating soil, growth and the deep connection between land and identity.
Carrie Shen (Text Installation & Performance Art) – Through poetic text and performance, Carrie captures the voices of her community, weaving delicate yet profound narratives.

Together, these artists reimagine how we engage with the materials that shape our world – inviting us to listen, reflect and rediscover the silent stories of the earth.

Liv Tsim is an interdisciplinary artist, bio-material designer, and researcher based in Hong Kong and London. She is currently a Visiting Researcher at the Hub for Biotechnology in the Built Environment, a collaborative research initiative between Newcastle University and Northumbria University. She graduated with Distinction from the MA Biodesign program at Central Saint Martins in 2023 and BA Visual Arts at Academy of Visual Arts, Hong Kong Baptist University. Tsim’s research and practice explore bio-materiality, ecological justice, technology and speculative futures through mixed-media installations and video. The intricate climate crisis necessitates targeted and comprehensive speculation. She actively collaborates with scientists and communities to foster interdisciplinary dialogue,accumulate specific observations, advocate for speculative visions, and create an inclusive culture. Tsim was awarded the CreateSmart Young Design Talent Special Award from the HKYDTA in 2023, granted the MediaArt Scholarship from the Department of Cultural Affairs in Salzburg, and nominated for the Green Trail Awards LVMH Maison/0 CSM in 2023. Her artwork has been exhibited internationally, including the “Post-Human Narratives” series (Cattle Depot Artist Village and Hong Kong Museum of Medical Sciences, Hong Kong, 2020-2022), “Living with the Living” (Hypha Studio, London, 2024), “#CreateCOP Exhibition” (Fotografiska Shanghai Center, China, 2024), The Art Central (Hong Kong, 2024), and “Tokens of Remembrance” (Galleria Myymälä2, Helsinki, 2024).

Monti Lai is a Hong Kong-based environmental artist and farmer whose practice fuses art, ecology and agriculture. With an MFA in Environmental Art from Aalto University, she explores land, community and creative intervention through site-specific installations and participatory projects. From 2014 to 2019, she was deeply involved in the Sustainable Lai Chi Wo Programme, transforming everyday farming into artistic expression. She co-organised Touching the Earth, a workshop promoting tactile connections with the land. Her project Rice in the City (2017-2018) brought rice farming to urban Hong Kong, playfully subverting public spaces while sparking dialogue about land use and food systems. Lai has participated in rural art initiatives, including the Fishpond Sustainable Art Festival (2018) and Arts in the City (2024). She founded the Farmside Art Research Lab, redefining environmental art as an active dialogue between people and their surroundings.

Lee Suet Ying is a Hong Kong-based visual artist whose practice is rooted in sculpture and expanded into interdisciplinary installations. Holding a Master of Visual Arts from Hong Kong Baptist University and a BA (Fine Art) with Distinction from RMIT University, her work explores themes of memory, materiality, and spatial narratives. She has exhibited internationally, with solo presentations such as Dreaming About Ham Sandwich After The End of The World (2023) and participation in global projects, including Marks of Remembrance (UK) and Tokens of Remembrance (Finland). Her contributions to collaborative and site-specific works highlight her sensitivity to historical and social contexts. Alongside her artistic practice, she is an educator, lecturing at Hong Kong Art School and Hong Kong Design Institute. Lee’s works are held in private and institutional collections in Spain, Portugal, and Argentina.

Carrie Shen is a Hong Kong-born artist, writer, and director based in Bristol. With a background in psychology and journalism from the Chinese University of Hong Kong, she initially pursued a Master’s in Expressive Arts Therapy before fully dedicating herself to the arts. Her performance and video works have been showcased at Tate Modern and exhibited in galleries and cultural spaces across the UK, and Hong Kong. Her literary works have appeared in Fleurs des Lettres, Bit Zi, and Resonate. Since 2022, she has expanded into filmmaking, crafting narrative and documentary shorts. Her debut documentary Short Story Long was selected for the UK Hong Kong Film Festival 2023, while her narrative short White White screened at the 2024 Hong Kong Asian Film Festival. She continues to explore themes of identity, memory, and displacement through multidisciplinary storytelling, with her works presented internationally in exhibitions and film festivals.

A group exhibition by five UK-based artists, showcasing diverse approaches to depicting landscape, memory and place, inspired by travels to Cyprus and beyond.

