Author: Alan Rae

Land & Sea

Featuring the work of: Fee Dickson Reid, Ginny Elston, Beth Robertson Fiddes, Neal Greig RUA, Anna King, Sam MacDonald, Stephanie Mills, Patrick Mitchell & Pascale Rentsch RSW.

Our first exhibition in 2026 returns to a familiar theme – “Land & Sea” and brings together the work of 9 artists whose approach to land and seascapes varies greatly.

Fee Dickson Reid’s soothing seascapes of the East Lothian beaches are well known to visitors to the gallery as are the plein air painted coastal and river scenes from Ireland based Neal Greig. Neal has included 4 pieces from a trip to Skye last year.

Sam MacDonald now based in Aberlady, East Lothian but grew up on Lewis where his love of the landscape and fishing has informed his sculptural pieces set in resin.

Also locally based in East Lothian and no stranger to the gallery is Pascale Rentsch. Recently elected to Royal Scottish Society of Painters in Watercolour (RSW), Pascale’s mixed media landscapes, created plein air in all weathers, really captures the beauty of the countryside on her doorstep.

Stephanie Mills and Patrick Mitchell have both exhibited before at the gallery but on previous occasions the pieces included were portraits. Stephanie’s work, both her portraiture and landscape, is quite precise, representational but with a beautiful sense of calm and stillness.

Patrick, a recent graduate from Duncan of Jordanstone in Dundee, works in a far looser and abstracted style so offers an interesting contrast to the more representational artists in the exhibition.

New to the gallery, Ginny Elston’s landscapes are created in the studio from the memories of the light, colours and space experienced when outside. Loose brushstrokes and harmonious colour balance translate the sensations of warmth and light and in the landscape.

Also showing with us for the first time, Beth Robertson Fiddes’ work is well known to gallery visitors throughout Scotland. Incredible seascapes bursting with atmosphere, movement and colour, all bathed in a light of such intense clarity.

Finally, another artist I have admired for years and delighted to be showing her work here in Gullane, is Anna King. Anna finds the beauty in the forgotten, discarded strips of land on the periphery of urban life. Field edges and decaying buildings from another time, overgrown and neglected.

What a line up. All exhibit their work extensively across Scotland and all are enthusiastically collected… a great selection of artists to open the 2026 schedule.

Opening at 11am on Saturday 14 February with refreshments and a chance to meet the artists between 2 and 5pm.

Jings, it comes around so quickly. Our Winter Exhibition will soon be upon us. Our annual mix of regular gallery artists and a few new faces providing a selection of painting, printmaking, ceramics and sculpture. A cornucopia of creative delights, original artwork to suit every budget… perfect for that special Christmas gift.

Opening on Saturday 6 December at 11am with refreshments and meet the artists between 2 & 5pm. Come along and help celebrate the work of an inspiring collection of artists…

Featuring: Claire Beattie, George Birrell, Georgina Bown, Alfons Bytautas, Dominique Cameron, Anna Caro, Alan Connell, Ian Cook, Stephanie Dees, Henry Fraser, Ronnie Fulton, Andy Heald, Linda Jackson, Rosalind Lawless, Sarah Lawson, Ged Lerpiniere, Robert Mach, Alice McMurrough, Ian Neill, Arran Ross, Ali Scott, Naoko Shibuya, Mimi Spencer, Jayne Stokes, Pamela Tait, Astrid Trügg, Jane Walker, Alasdair Wallace & Christopher Wood.

Please note: From the start of the Winter Exhibition gallery opening times will change to: Wednesday – Saturday 11-4pm & Sunday 12-4pm, closed on Mondays and Tuesdays.

Take 6

18 October to 30 November 2025

Opening on Saturday 18 October at 11am with refreshments and meet the artists from 2-5pm.

Featuring: Alison Dunlop RSW, Simon Laurie RSW RGI, Neil Macdonald RSW RGI PAI, Naoko Shibuya, Peter Thomson & Graeme Wilcox

Six remarkable Scottish artists who are no strangers to the gallery have submitted six pieces each for this exhibition. Very different in style, subject and inspiration which combines perfectly for an interesting and visually engaging collection of work.

