Top Scottish Artists Participate in Lochinch Castle Summer Art Festival

11th July 2012

The Lochinch Castle Victorian stables and grounds will be transformed into a patchwork of colour next week as top artists from Dumfries & Galloway showcase their work. Over twenty artists specialising in oil, acrylic, water colours, photography, sculpture, pottery and printing will display their creative talents in the beautiful setting of Lochinch Castle at the ten day Lochinch Castle Summer Arts Festival running from Friday 20th July to Sunday 29th July.

Building on last year’s successful event, Lochinch Castle Victorian stables and grounds will be a hive of activity as even more artists display their colourful and textured works, and many participate in a series of weekend workshops and talks, against the scenic backdrop of the castle.

Participating artists include Castle Douglas based painter Hazel Campbell who is a creative ambassador for Visit Scotland and renowned for her loose bold oil and gouache paintings of Galloway landscapes and Newton Stewart artist Davy Brown whose work is rapidly becoming popular in the USA. Other participating artists include award-winning photographer Phil McMenemy, whose images depict the great outdoors in both fine art and landscape terms, Port William based print maker Lisa Hooper who incorporates a unique variety of techniques into prints and cards, Paris born sculpture Lucianne Lassalle whose clay and stoneware hand moulded life forms will infuse new interest into the gardens and Wigtown based Jennifer Smith who uses her own converted mangle printing press to create textured and vibrant prints.

Lochinch Castle Summer Art Exhibition opens with a pre-view evening on Friday 20th July from 5pm-8pm. The exhibition is then open daily from 10am-4pm until Sunday 29th July with a late night viewing on Thursday 26th July from 5pm-8pm. Admission is £3 and arts can be purchased throughout the festival.

Workshops commence on Saturday 21st July with Silvana McLean teaching 'Easy & Fun Print Making Techniques' at 10am followed by Julie Partlett ‘Make and Decorate Slip Casting Vase' also at 2pm (booking required, cost of £5). On Sunday 22nd July, Roger Lever will present 'Charity Treks and Travel Photography' at 2pm. The following week on Friday 27th July, Hazel Campbell will teach ‘Landscape Painting'(booking required and cost of £10 per person). On Saturday 28th Brian McConchie will demonstrate 'Woodturning' at 11am, 1pm and 2pm. On Sunday 29th , Hope London will teach ‘Drawing and Seeing’ at 10:30am and 1:30pm (booking required) and David Alexander will demonstrate ‘Slipware Pottery' at 11:30am. Further workshops will be added and a full list can be downloaded from www.castlekennedygardens.co.uk. For further information or bookings contact 01776 702024.

Lochinch Castle is located in Castle Kennedy Gardens, one of Scotland’s finest situated in 75 acres of beautiful landscaped terraces and avenues. Further summer events include garden walks, bird watching from the new bird hide and children’s activities from pond dipping to kite building. Don’t miss the open air theatre productions of The Railway Children on Sunday 15th July at 4:40pm and Jane Austin’s Emma on Wednesday 8th August at 7:00pm , Family Fun Day on Saturday 18th August and the Lochinch Castle Food and Drink Festival on Sunday 2nd September.

For further information contact: Linda Campbell, Marketing and Events Co-ordinator, Castle Kennedy & Gardens and Lochinch Castle Tel:01776 702024 or e-mail: marketing@castlekennedygardens.co.uk

Download the Festival Flyer HERE (PDF)