The starting point for the exhibition was a shared experience at the Cyprus College of Art in Lempa, Paphos, where fellow artists Anuschka Barlas, Grace Crabtree, Rosina Godwin and Hannah Wroe met while on residency. Located in the hills near the ruins of an ancient Neolithic settlement and overlooking the Mediterranean Sea, the college, its beautiful surroundings, and the valuable connections forged during this period had a lasting impact. Together with Lezanne Scott, whose work shares similar themes, the artists have produced a series of works exploring approaches to landscape and place, with impressions from Cyprus weaving a connective thread.

Places become embedded with the emotion we associate with particular events, and to revisit the memory of a place is to recover those emotions. As writer Rebecca Solnit eloquently puts it:

“… place, which is always spoken of as though it only counts when you’re present, possesses you in its absence, takes on another life as a sense of place, a summoning in the imagination with all the atmospheric effect and association of a powerful emotion. The places inside us matter as much as the ones outside.”

All of the participating artists have thought about their relationship to place and landscape – both physical and psychic – in different ways, creating works that exist in the hinterland between experience and memory: the gap between recollections and imaginings of places, and how they are. The diversity of media used, including drawing, collage, egg tempera, handwoven tapestry, knitting and watercolours underlines the significance of materiality as well as more conceptual concerns when echoing the authentic distortion and hazy uncertainty that characterises remembered places.

Anuschka Barlas is a Scotland-based artist whose work engages with themes of memory, place and transience. Drawing variably with charcoal, graphite, ink, oil paint and watercolour on paper and weaving with natural and synthetic fibres on a handloom, her practice probes the foundations of traditional drawing and painting, and its relationship with other art forms. Studies from observation and/or film and photographs fuse with unpremeditated forms conjured spontaneously on the surface or warp into dreamlike landscapes and figures woven into and from their surroundings. Anuschka holds a BA (Hons) in Painting & Printmaking from the Glasgow School of Art (2022). Recent exhibitions include the Royal Watercolour Society (RWS) Open at Bankside Gallery, London (2024), They Had Four Years at Generator Projects, Dundee (2023), and Human Perspectives at Cambridge University (2021). Anuschka has attended residencies at the Cyprus College of Art in Paphos in 2022 and 2024. As well as exhibiting in the UK and internationally, she teaches regularly and is co-founder and tutor at The Paper Stage, an artist-run platform celebrating figurative drawing and painting, through life drawing classes, workshops and exhibitions.

Grace Crabtree is an artist based in Bridport, West Dorset. Her paintings, often using the ancient techniques of egg tempera and fresco, are grounded in the experience of walking or swimming through a place – drawing in particular from the coastal terrains of Dorset and Cyprus – and unearthing their folkloric, geological, and mythic narratives. Since graduating from the Ruskin School of Art in 2019, Grace has exhibited across the UK. Her debut solo show, Elemental Drift, was held at Bridport Arts Centre in 2024 following an Arts Council England DYCP grant for ‘The Art of Fresco’, a studio and research project (2022-23). She has attended artist residencies in France, Portugal, and Cyprus, and is currently enrolled on the Turps Correspondence Course.

Rosina Godwin is a London based sculptor, whose artwork disrupts the nurturing associations of textiles to explore feminist issues. She has a Postgraduate Certificate in Art (Cyprus College of Art) and a MA in Fine Art (University of Reading), and has exhibited across the UK and Europe, given talks at conferences and run a variety of experimental knitting and textile workshops, including Darn for Yarn (Queen Elizabeth Stadium), Creature Dis-Comforts (Whitechapel Gallery) and Feminist Knitting (Greenbelt Festival).

Lezanne Scott is a self-taught artist from South Africa, now based in Edinburgh, Scotland. Her work explores the connection between human experience and place. Using a variety of mediums, including watercolours, oils, and mixed media on paper and panels, Lezanne’s practice shifts fluidly between abstraction and observation, offering a way to express the intangible emotions and sensations tied to memory and landscape. Her background as an occupational therapist and coach has shaped her ability to observe and respond to human fragility and resilience. Through her art, Lezanne continues to examine the boundaries between the seen and the felt, creating work that is both deeply personal and open to interpretation. She attended the Château d’Orquevaux Artists & Writers Residency in France in 2023, and recently exhibited at the Royal Watercolour Society (RWS) Open at the Bankside Gallery, London (2025).

