News & Exhibitions
10 May 2012
New video of ‘Port Appin Studio at Work’ online.
Now available online is a short video made by our son Lewis at Cagoule Productions of us at work in our studio in Port Appin. View via Port Appin Studio on Facebook or on YouTube: http://youtu.be/B77MLB5JqIA
For more information on the pieces shown on the video go to our website.
31 March 2012
Recently returned from Norway taking the Hurtigruten boat from Bergen to the Russian border sketching all the way – wonderful inspirationde
We have just returned from the Hurtigruten voyage in Norway from Bergen to Kirkenes at the Russian border above the Arctic Circle. We visited many ports en route including Trondheim, Tromso, Alesund and the Lofoten Islands. We were able to do lots of sketches and take photographs of the superb fiords and snow covered mountain scenery which has given us lots of inspiration for new works.
On the return journey we took the train from Bergen to Oslo through spectacular mountain scenery. In both Bergen and Oslo we visited several Art Galleries seeing mainly Norwegian artists – Edvard Munch , Nikolai Astrup ,Harald Sohlberg and many others. In Oslo at the National Gallery there was also an exhibition of Canadian painters, “Tom Thomson and the Group of Seven”, of the early 20th. century who had been inspired by Norwegian artists of the period.
14 February 2012
St.Valentine’s Day Talk to Oban group
Midge is giving a talk about her work to Oban & District Needlework Group. As well as talking about her past commissions she will show examples of her most recent works, explain her inspiration and describe the techniques used.
25 January 2012
Visited the newly refurbished Scottish National Portrait Gallery in Edinburgh.
Last weekend Midge & I went to the re-opened Portrait Gallery. It has been many years since our last visit. What a difference from the rather gloomy, uninviting building that it had become. Now, it’s a pleasure to see and explore with lots of interesting things. Well worth a visit!
1 January 2012
Happy New Year and all the very best for 2012 from Midge & Alex at Port Appin Studio.
Last year was not the most successful year for art sales with art markets being the first hit in times of recession but despite that we keep producing works, coz. that’s what we do. During the year we had our last visit to France as property owners though we will continue to go there and see our friends and be inspired by a familiar landscape. Two visits to Finland, including an excursion to Lapland, to visit Steve and Katri and the kids. Steve had a big project making 8 yurts for a holiday complex. We had a short visit to Iona to keep up our west coast island experiences in the company of our French neighbours. In August we had our open studio week which had a good turnout. The autumn, spent this year mainly at home in the rain and storms, seems to have passed quickly.
This year we have a Hurtigruten boat trip to the Norwegian fiords, on to Finland, and our first return to France to look forward to. With the closure of the Oban art gallery we’ll have to look for other outlets this year and be more proactive with our website and marketing
6 December 2011
Paintings in Kranenburg Fine Arts, Oban Winter Show
This will be the last exhibition at Kranenburg as the gallery closes on the 24th December 2011. We wish Geoff a long and happy retirement. The gallery will be a big loss to Oban and the West of Scotland and for all the visual artists who have exhibited there over the years. Alex has 3 paintings in this, the final show.
Midge and daughter Kim visited the Knitting and Stitching Show in Harrowgate at the end of last month and came away with lots of new materials, ideas and inspiration. They also renewed acquaintance with friends and colleagues from the Textile Art world.
Alex is working on new paintings inspired by a visit to Iona in October and to Sutherland’s Grove in the autumn sunshine.
17 November 2011
Advertisement in Oban Times Xmas Supplement
This week’s Oban Times features an advert for Port Appin Studio highlighting our website and online shop.
New products have been added to our online shop . Have a look !
8 November 2011
EDGE textile artists Scotland’s exhibition opens at Farfield Mill, Sedbergh, Cumbria on Sat. 12th Nov.
Midge has had six pieces accepted for the exhibition – four shoes and two new framed works. The mill itself is very interesting and Sedbergh and the surrounding countryside well worth a visit. The exhibition runs until January 1st 2012 and is open daily 10.30 – 17.00. The exhibits are of a diverse and high standard.
1 November 2011
Lewis at Cagoule Productions has nearly completed the video of Port Appin Studio and hopefully it will be on our website soon.
Lewis has chosen as background music for the video Sigur ros, an Icelandic group, who sound great. We look forward to the finished article.
10 October 2011
A short video is being produced of our studio work and ourselves to be added to our website.