Two artists drawn to the same landscape and coastline of East Lothian but who respond to it in two completely different ways.

Fidra Fine Art has worked with Matthew and Andy since 2016 both have appeared in numerous small group exhibitions so both are very well known to visitors to the gallery. This is the first time we have focussed on both their work together in an exhibition to contemplate the similarities and differences to their approach and completed work.

Both artists employ a very expressive, physical technique in the application of their chosen medium, but they attempt to describe very different personal experiences with the landscape.

Andy Heald very much places himself in the landscape and tries to channel how he feels and what he is thinking at the time. Working often plein air, Andy works quickly and frenetically to try to capture his thoughts and mood in response to the rolling hills, the abundance and variety of colour, the constant and ever-changing sound and motion of the waves and the biting East coast gales in the winter. All these natural experiences are channelled and then abstracted into artworks that reflect Andy’s experience of the East Lothian landscapes.

Matthew Draper works from sketches and note taking, directly from the landscape. Watching, creating and collecting images of the weather, light and atmosphere… fleeting moments in time captured from the ever-changing Scottish landscape. Bass Rock features often in his work but it is not really the subject… the light and drama of the Scottish weather is the principal player.

Like Andy, Matthew’s approach to his work is physical and expressive but the end results are visually representational rather than subjectively abstracted. His chosen medium is pastel which he uses to sketch-in the basic composition and then uses his hands and forearms to blend the subtle pastel colour fields together ultimately resulting in the remarkable depth and drama of his light filled land and seascapes.

“A Moment in Time” compares the work of two artists approaching a favourite subject but who gain inspiration and achieve final results in very different ways. Both remarkable in their own way and, something I feel, is the wonder of the art world… the infinite creative possibilities.

We have been very fortunate to work with the incredibly talented people at Urbancroft Films in producing two short films to support the exhibition. Both are included in this introduction, one above and the other below…

They were shot on a glorious summer day at Traprain Law in East Lothian and as well as showcasing the lovely landscape of East Lothian, give some insight into the working processes of both artists. If you would like to learn more about their work please feel free to come along to the exhibition opening on Saturday 6 September at 11am with a chance to meet the artists between 2 & 5pm.

28 June to 31 August

Opening on Saturday 28 June at 11am with refreshments and meet the artists from 2-5pm.

A colourful and vibrant collection of work for the Summer Exhibition from 10 outstanding artists.

Featuring: Shona Barr, George Birrell, Jemma K Derbyshire, Nael Hanna, John Kingsley, Alan Macdonald, John McClenaghen, Saul Robertson, Jayne Stokes & Astrid Trügg with ceramics from Sarah Lawson, Arran Ross and Ronnie Fulton.

Amongst the familiar names in the exhibition we are delighted to welcome three new artists to the gallery; Shona Barr, Jemma K Derbyshire and Nael Hanna.

Shona Barr, a graduate of Glasgow School of Art, focusses on the natural world for inspiration. Coastal landscapes and the abundance of natural colours found in her garden are valuable sources of inspiration for her work.

Jemma Derbyshire studied at Edinburgh College of Art and is currently co-founder and tutor at Paintbox School of Art in Cockenzie. Similar to Shona, Jemma’s work is perfect for the Summer… exuberant, floral work bursting with radiant colour.

Nael Hanna was born in Northern Iraq and studied at Duncan of Jordanstone College of Art in Dundee. Nael’s work is incredibly expressive whether it be the wild seas off the Angus coastline close to where he lives or the vibrancy found in his joyous, floral still lifes.

Another great collection of work by some of the most popular artists working in Scotland today. Hope you can make it along.

Our much anticipated 5^th solo exhibition with Dominique Cameron opens on Saturday 17 May.

“This body of work is, on the surface, concerned with landscape. At the outset this was true, and still is, yet is has become something other too.