Hannah Wroe is an artist-researcher based in London. She grew up between Manchester, Essex and Cyprus. Her work examines the intersections of plant histories, spirituality, feminisms and silences. She studied Illustration at Camberwell College of Art and Art and Politics at Goldsmiths University of London. She has a growing interest in vexillology, exploring the types of authority and power often communicated through flags and banners and how we might re-examine their use.

Votive Gallery are delighted to kick off a fantastic year of exhibition programming with I Licked It So It’s Mine! at Wasps Patriothall.

This delectable show is made up of an ensemble cast of young artists from across the UK working with humour and irreverent materials. Through moving image, drawing, sculpture and unconventional painting, the artists push outlandish concepts to their limits and watch them collapse.
A whimsical energy can be found throughout the show. Evelyn Cromwell’s deconstructed sandwich chair bypasses divisions between design and art, drawing parallels between processed food and flat-pack furniture. Oscar Robinson indulges napkin mathematics in a hand-drawn pitch for a house made entirely from DVDs. Backed by a cheesy soundtrack, the speculative structure embraces its own ridiculousness with a strangely moving earnestness. There is an awareness and subversion of the gestalt in the use of these everyday materials – common objects riff on their recognisability. As the visitors look and look again, interpretations stick out like tongues. This mischievous spirit is at the heart of all the works in I Licked it So it’s Mine!

A line of thinking throughout the show comments on fan culture and pop consumption. Esther Gamsu’s sculptures litter the floor, like a dancehall where everyone has shuffled out of their shoes. At once comical and ghostly, they pose mid-movement as if rudely interrupted. The animations of Isabella Clark follow looping love letters to Al Pacino, leading us on a journey through obsession. Maria Wrang-Rasmussen’s edible paintings take ideas of consumption even more literally, tempting and taunting the visitor to indulge in iconophagy. Works like these toy with our desire to participate personally in the pop culture we love, even as it eludes us.

Sarcasm and irony sit beside genuine glimmers of excitement and frivolity. I Licked it So it’s Mine! poses the question: why is humour in art not nearly as revered as seriousness? Votive Gallery has decided to make their first show of 2025 a celebration of young artists seeking to find the fun in contemporary culture and turn the absurdity of everyday life back on itself.

It all began with an idea by Mary Walters, an Edinburgh-based artist who has recently been fortunate enough to spend time in Longyearbyen, Svalbard. With a background in geography and geomorphology, she works now mainly in print-making, and is increasingly inspired by the ice of northern realms. During her time in Svalbard, she met fellow artists Elizabeth Bourne (a painter and photographer who had moved from the US to live in Longyearbyen), and Adam Sébire (an Australian artist/film-maker who was marooned in the Norwegian Arctic for 18 months during Covid-19 and now lives there). As both Elizabeth and Adam make work about the same issues facing the Earth’s frozen polar regions, Mary invited them to exhibit with her, and together they produced Glacial Narratives: A Report from the Arctic for the Taigh Chearsabhagh galleries, North Uist, Scotland for COP26 in November 2021. With continuing support and input from Edinburgh University Professor of Glaciology Peter Nienow, they re-curated and developed the exhibition as Glacial Narratives: Cracks in the Ice for Edinburgh’s Science Festival 2023.

Mary, Elizabeth and Adam have each had individual experiences of the Arctic ice of Greenland:

Mary was artist-in-residence at the Ilulissat Art Gallery with the Arctic Culture Lab in June 2023, and also visited the Uummannaq Polar Institute during that trip. She was inspired by the magnificence of icebergs in Disko Bay, the varying extent, forms, and shapes of sea ice around Ilulissat and Uummannaq, and the intricacies, colours and sounds of the Eqi glacier. With materials chosen for their light weight, her works present both immediate and remembered responses to her visit.

Elizabeth’s first trip to Greenland inspired a life-long love of the Arctic. Later visits to this extraordinary land deepened her feelings and strengthened her commitment to raising awareness of climate change through her art. The impact of these visits is currently captured in her works in cyanotype, both large and small-scale, as well as in her paintings.

Adam’s Greenland-inspired works are filmed during multi-month residencies in Upernavik and Uummannaq: small indigenous communities through whom he witnessed the impact of rapidly increasing temperatures and declining sea ice. Both of necessity and aesthetic choice, he uses the elevated vantage point afforded by aerial cameras to suggest non-human perspectives on this changing environment.