Lewis of Cagoule Productions spent the weekend with us to shoot the video. Some quality stills were taken of our latest work too.
3 October 2011
Port Appin Studio is launching on Facebook.
Port Appin Studio is opening a Facebook page with up to date news and images from our studio. This will complement our website blog and Twitter site hopefully reaching a wider audience.
Midge is finishing a piece of work for the EDGE exhibition called ” EDGING SOUTH” to be held in the Howgill Gallery, Farfield Mill Arts and Heritage Centre,Sedburgh, Cumbria. 12th Nov.-1st January. She also hopes that some of her “shoes” will be exhibited there.
Her work “Wallpiece for Elizabeth” is illustrated in the September/October edition of Embroidery magazine.
Alex has two paintings in the newly opened exhibition of works by the Glencoe Life Drawing Group showing until the end of October at the National Trust Centre in Glencoe.
19 August 2011
Successful open studio weekend
Last weekend’s open studio in conjunction with Artmap Argyll was a great success with over 100 visitors over the 4 days and we were able to donate £150 , a percentage of sales, to DEC East Africa Appeal.
Midge had her picture, holding one of her latest decorative shoes, in this weeks Oban Times under the heading ” Argyll artists throw open their doors”. Christine McCartney, a reporter for the Oban Times, wrote the article after her visit to the studio on Sunday with her young daughter Lucy.
25 July 2011
Forthcoming Open Studio Weekend 12-15 August
The weekend of 12-15 August sees our studio open daily to the public from 11 a.m. till 4 p.m.
Paintings and drawings, Textile Art ( including Midge’s exciting new range of “shoes”) , prints and cards are for sale or just take the chance to meet the artists and see their latest works.
This year we are in conjunction with Art map Argyll open studio trail with over 40 artists in the Argyll area exhibiting.
A percentage of our sales will go to the DEC East Africa Crisis Appeal.
15 May 2011
Painting Holiday Course May 2011
We have just completed our annual early summer Painting Course. ‘Early summer’ didn’t describe the weather adequately as it was cold and wet most of the week – so no work ‘en plein air’. This has been our sixth year running the course and two people have been to all of them. We must be doing something right!
Everyone had an enjoyable time and hopefully learnt a little along the way.
Midge’s latest works – her decorative shoes – were greatly admired. You can see some of them on her gallery page on the website.
In August we are having another Open Studio event – 12-15 August – in conjunction with Artmap Argyll. More details nearer the time.
6 May 2011
Springtime in the Corbieres
We have just returned from our regular early visit to St. Martin des Puits in France.
The weather was mainly fine and the wild flowers, orchids and poppies in particular, were stunning, and the butterflies, such as swallowtails, and other exotic insects were profuse. Lots of walks, around Buisse, Lagrasse and Leucate , remind us what a wonderful area the Lanquedoc is. We have taken lots of photographs to remind and inspire us.
Another visit to the Modern Art Gallery in Ceret was as usual inspirational.
We have put our house in Aude on the market but this won’t mean the end of our visits to the area.
2 February 2011
Visit to Finland
This month we’re heading to Tampere, Finland then on to Lapland. We hope to see the Northern Lights when there, as this is supposed to be a good year for viewing. It should be an exciting and stimulating trip and hopefully inspirational.
Alex instructed a course on ‘Colour Mixing’ for Appin Art Group last Saturday which the ten participants seemed to enjoy.
10 January 2011
Best Wishes for the New Year 2011 from Port Appin Studio
This year starts with Alex giving a workshop on ‘Colour Mixing’ to the Appin Art Group at the end of January.
Our Online SHOP is regularly updated . Please have a look.
For the sixth consecutive year a 5-day Painting Holiday Course will be held at the studio in Port Appin from May 9-13. We welcome back those who have been before – but there is always room for a few more. This year the emphasis will be tailored more to individual requirements and less of a structured course. Fees remain at £50 per day. Anyone interested should contact us for more details.
22 December 2010
New display of paintings at Pier House Hotel, Port Appin
The Pier House Hotel who normally display Alex’s paintings, has recently refurbished the restaurant and reception areas. To coincide with this, a new display of paintings have been hung. During the Festive period till the end of January a 20% discount on listed prices is on offer.
Meanwhile Alex and Midge continue to work on new pieces – some inspired by their autumn visit to France and more recently by the wonderful snowy landscapes in Argyll.
