Aviemore Gallery

Summer Exhibition

editor — Fri, 09 Jul 2010 12:56:21 +0000

The Aviemore Gallery Launches Summer Exhibition

The majestic and diverse Scottish landscapes of lochs, mountains and the country’s unpredictable weather are the inspiration behind the work being showcased in The Aviemore Gallery’s summer exhibition, which opens on 1^st July.

Painters, sculptors, jewellery makers and photographers will be brought together to exhibit their work demonstrating how Scotland’s countryside and cityscapes have influenced their work.

Glasgow based artist Daniel Campbell, painter James Adams based in Perthshire, Gillian Pattinson from the Northwest Highlands and David Henderson from North Berwick will be the highlights of the summer exhibition. The world-class artists will join a host of local artists ensuring the gallery stays true to its ethos of showcasing the best of Scottish art.

Each artist uses the power, grandeur and excitement of their ever-changing surroundings to produce personal depictions in a range of styles including acrylics, watercolours, and mixed media.

Lizzie Macintyre, owner of The Aviemore Gallery, says: “Our summer exhibition will follow in the footsteps of our enormously successful spring exhibition. The gallery has become immensely popular since we opened at the beginning of 2010. It seems that our location – being situated within the stunning surroundings of Scotland’s largest national park – is the biggest influence on our customers. The landscapes, like art, evoke powerful emotions within people who and we have found that many of our customers want to take that personal piece of Scotland back home with them.”

The Summer Exhibition will run from Thursday 1^st July through to the end of September. The Aviemore Gallery is open 7 days between 10am and 5.30pm.

Welcome to Aviemore Gallery

admin — Tue, 25 May 2010 16:09:11 +0000

Showcasing the best of Highland and Scottish art and crafts in a relaxing environment. Whether you are looking for that special gift to grace your home, a momento of your visit, or merely to browse, our motto is ‘affordable art’. The Aviemore Gallery is located one mile from Aviemore on the road to Loch Morlich, and has its own car park.

Search for that perfect gift, a reminder of your visit to the Scottish Highlands, all over Italian coffee or fair trade tea and a homemade scone, The Aviemore Gallery showcases the best of Highland Art & Crafts.

The Aviemore Gallery combines a contemporary Gallery with an excellent Highland Craft and Gift Shop, an irresistible Coffee Shop and a professional Picture Framing service.

The Aviemore Gallery is the ideal stop during your visit to The Cairngorms National Park.

One Hump or Two?

editor — Thu, 06 May 2010 15:46:14 +0000

AVIEMORE Gallery has opened its spring exhibition with a homage to Nessie at its centre.

Attending the grand opening on Thursday was a host of VIPs and past employees of Castlewynd Studios, the pottery business which operated on the site in the 1960s and 1970s.

They were well known for producing the iconic Loch Ness monster image – a head with two humps. The pottery also produced earthenware figures of shaggy Highland cattle miniatures and black faced sheep.

Sold for “a couple of quid” each, the image of Nessie was the studio’s biggest success with 40,000 sold each year from 1964-1980.

The pottery studio was forced to close following an expansion bid during the 1980 recession, and now, 20 years on, former owner James Crawford’s daughter, Lizzie Macintyre, has taken over the space and rebuilt it as an art gallery and coffee shop.

James, his wife Mary, and Lizzie, met with nine former employees at the exhibition opening.

The collection of paintings features work from a number internationally renowned and local artists – all of whom take their inspiration from Scotland’s outdoors.

Headlining the spring exhibition are oil landscape paintings from Glaswegian artist Daniel Campbell, while Grantown-based watercolour painter Jim Gardiner will be displaying a series of landscapes until the exhibition ends in June.

Two award-winning Nairnshire artists – sculptor Daniel Kavanagh and jeweller Melanie Muir – will also be on show. Mr Kavangh produces sleek monochrome designs in contrast to Ms Muir’s technicoloured, eye-catching pendants, necklaces, bracelets and earrings.

Alongside them is Fife-based textile artist Leanne McKend, who uses layering and stitching along with beads, buttons and shells to represent natural scenery, such as shorelines.

The exhibition also has a special area dedicated to the work of the Castlewynd Studios, featuring some original Nessie pottery pieces along with photographs of the studio’s 15 year run during the 60s and 70s.

Speaking at the opening, Lizzie Macintyre said: “It was wonderful to see the past and the present mix together on our first exhibition opening. It was an incredibly successful evening and we were delighted to show everyone that the Castlewynd ethos of supporting Scottish art and artists is still at the heart of everything we do at The Aviemore Gallery.”

The Aviemore Gallery opened in February this year and also houses a gift shop with works from independent craftspeople and Fair Trade artisans.

Castlewynd Studios Exhibition

editor — Tue, 20 Apr 2010 11:26:37 +0000

Local Gallery Searches for Creative Residents to Celebrate Exhibition Opening

A local gallery based in Aviemore is searching for employees of Castlewynd Studios to invite as VIP’s to a new spring exhibition launching on the 29^th April 2010.

The Aviemore Gallery in Inverdruie, owned by Lizzie MacIntyre, is based in the premises occupied by Castlewynd Studios, which was run by Lizzie’s parents James & Mary Crawford until they retired in 1979.

The spring exhibition will be showcasing work from a number of local artists as well as having a special area dedicated to the work of the Castlewynd Studios, which opened in Aviemore in 1964. The Studios were the first pottery to produce theiconic Loch Ness monster, shaggy Highland cattle and Black Faced sheep earthenware figures that are now a Scottish tradition and sold throughout the country.

Lizzie, who also worked at the studios as a youngster explains, “The Castlewynd Studios was a massive part of my childhood. It was one of the main employers in the area at the time – not only having the showroom in Inverdruie, but also a bigger workshop in Kingussie. Dad has so many memories and photos of his time running Castlewynd and plenty of advice to give us now we run the gallery! We got talking about the spring exhibition and thought it would be great to welcome all the old employees from Castlewynd along on the opening night as our VIPs so that they can catch up with one another and see what we have done to the place. They will hopefully see that our roots are firmly based in Castlewynd’s ethos – in the fact that we are supporting local artists and have a continued passion for Scottish art. I am really looking forward to having an area dedicated to Castlewynd over thirty years since my parents closed the business – after all, for me, this is where it all started.”

The Aviemore Gallery opened in February 2010, and houses an exhibition space, which showcases stunning art and photography from a range of local artists, and a gift shop with a range of unique crafts produced by independent craftspeople and Fair Trade artisans.

The Castlewynd Studios exhibition will have pottery, photographs and memorabilia from the 60’s and 70’s, but Lizzie is hoping that over the coming weeks locals will pop in with their own Castlewynd Studios photographs that can be loaned to the Gallery for the exhibition.

Lizzie continues: “We would like anyone who has photos of their time at Castlewynd to bring them along to the gallery in the next few weeks so that we can include them in the exhibition. We will of course look after the photos while they are here and give them back in the same condition, but it would be great to have a few more of the creative employees that worked here.”

The spring exhibition VIP preview night will take place on Thursday 29^th April. The exhibtion will run until the end of June Artists include: Painters – Daniel Campbell (Glasgow), Jim Gardiner (Grantown on Spey), Jane Lanagan (Tomintoul) and Fiona Mathieson (Inverness), textile artist – Leanne McKend (Upper Largo), photographer – Neil Macintyre (Strathspey), earthenware and Bronze – Daniel Kavanagh (Glenferness) and jeweler Melissa James (Perthshire)

For further information, please contact Charlotte Kissack at Rock Solid PR on 0783 4871707 or email charlotte@rocksolidpr.co.uk