“We are visual artists and researchers, who have each spent considerable time in Arctic environments. Individually and collaboratively, we have developed a complementary series of works that not only raise awareness of the wonder of ice as a material, but also ask questions about its disappearance. We do not claim to have answers, but we know that we have a responsibility to future generations to question our actions, and to contribute to the climate debates in any ways that our art forms allow.”

Mary Walters is a Scottish visual artist based in her home city of Edinburgh, and the producer of the series of exhibitions. Her current work is inspired by her research periods spent in Svalbard and Greenland, where she has become fascinated by ice as a material. Its many qualities have inspired her work with installation, projected images, print-making and laser- engraving.

Elizabeth Bourne is an American painter and photographer currently living on Svalbard. She has a passion for the Arctic, and her art focuses on that icy environment and the effects of climate change, The impact of her visits to Greenland are captured in her works in cyanotype, both large and small-scale, as well as in her paintings.

Visual artist, experienced filmmaker, freelance cameraman, drone pilot, video editor & stills photographer, Adam Sébire lives in the European Arctic (Norway) but works on films from Australia and the Pacific to Greenland, in between producing multi-screen video artworks. .His emphasis is on environmental themes, but with an artistic focus, specialising in creative approaches to documentary video production.

Connecting Through Creativity is a group show celebrating artwork created by individuals attending various groups at Creative Catalyst.

The common theme across our groups is the connections made by those attending workshops and the experience of being immersed in the creative process of making and doing. These connections can be practical and tangible like learning new creative skills and techniques, as well as sociable and wider-reaching transferable skills supporting individuals beyond visual outcomes.

Young people (16-25) are at the heart of Creative Catalyst, but the creative journey spans all ages. We offer groups for children, teens, and adults to enable everyone to engage with their creativity and potential. This exhibition is an opportunity to showcase and celebrate the artwork of all these brilliant groups including:

Young People Core Group (16-24)
Secondary Age Digital Art Club
Adult Learning Creative Connections
Primary Age Saturday Art Club
Young People Alumni

Creative Catalyst is a social enterprise which uses creativity to connect individuals with their skills, wellbeing and next steps. We have a studio at Perth Creative Exchange, and over the past five years we’ve built a core programme of bespoke workshops run by a team of freelance artists and makers who share skills and opportunities which support and inspire children, young people and adults.

Beyond the Frame brings together the compelling works of Martin Irish and Mairi Macaulay. The exhibition showcases their different approaches to portraying the landscape.

Despite the different mediums they use—abstract painting and photography—both artists share a profound passion for nature. This passion is the thread that weaves their works together, creating a harmonious dialogue between their diverse yet complementary approaches to portraying the landscape.

Martin’s paintings delve into the emotional and atmospheric qualities of natural landscapes. His use of colour, dynamic brushstrokes, and layered textures invites viewers to experience the essence of nature rather than its literal representation. Martin’s work often evokes the ephemeral beauty of natural phenomena such as the shifting light of dawn or the turbulent energy of a storm. His abstract approach allows for a personal interpretation, making each piece a unique emotional journey for the viewer.

Mairi, on the other hand, captures the raw beauty of the natural world through her lens. Her photographs are a testament to her keen eye for detail and her ability to capture fleeting moments that reflect the soul of the landscape. Mairi’s work often features serene and untouched scenes, emphasizing the tranquillity and majesty of nature. Her photographs are not only visually striking but also imbued with a sense of reverence and respect for the environment.

Although Martin and Mairi employ different mediums, their works are united by shared themes and a deep emotional resonance. Both artists focus on capturing the mood and essence of the landscape, rather than a literal depiction. This approach allows them to convey the beauty, complexity, and transient nature of the natural world. Their works invite viewers to look beyond the surface and to connect with the deeper emotional and spiritual qualities of the landscapes they portray.

Martin Irish is an internationally acclaimed abstract artist based in the Highlands of Scotland. He creates vibrant yet moody paintings, captivating viewers with bold strokes and an unmistakable passionate energy. Imbued with lush abstract landscapes, his works are full of soul and emotion, spilling into the canvas as if created with an internal fire. Allowing colours and forms to pour out of him, he produces art which holds a mysterious beauty. His creations are wild and dynamic, resulting in a vivid explosion of emotions. His deep love for the beauty of nature and appreciation for the power of the elements shines through each layer, conveying an intense emotion in each artwork. With a strong focus on abstraction and the play of light and shadow, his captivating compositions unravel within the viewer, creating an immersive sense of awe. Martin Irish’s art is a unique experiment with the intersection between imagination and creativity, creating an alluring world of his own through his masterfully crafted pieces, constantly pushing boundaries and exploring the beauty of nature.