The website shop is beginning to bring results : the most recent being the sale of the large oil painting ‘Port Nam Murrach, Arisaig’ purchased by a couple in Oxford. The website continues to attract a lot of hits some of which have led to people coming to the studio to see and to buy.
Alex has some paintings in Kranenburg Fine Arts Winter show in Oban. Drawings and paintings done while in France in October.
10 November 2010
Two months in the Corbieres, S.W. France
We have just returned from an eight week visit to our house in St.Martin des Puits, Aude. Our autumn visit always helps to recharge batteries and provides new inspiration for our work.
This year we saw two very good exhibitions – a retrospective of a French artist, new to us, Jean-Pierre Pinceman at the Museum of Modern Art in Ceret and Mediteranean works of Raoul Dufy at the Musee Paul Valery in Sete near Montpellier. Both shows were well worth visiting.
We always seem to find new places to visit, despite having spent the last fifteen years exploring the area, and this year went to the Chateux of Lastours, north of Carcassonne; the busy fishing port of Sete, near Montpellier; and on our return trip visited St. Jean de Luz and the western end of the Pyrenees, through Basque country en route to Santander. ( The Guggenheim Gallery At Bilbao was unfortunately closed the day we passed by.)
The weather this year was not so good for working en plein air – the Tramontane blowing and rain ( as much as 10″ in a 2 day period)- however generally it was sunnier and we managed to do some work.
We’ll post new images on the website as soon as they’re ready.
25 August 2010
New Works – Summer 2010
Midge has submitted a new wall piece entitled “Sack Cloth” to the EDGE exhibition entitled ‘Starting Points’ at the Arts Complex, St. Margaret’s House, Edinburgh from 9 – 23 October 2010.
New work have been added to our online shop – landscape paintings by Alex from Arisaig, Tiree and St.Kilda, and a textile hanging by Midge entitled ‘Lace with Trees‘.
Giclée prints are on offer at the NEW PRICE of £45.00 including p&p. Visit our online shop to view the selection of prints on offer.
Alex’ paintings continue to be on show at the Pier House Seafood Restaurant in Port Appin and as part of Kranenburg Fine Art’s Summer Show in Oban, and can be viewed by appointment at the Studio, Port Appin.
25 June 2010
Oban Times Article
The Oban Times dated 24 June 2010 has a photograph showing the raffle being drawn for our Open Studio Week by our friend and neighbour Helen Currie. The accompanying article publicises the funds raised for Action for ME which is a charity we most wish to support.
13 June 2010
Successful Open Studio Week
Last week’s Open Studio at Port Appin was very successful with Alex’s West Highland and Hebridean paintings and prints and Midge’s colourful textured textile pieces proving popular with both local visitors and tourists.
£450 was raised , a percentage of the proceeds of sales and the raffle, for Action for ME charity. The raffle prize, an oil painting of Berneray Sand Dunes, N.Uist by Alex was won by local Port Appin resident Catriona MacKenzie. The studio now reverts to being open by appointment only but visitors are always welcome.
Artworks can also be purchased online at our new Online Shop on our website.
25 May 2010
Open Studio Week
You are invited to the opening day on Saturday, 05 June 2010 to visit our studio, to see (or buy) our work, have some refreshments and buy a raffle ticket to win a painting. A percentage of the proceeds of sale and the raffle will go to Action for ME charity. A selection of paintings, textile art, prints, cards and jewellery are for sale. The studio will be open daily from 11am – 4pm until Sat 12 June ( excluding Wednesday 09 June 2010).
8 March 2010
Welcome to the New Website of Alex and Midge Gourlay (Artists & Designers)
Our new website is designed to give easy access to our services and tell you a little about us. We can take orders for our artworks by phone or e-mail or by visiting our online shop.
3 March 2010
Tiree Visit
Each year we make a trip to the Western Isles for inspiration. Trips have included Mull, Skye, North and South Uist, Barra and most recently to Harris , Lewis and St.Kilda. This year it will be Tiree, staying in a modernised black house.
1 March 2010
Open Studio Week (05-12 June 2010)
The Studio will be open to the public from 05-12 June 2010, giving a chance to see a working artists studio and the opportunity to buy a variety of artwork at modest prices.
28 February 2010
Oban Exhibition
Alex Gourlay currently has some paintings on show at Kranenburg Fine Art’s Winter Show in Oban.