The title is clear, in that the two places on which I have turned my gaze are, as the name suggests water and land – Rannoch Moor and Methil docks. Both the bog and the long wooden piers could be said to be neither fully land or water, they inhabit both. And yet alongside both landscapes also exist expressions of uncertainty and vulnerability, questioning how one might navigate these landscapes.

The works can be viewed as a set for a cast of actors, to contemplate the moves they might make across these spaces.

By paring back the image to, in some sense, an ‘essential-ness’ what remains is a crossing back and forth between a person and the landscape, a rhythm of movement and thought, a metaphorical place, a landscape of something other.” Dominique Cameron 

Opening 11am Saturday 17 May with refreshments and meet the artist from 2-5pm.

RGI – Work on Paper

An exhibition of work on paper by elected members of the Royal Glasgow Institute of the Fine Arts.

5 April to 11 May 2025

Ade Adesina, June Carey, Jimmy Cosgrove, Helen Flockhart, Ronald Forbes, John Inglis, Jennifer Irvine, Shona Kinloch, Elspeth Lamb, Simon Laurie, Rosalind Lawless, Neil Macdonald, Will Maclean, Charles MacQueen, Angus McEwan, Alice McMurrough, Robert Murray, Hazel Nagl, Heather Nevay, Jacqueline Orr, Glen Scouller, Ronald F Smith, James Tweedie, Helen Wilson & Christine Woodside.

“Next year 2026, is the 130th Anniversary of the RGI achieving its Royal status. Being a Scottish exhibiting society with members residing across Scotland, we are celebrating with old friends at galleries forth of Glasgow; an anniversary to focus new energies and a renaissance to help revivify the Cultural Quarter of Glasgow. To build on a new injection of life at the arrival of Paisley Art Institute in the city’s Glasgow Art Club, providing a unique cluster of ‘heirloom’ artist societies beneath the ruin of Mackintosh’s art school.” Royal Glasgow Institute of the Fine Arts

“Made in East Lothian”.

A celebration of the work of artists either based in East Lothian or whose work features elements of the East Lothian landscape.

Featuring: Julie Barnes, Claire Beattie, John Boak, Georgina Bown, George Birrell, Alan Connell, Ann Cowan, Fee Dickson Reid, Ronnie Fulton, Andy Heald, Kate Henderson, Ged Lerpiniere, Sam MacDonald, Rachel Marshall, Linda MacKinnon, Line Mortensen, Pascale Rentsch, Sue Shields, Jayne Stokes, Astrid Trügg, Elizabeth Vischer, Christopher Wood, Darren Woodhead & Julia Zeller-Jacques.

Also including work by John Bellany, John Campbell Mitchell, Patrick William Adam, James Elder Christie, Sir William Gillies & Alexander Garden Sinclair.

East Lothian with its scenic towns, countryside and coastline has a long history of attracting and inspiring artistic talent. Tate Britain’s collection of work by the great J.M.W. Turner, who was recently generating huge queues at the RSA building in Edinburgh, includes and number of sketches of the castles of East Lothian as well as Bass Rock.

East Linton drew so many reputable artists in the early part of the last century that it was said of the banks of the Tyne that, “…one had to stroll with caution for fear of tripping over easels or painting kits.” Artists working around East Linton at that time included Robert Noble, John Pettie and Arthur Melville.

The Scottish Colourists FCB Cadell & SJ Peploe were frequent visitors to the coastline as was Sir John Lavery who painted a well known series of views over the West Links at North Berwick. The Glasgow Boys, James Guthrie and EA Walton were drawn to Cockburnspath, the well known interiors artist Patrick William Adam was based in North Berwick, Sir William Gillies and John Bellany…the list goes on. 

Today the county is blessed with a vibrant arts scene. Numerous courses are available throughout the county; Paint Box, based at Cockenzie House, runs a number of excellent courses as do Dunbar Arts and Dukes of West Barns. Fringe by the Sea has gained a huge reputation and a big draw for visitors to North Berwick in the Summer. Numerous galleries and smaller dedicated arts groups are dotted throughout the county.

The exhibition opens on Saturday 15 February at 11am with refreshments and a chance to meet some of the artists from 2-5pm.

Hope to see you there.