Mairi Macaulay is a Highland-based photographer whose work transcends the mere depiction of stunning scenery. With a particular passion for landscapes and seascapes, her images evoke a deep sense of place and atmosphere, drawing viewers into the very heart of the locations she captures. Mairi’s approach to photography is characterized by her preference for creating mood in her images. Rather than waiting for the perfect weather, she embraces the elements, finding beauty and inspiration in all conditions. Whether it’s the dramatic light of a stormy sky or the serene calm of a misty morning, Mairi’s ability to capture the essence of a location goes beyond simple representation. Each image is thoughtfully framed to convey a specific feeling or narrative. Through her lens, she invites the viewer to experience the beauty and ever-changing moods of the land and sea. Light plays a crucial role in Mairi’s photography. She has a keen eye for the interplay of light and landscape, capturing moments of fleeting beauty that might otherwise go unnoticed. Mairi is an Associate of the Royal Photographic Society and has been shortlisted several times in national and internation photography competitions.

An exhibition of drawings and paintings inspired by the poetry of António Ramos Rosa.

Saborear a lenta emanação
do limiar. Sorver a alteridade.
Abrir a luz com deslumbradas mãos.
Traçar a fugidia figura da origem.

Savour the slow emanation
of the threshold. Sip otherness.
Open the light with dazzled hands.
Trace the elusive figure of origin.

I discovered the work of António Ramos Rosa during a residency in Portugal last year, after seeing a notice commemorating the centenary of the poet’s birth. I was immediately inspired by the beauty of Ramos Rosa’s profound and philosophical words.

Ramos Rosa writes from the threshold (o limiar), a place of desire for a more vital experience of being, an alliance with the pulse of creation. His poetry expresses a deep kinship with the elements, with trees, flowers, insects even, but there is also sense of longing, an ache at the awareness of the thin line that separates us from the otherness of our primordial origins. The paintings and drawings in this exhibition are inspired by Ramos Rosa’s meditations on the nature of existence, and the potential of the creative act to cross the threshold.

Janice Deary was born in South Africa, and later moved to Europe to pursue her studies in Philosophy. More recently, Janice’s attention has turned to art, although her interests remain broadly philosophical. Janice completed her MFA at Dundee University in 2020 and has since held a number of exhibitions in Scotland.

PLEASE NOTE: The opening date for this exhibition is now Thursday 20 February.

The exhibition will showcase a diverse collection of figurative and portrait work, alongside plein air paintings that capture the vibrant essence of Scottish countryside.

This exhibition showcases a selection of figurative and portrait work created during my time as a student at the Glasgow Academy of Fine Art. Living near the breathtaking Loch Lomond has offered me endless inspiration, and I am excited to present plein air landscapes capturing the beauty of the surrounding area. Alongside these works, you will find studies after old masters, whose timeless techniques and insights have been crucial in shaping the way I paint today.

Painting from life is at the core of my practice. Unlike photography, which tends to flatten images and reduce the interplay of color and light into rigid patterns, life painting captures the dynamic and subtle relationships that bring the painting to life. The delicate nuances of flesh tones and the fleeting effects of light can only truly be observed and translated through the artist’s eye.

Over the next five years, Angel Mitov immersed himself in rigorous study, focusing exclusively on drawing and painting from life and copying the old masters. The leaning involved exploration of the human figure, still life compositions and landscape studies, all from observation.

Eerie and incomplete; Pictures and sculptures of running colours and bailing out the cellar. Curious Flat Pipes presents new sculptural works made from drawing, print and photography.

This research takes as its starting point, a desire to learn more about the powers that act upon an individual in urban environments. Why is touch such an important sense in industrial settings? By using the natural tendencies of ink and paper; saturation, repetition and repair become creative approaches to ask some related questions.

The exhibition title describes a recurring motif in the works: the ‘Lay-Flat Hose’ a heavy industry tool used in agriculture, construction, mining, and often associated with firefighting. These hoses are commonly used during floods to pump water from peoples homes. In Perth and Kinross and elsewhere in Scotland in 2023, seeing families pump out water and self-manage a recovery through these disasters became an influence in the development of this exhibition.

