An Talla Solais, Ullapool, until 14 April 2013THE CHAIR of An Talla Solais, Dave Falconer, has been working towards this exhibition for years.
IT CELEBRATES the art of the print, by showcasing work produced […]
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Mandy Haggith explores the mix of art, craft and business at Highland StonewareHIGHLAND Stoneware is a unique company that supports the livelihoods of a cluster of artists in the northwest Highands.
THE […]
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An Talla Solais, Ullapool, until 9 September 2012AN Talla Solais is so full of the sea, with two exhibitions on maritime themes, you can almost smell the salt and hear the spray.
AFTER the success of their […]
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RhueArt, Rhue, near Ullapool, until 15 September 2012KATY Spong has spent a year taking in the views from her Argyll home, overlooking Cuil Bay, and creating from them a visual diary.
IN IT she has recorded […]
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Macphail Centre, Ullapool, 19 July 2012, and touringIF YOU see one piece of theatre this year, see this.
IT IS a compassionate performance, telling the life story of Angus MacPhee, who was born and died on […]
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An Talla Solais, Ullapool, until 20 May 2012THE TALL SHIPS are back in Ullapool, or it seems that way, thanks to an exhibition called LK243 Undersail at An Talla Solais, which evokes the 2011 race from Waterford […] ]]>
Violinist Charles Mutter is artistic director of the Loch Shiel Spring Festival.THIS unique festival is set amongst the stunning scenery around Loch Shiel, west of Fort William, and Charles says his aim is to […] ]]>
An Talla Solais, Ullapool, until 17 June 2012.IT IS hard to imagine two more different forms of art being exhibited together than the two shows currently on display at An Talla Solais.
TWO rooms are filled […]
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Ullapool Book Festival, Ullapool, 11-13 May 2012THIS year’s Ullapool Book Festival featured an impressive list of Scotland’s best writers: John Burnside, Louise Welsh, Aonghas MacNeacail, Mairi Hedderwick, Roger […] ]]>
Mandy Haggith catches up with the traditional woodland crafts practised by Mike EllisMOST of the crafts people I have interviewed are keen to be thought of as artists, so it is interesting to meet someone who […] ]]>
Mandy Haggith delves into some deep questions with artist Peter White THERE IS something instantly recognisable about Peter White’s paintings of empty bowls, open books and garments billowing without wearers. In the absences he creates, his presence is unmistakeable. HE MAKES these often huge paintings in his studio in Ullapool, where, he says,…[Read more]
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Mandy Haggith investigates the violin maker’s art on Scoraig HOW many pieces of wood does a violin contain? I’M asked this question by violin maker Alan Beavitt when I visit him on his remote croft in Wester Ross. I guess, and I’m wildly wrong. Is your guess any better? Alan Beavitt made his first violin when he […]
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An Talla Solais, Ullapool, until 18 December 2011 AT THIS time of year there is usually a members’ show at An Talla Solais in Ullapool. This year they called for 3D objects, and the result, called Lustre, is a small but pleasing exhibition of sculpture and craft work. A few big pieces dominate the space. Up on one wall, […]
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James Graham, Drumbeg Village Hall, 12 November 2011 It was standing room only in Drumbeg Village Hall on Saturday night, as people crushed in to hear James Graham performing songs from Assynt. It was an intimate performance, giving what James called ‘an airing’ to a crucial aspect of the local area’s heritage. When James studied Gaelic song […]
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A Garden in Ullapool, 2 November 2011 A POSSE of black-caped figures, heading for a shadowy garden, intent on something. Hallowe’en mischief perhaps? A Batman tribute event? No, this was a theatre audience, making its way through the streets of Ullapool to the venue for an outdoor performance, subtitled ‘Murder in the Garden of Love’. The […]
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APPROACHING James Hawkins’ croft at Rhue, near Ullapool, the crests of waves are streaking the water as a gale hurtles onto the shore of Loch Broom. INSIDE the studio and gallery space, big landscape paintings celebrate such drama. I am surprised to find James seeming serene, his voice quiet, his explanations lucid and even. His studio is […]
