A passion for her Dundee childhood is captured in the colourful biro artwork of Perth’s Nicola McBride – one of 120 participants in the Perthshire Open Studios Festival.
Others, like potter Shona Mackenzie are inspired by Scotland’s landscapes and environment.
The POS Festival, from 6-11 September, is a chance to visit studios and galleries across the region and meet remarkable artists many of whom live and work in wonderful settings.
Shona’s studio is a former beekeeper’s shed, with hives behind, while Karin Borland, a former zoologist who is now a painter and textile artist, has her studio in a fabulous garden near Dalguise.
The festival highlights the creative community all across Perth and Kinross – featuring painting, original prints and photography through to ceramics, jewellery, woodwork, textiles and much more.
Nicola, now based in Perth, uses coloured Bic biro pens to create detailed depictions of all the things she loved as a youngster in the 1980s – from Beano and Oor Wullie, to Dundee marmalade, Irn-Bru and Tunnocks Teacakes.
Raised in Ardler, her parents worked in public houses and she has fond memories of sitting on the floor outside opening hours making drawings.
Nicola said: “My family was all from Dundee – my gran was a jute worker and my dad was the manager for The Ambassador.
“I would go in the lounge, when it wasn’t open to customers, and sit on the floor and make drawings. I loved the way the light shone through the optics and was fascinated by the graphics of the brands.
“I was a big fan of things like The Beano and Tunnocks and I really loved all the branding. Nowadays a lot of my art is about childhood memories.”
Other Perth-based artists include Susan Hutchison who is one of several exhibiting at the Perthshire Creative Exchange.
One of the great attractions of the festival is the chance to visit studios in beautiful parts of Perthshire.
Shona Mackenzie, of The Birch Tree Studio, Dull, is a prime example. She has turned the shed where her father kept his beekeeping equipment into a pottery – with seven hives full of bees live just behind.
Shona said: “It’s lovely to work in my father, Torquil’s, old bee shed. It’s such a beautiful place, the views and the countryside are spectacular.
“My pottery is very functional, tea pots, bowls and mugs. I suppose it’s because something I really enjoy is having a cup of tea and thinking ‘that’s a lovely mug’.
“A lot of my work is inspired by the weather as well. So, this being Scotland, I make ‘cloud dishes’ and ‘rain cups’.”
The POS organisers have divided the region into six areas to help visitors decide which studios and galleries they want to see.
There is also the free POS Festival Showcase exhibition, in the Barn Gallery at The Bield, Blackruthven, from 2-11 September, with more than 230 works from many of the festival artists.
Heather Budge-Reid, Chair of POS, said: “It’s a welcome return for the festival, which took a break last year. We are looking forward opening up a whole world of wonderful Scottish art and craft to visitors from all across the country.
“It’s a fabulous chance to discover the amazing creativity of Perth and Kinross – and to enjoy spending time exploring the city and the countryside – and to find all those hidden place we don’t normally get to see.”
If you miss the festival there is now the year-round Perthshire Creative Trail with a searchable website with artists and galleries places to visit.
It features 15 galleries and 32 artists’ studios (including 17 in the Perth Creative Exchange) allowing people to meet artists, visit galleries, discover walks and distilleries in all seasons.
- POS Festival Showcase, The Barn Gallery, The Bield, Blackruthven, Tibbermore, PH1 1PY, 10am-5pm every day.
- See https://perthshireopenstudios.com.
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Notes for editors
About POS
POS aims to contribute to strengthening the economic, cultural, tourism and heritage environments throughout Perthshire by:
- Supporting Perthshire creatives
- Increasing the number of residents and visitors who get a sense of place through travelling around Perthshire and ‘Seeing the Inspiration.’
- Strengthening artists’ marketing skills
- Increasing cooperation and support between individual artists and Perthshire-focused organisations.
The objectives of POS are to:
- Organise and promote an all-year-round Perthshire Creative Trail.
- Organise and promote an open studios festival in Perthshire that supports economies of scale.
- Develop marketing/promotional skills of POS members and their access to the benefits of membership.
- Endeavour to work in coordination with other organisations with similar goals.
Perthshire Open Studios (POS) has been running for over 13 years. Entirely volunteer run, the open studios festival event across Perthshire attracts visitors and residents, supporting economic and cultural growth as well as cultural benefits. In 2021, 143 venues and 198 solo artists participated in POS. Previous research shows that for every pound spent on organising the festival each year, £15 is spent in Perthshire.
POS is now focusing on three events a year – an all year-round creative trail, a September open studio festival and a summer exhibition. In addition to developing training events for artist looking to spread the word about their art. It was also agreed that it was important to work with other artist organisations in Perthshire.
POS is made possible with the support of Perth and Kinross Council, UNESCO City of Craft (Perth), VisitScotland, Perth Creative Exchange, Growbiz, Perthshire Artisans, and the team at The Quair and is organised by Perthshire Open Studios.
For media information contact Matthew Shelley at SFPR on 07786 704299 or at Matthew@ScottishfestivalsPR.org.
Perthshire Open Studios CIC. Company number: SC498236. Registered office: Artisanand, 13-15 Bank St, Aberfeldy, PH15 2BB