The imagery for these works shifts focus from details observed in Scottish cities, to much wider source material from film and international television news channels. This exhibition stages them in scenarios typical of the exterior world; like garden roofing or stacked grocery pallets.

Processes developed include D.I.Y poster-making techniques created by re-piloting a domestic inkjet printer so that the ink can be transferred by hand. As well as Chinese ink drawings and hurriedly assembled maquettes made with plastics. These spontaneous methods invite wider conversations about sustainability and liveability in cities as they elevate incomplete fragments from past projects including materials damaged during leaks.

A subtext in this exhibition is the prevalence of storms and floods around the world and the cultural response to these. The unequal distribution of resources and the environmental basis for such incidents should be a turning point this decade. With gratitude, these themes are explored comprehensively in Waters Rising an exhibition at Perth Museum which runs until 16 March 2025.

Leo Plumb is an artist based in Glasgow, his practice encompasses moving image, drawing and photography. Drawing on the economics of labour and urban environments, his imagery often shows places associated with recreation or work.

He studied at Glasgow School of Art, Leeds Metropolitan University and Estonian Academy of Arts and helped found Mexico Project Space, a curatorial group in Leeds from 2011-2014. This project responded to the the artists-led movement after the 2008 economic crash. He has presented collaborative works as Distance, Speed, Time with Celia Garcia, Julie Laing, Leila Smith and Sebastian Tay between 2015 – 2021. He has been an annual contributor and curator with Off Page a visual poetry project since 2022. The project will exhibit again at Many Studios in Glasgow in May 2025.

A body of work where each piece is pushed on a journey, evoking the sensory experience of being in the land.

Born in the east end of Glasgow, I always felt the need to take to the hills or water as a teenager, finally moving to Argyll in my early 20s. I have always been a creative person and 20 years on, mainly self taught, I am now a full time potter and painter. Daily walks in Argyll’s landscape are essential to my practice, needing to capture the overall sensory experience. My mixed media semi abstract paintings are an ongoing exploration where intuition, nature and emotions come together through colour, composition layering and unearthing marks and textures to create visual dialogue.

Visit Jules’ Instagram.

Prògram ealain lèirsinneach co-obrachail air a lìbhrigeadh le trì ionadan ann am meadhan a’ bhaile. Bidh Gailearaidhean Eden Court, Taigh-tasgaidh & Gailearaidh Ealain Inbhir Nis agus Acadamaidh Chruthachail Inbhir Nis còmhla a’ taisbeanadh raon farsaing de dh’obraichean bho luchd-ealain a th’ air am brosnachadh leis a’ chànan, an dualchas agus dàimh ris an tìr.

A collaborative visual arts programme delivered across three city centre venues in Inverness. Eden Court’s Galleries, Inverness Museum & Art Gallery and Wasps’ Inverness Creative Academy will present a range of works across mediums from artists who are inspired by the Gaelic language, the culture and connection to the land.

Buaile will present a total of 20 artists with Wasps artists Kayleigh Sarah McGuinness, Fiona Stewart and Jacqueline MacKenzie’s work at Eden Court, and Inverness Creative Academy displaying the work of Yasmin Davidson, Victoria Caine, David Hutchison and Angela NiMhaoilein. Opening dates vary by venue but other than Kayleigh Sarah McGuinness’ installation in Eden Court’s Chapel from 20^th February all works will be available for viewing from Saturday 25^th January until Sunday 2^nd March.

Inverness Creative Academy will host an evening with artist panel discussions chaired by Raghnaid Sandilands with simultaneous translation available on Thursday 27^th February as part Seachdain na Gàidhlig (World Gaelic Week – 24 February to 2 March) This evening will focus on place based approaches and approaches to landscape, degrowth, heritage and history through a Gaelic lens. Artist will also be visiting Gaelic medium schools to deliver workshops as part of the Buaile programme.

An exhibition of works by Glasgow-based painter Brian McGeoch, alongside two poems written to the artist and his wife by poet and dramatist Stephen Mulrine.

Brian McGeoch is a Briggait-based painter from Glasgow with a career spanning five decades. His work is often inspired by European modernism and American abstraction, with a focus on still life and figurative compositions. Paintings by Brian can be found in many private collections as well as Scottish National Galleries.

PLEASE NOTE: This exhibition has been extended until Tuesday 18 February.