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An Talla Solais, Ullapool, until 16 October 2011 FOUR VIEWS is an exhibition of work by four artists with connections to Ullapool. The veteran of the four is Dick Lindsay, who presents pieces from throughout his long life. Although Dick’s early pictures show that he had talent as a young man, he did not take his art […]
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LOTTE GLOB was born in Denmark but has spent most of her life in the top left corner of Scotland. “I WAS transplanted here from Denmark a long time ago and I have grown very deep roots,” she says. HER croft in Laid, overlooking Loch Eriboll, is a tumult of flowers and lush growth, with fruit hanging […]
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An Talla Solais, Ullapool, until 25 September 2011 WHY are pots so much cheaper than paintings? Put it another way, why is the art of a painter considered so much more valuable than that of a ceramicist? An Talla Solais is currently filled with ceramic art demonstrating without question that this is a medium rich in form, […]
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An Talla Solais, Ullapool, until 29 August 2011 I ENTER the exhibition of James Lumsden’s paintings, knowing that the walls will be filled with nothing more than blocks of colour, fully expecting to be baffled. I leave, to coin a cliché, enlightened. I had assumed that for an artist to shun depiction and work in purely abstract […]
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MANDY HAGGITH investigates the ‘horn craft’ of JOHNNY ROSS THE landscape of West Sutherland is among the most dramatic in Scotland, and Johnny Ross’s home looks out to one of its most exquisite views, up the ice-carved glen across Loch Glencoull to the tallest waterfall in Britain, Eas a Chual Aluinn, and onwards to the craggy Assynt mountains. […]
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An Talla Solais, Ullapool, until 31 July 2011 TALL Ships are due to arrive in Ullapool next weekend (from 15 July 2011) on their way to Shetland, but the celebrations have already begun at An Talla Solais, with a flotilla of small ships, created by members of the community and friends of the art centre. The small […]
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An Talla Solais, Ullapool, until 3 July 2011 AS I drove south to see the opening of the latest exhibition at an talla solais, I witnessed a spectacular double rainbow arching between Quinag and Loch Assynt. On the way back, the sunset was a blaze of molten bronze over Ben Mor Coigach, casting spotlights on Elphin […]
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Village Hall, Lochinver, 31 May 2011 EVEN before Chris Lee’s play begins, the atmosphere is unsettling. There is something weird happening, a quiet muttering in the background and an eerie light on the simple set. Then it is underway. It is the 1920s. A doctor injects himself with morphine in a guest house bedroom on Iona, confessing […]
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An Talla Solais, Ullapool, until 5 June 2011 THE West Coast Open exhibition at An Talla Solais shows the Ullapool gallery at its most community-minded. Submission to the show is open to anyone, and for this year all those who put work in have at least one piece displayed (although that is not policy – all work […]
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Village Hall and other venues, Ullapool, 6-8 May 2011 WRITING a review of the Ullapool Book Festival feels a bit like trying to make dried whisky. How can a weekend of words – erudite, funny, moving, infuriating, delightful and wise – be distilled into a few paragraphs? From the warm wit of Denise Mina, who opened the […]
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BEFORE long, the meadowsweet will be blooming on the shores of Loch Dunvegan and Eva Lambert will be down there gathering it in. Boiling up not only flowers and leaves, she will make with it the first of the summer season’s yellow dyes. Later, she will move onto the bright yellow umbels of tansy, and later still […]
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An Talla Solais, Ullapool, until 8 May 2011 FIVE young artists have retraced their steps to Ullapool to create a vital and varied exhibition of painting, collage, animated film, environmental installation and illustrations, at An Talla Solais. The artists studied together with Eleanor White at Bridge House Art during 2006, producing portfolios…[Read more]
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