An exhibition showcasing hand-made craft and visual arts by Spring Fling participants opened this weekend in the Cotswolds tempting art lovers from the south of England to head north for Spring Fling Scotland’s premier art and craft open studios weekend in Dumfries and Galloway.
An exhibition showcasing hand-made craft and visual arts by Spring Fling participants opened this weekend in the Cotswolds.
The Outpost | Spring Fling at New Brewery Arts (NBA) exhibition, in Cirencester, includes jewellery, ceramics, sculpture, original prints, textiles and photography by artists and makers from across Dumfries and Galloway.
All were selected from the 93 participants for Spring Fling 2017, which is Scotland’s premier visual art and craft open studios event, attracting visitors from across the UK and worldwide.
Joanna Macaulay, Events and Exhibitions Manager for Spring Fling, which is organised by Upland Arts Development, said: “The exhibition is absolutely lovely – Beth and the team from NBA have done a brilliant job of displaying the work.
“We hope it will give visitors from all across southern England a taste of the creativity for which Dumfries and Galloway is so well known.
“If they like what they see in Cirencester we’d love them to join us for the Spring Fling open studios weekend where they can enjoy even more superb art and craft while getting to know one of Scotland’s most beautiful and rural regions.”
The open studios weekend runs from 27 to 29 May and will be particularly special as it is Spring Fling’s 15th birthday.
Much of what’s on show in Cirencester has been inspired by Dumfries and Galloway itself – a beautiful rural region of rolling hills, small towns and wild moorlands set behind a long and rugged coastline.
The area has long been a magnet for artists and craft makers in search of the ideal environment to live and work.
Outpost is a chance to see work by people with established national and international reputations and by fresh and innovative young talents.
Many visitors will already be familiar with the work of at least one of those taking part, Clare Melinsky, the cover illustrator for the Harry Potter books, a designer of Royal Mail stamps, and illustrator of the Penguin Shakespeares.
Running from 25 March to 14 May, Outpost includes sculptures by Jennifer Watt, known for her simple, elegant and beautiful bronze and resin forms. These will sit alongside the functional ceramics of Clare Dawdry, whose tableware is a mainstay of chef Tom Kitchin’s Michelin starred restaurant, The Kitchin, in Leith.
NBA has a reputation for showing the best of contemporary craft from throughout the UK, and Outpost does just that.
Beth Alden, New Brewery Arts CEO, said: “It’s always exciting to give people the chance to see high-quality work from other parts of the country who they might not have encountered before.
“It’s a real pleasure to be collaborating with Spring Fling on a project that brings such a variety of ceramics, jewellery, printmaking, textiles and photography from a highly creative rural region like Dumfries and Galloway to the heart of the Cotswolds.”
Spring Fling is a much-loved part of Scotland’s arts calendar with visitors from across the UK and overseas making more than 40,000 studio visits.