The artists and makers of Perth Creative Exchange are hosting their annual winter show.

Explore painting, print, ceramics, glass and more, all created by the fantastic artist community based out of the creative hub for the Tayside region.

Please note: the building will be closed on 13 December and from 23 December 2024 until 3 January 2025 for the holidays.

The artists and makers of Inverness Creative Academy are hosting their annual winter show.

Explore painting, print, textiles, photography and more, all created by the fantastic artist community based out of the creative hub for the Highlands.

Please note: the building will be closed from 23 December 2024 until 3 January 2025 for the holidays.

Dinnseanchas is a new series of photographic works which form part of a larger body of research developed during a residency in the west coast of Ireland.

The research is centred on the specifics of the landscape, and its interweaving with the Irish language and family lineage. Methodologies include expanding more sustainable materials and processes within the production of work and testing the produce from both the land and the sea as plant-based developers.

The term Dinnseanchas is an ancient practice which began as a process of naming places, informed by a combination of their natural and physical forms, or a reference to some of the historical layers and legends specific to that place. As it developed it became a form of mapping of the entire country and is now recognised as a rich and important branch of knowledge in the Gaelic world. Dinnseanchas is also associated with perceptions of ‘place wisdom’ – and ways of understanding the landscape and ‘reading the manuscript of the land.’

The exhibition includes a text work by Sara O Brien, a writer/researcher based between Glasgow and Dublin.

Christina McBride is an artist based in Glasgow who has exhibited widely both nationally and internationally with solo exhibitions in New York and Mexico City. Much of her research is located within lens-based enquiry with a committed focus on analogue practices/processes, and expanding the discourse around its medium specificity – particularly in relation to time and place. She has a particular interest in alternative printing processes and expanding the use and understanding of sustainable and more environmentally conscious materials and processes.

Landscape both as a subject and a context within which to locate her practice, has been at the core of her enquiries over many years. Often works focus on transient, incidental and ephemeral phenomena in fleeting images that address abstraction, in order to question how one might articulate the experience of the natural world – simultaneously through both the image and materialitity of the photograph.

Christina also teaches on the Master of Fine Art (MFA) programme and in Fine Art Photography at the Glasgow School of Art.

Sara O’Brien is a writer and researcher based between Dublin and Glasgow. Her writing has appeared in MAP Magazine, The Drouth, Paper Visual Art, Glasgow Review of Books and Mirror Lamp Press, amongst other places. She has also produced texts to accompany exhibitions at various art spaces, including CCA Glasgow, David Dale Gallery, Glasgow, and An Gailearaí, Donegal. Her current research explores the intersections and interrelations between art and writing through the lens of translation.

These paintings were created during my final year at Duncan of Jordanstone College of Art and Design at the University of Dundee.

Welcome to an exhibition that places your interpretation at the forefront. Art is a uniquely personal experience, shaped by individual perspectives, emotions, and backgrounds. The way you perceive each piece is influenced by numerous factors, whether it’s your own experiences, the visual elements like colour and symmetry, or even how others view the work. These paintings were created during my final year at Duncan of Jordanstone College of Art and Design at the University of Dundee.

These works do not have titles to view that might influence your perception of the meaning of the work. While an explanatory note is attached to the back of each artwork, I encourage you to leave it unopened at first (or even leave it forever unopened). The true essence of the work lies in the connection you establish with it, free from any preconceptions. Your interpretation might align with my original intent, but it could just as easily differ, influenced by your personal experiences or the emotions stirred by the colours and forms.

Art isn’t solely about the artist’s vision; it’s equally about how you, the viewer, engage with it. Your background and mindset will shape what you see and feel, often revealing nuances that others might overlook.

As you explore this exhibition, take time to reflect on what you observe and let your imagination lead the way. Whether the colours and imagery stir feelings of anguish, joy, sorrow, love, or something entirely different, remember your reaction is the essence of this exhibition. I’m simply giving you a shove, with dramatic imagery and colour for you to then create your own description of what the painting means.

Here, your interpretation is as important as mine. After all, it’s your opinion that truly matters.

As a Glasgow-born artist, my work is deeply influenced by the vibrant and raw energy of the city. My artistic journey began at the Tramway Open Studio, a space that allowed me to explore different mediums and ideas, laying the foundation for my formal education. After completing my City and Guild in Art and Design at Glasgow College, I was fortunate enough to be accepted into several prestigious art schools, ultimately choosing Duncan of Jordanstone, where I continue to develop my practice.

Art has become a powerful tool for me to manage my emotions and mental health. Through my work, I aim to shed light on the struggles faced by working people and those suffering from mental health challenges. A recurring theme in my practice is “The Pidgeon Man,” a well-known homeless figure on the streets of Dundee. His presence symbolises the marginalisation and resilience of those who are often overlooked. I’ve used this motif in some of my merchandise, available on my website.

I have sold over 100 pieces of artwork and have been commissioned by many people, with some collectors owning more than one of my works. Alongside my studies, I’ve organised events at university and worked various jobs to support myself, which has enabled me to travel and explore places of interest, such as Amman and Petra in Jordan. These travels have added to my experiences of different ways of life, from Kenya and Egypt to countries across Europe.

I’m also working on a dissertation exploring “the value of art”, examining how art influences behaviour, and the impact of art theft and notoriety. In the future, I hope to exhibit more widely, place my work in collections, and donate pieces to institutions and charities supporting mental wellbeing. My goal is to become a full-time working artist.

UNBOUND is an exciting exhibition showcasing the work of six emerging artists taking part in the Granton Station Graduate Accelerator project, an initiative by Wasps Studios, launched in October 2023. Over the past 12 months, these talented creative graduates have been immersed in a unique creative journey, supported by professional creative practitioners who have shared invaluable skills, knowledge, and insights that go beyond traditional educational environments.

Participating artists are: Kalin Lin (mentored by Lindsey Gardiner), Heather Roberts (mentored by Andy Kennedy), Shankar Saanthakumar (mentored by Pushpi Bagchi), Neslihan Tepehan (mentored by Alex Allan), Tara McCullough (mentored by Clementine Carriere) and Molly Kent (mentored by Fiona Hutchinson).

This exhibition presents a broad range of creative work, reflecting the diverse specialisms of each artist and the various stages of progress their projects have undergone. From visual arts to commercial creative skill sets, UNBOUND is a celebration of talent, growth and challenges of the creative industry while highlighting the professional development gained throughout the program. These artists, guided by their peers and mentors, have explored a wide spectrum of topics, putting into practice the lessons learned. UNBOUND serves as both a reflection on their individual journeys and a collective celebration of their shared experiences, marking the culmination of a year of learning, collaboration, and artistic evolution.

This pilot project, aimed at supporting emerging and practicing artists in professional development, has been supported by local creative partners and institutions as part of the Granton Waterfront regeneration project; Edinburgh College, North Edinburgh Arts, National Galleries or Scotland, National Museum of Scotland, Edinburgh Council, delivered by Wasps Studios, Granton Station.

UNBOUND is a declaration: that creativity is not confined by traditional structures or the limits of formal education. Matched with, mentored, and inspired by professional creative practitioners who have imparted skills, stories, knowledge, and conversations rarely explored in educational settings. Together and individually, these Artists have navigated uncharted territory, where practical experience, critical insight, and creative experimentation merge.

Work is in flux, in progress—yet it is no less valid, no less powerful, rejecting the idea that creativity must be polished or complete to have value. The diversity of their practices, spanning visual arts and commercial skill sets, is their strength. Embracing the spectrum of creative specialisms, they represent, and the unpredictable paths they tread.

UNBOUND is a celebration of risk, reflection, and resilience. It marks the culmination of a year of growth—both as an individual and collective. Acknowledging the challenges of our industry and the reality of navigating it as emerging artists. The artists affirm the ability to shape it, to contribute to it with boldness and authenticity.

This is our manifesto: we are UNBOUND by the limitations of tradition. We are driven by curiosity, collaboration, and the courage to forge our own paths. The work we present is a testament to our adaptability and commitment to learning through practice. We are not defined by finished pieces, but by the process of becoming.

We are UNBOUND, and this is just the beginning.

The Wasps Trust is a charity registered in Scotland (SC022115).

Workshop & Artists Studio Provision (Scotland) Limited is a charity registered in Scotland (SC001351).

It is also a company limited by guarantee registered in Scotland (SC062117).

Wasps Creative Industries C.I.C. is a community interest company registered in Scotland (SC383609)

The registered office for the above 3 entities is: The Briggait, 141 Bridgegate, Glasgow, G1 5HZ.

Telephone: 0141 553 5890 | Email: info@waspsstudios.org.uk

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