Posts for May, 2026

Scotland’s waterscapes will be front and centre at the new summer show at one of the Cairngorms’ best galleries.

A host of well-known artists will display their paintings and photography at the Spey Bank Studio in Grantown from Jun 19.

This year the theme is Lochs and Rivers so we’re expecting lots of deep blues and vibrant turquoises.

Among the names exhibiting are Ally MacKellar, Stephen Redpath, Helen Bruce, Jess Greaves and many more. And with a new gallery layout, there will be more work to see than ever.

More information at the gallery website.

A rare chance to catch local musician Hamish Napier performing solo – for the first time in his hometown.

Join us for this extra special music event at the Spey Bank Studio, an intimate arts venue.

Hamish will play for an hour, with music inspired by Strathspey and the Cairngorms. Doors open at 7.30pm for an 8pm start.

Hamish is a Scottish folk multi-instrumentalist and composer from Grantown-on-Spey. He is inspired by the heritage and nature of his native landscape of Strathspey. His album The Woods explores the flora and fauna of Scotland’s native forests. It won Album of the Year at the Scots Trad Music Awards and is the third album in his Strathspey Pentalogy, a ambitions project to produce 5-albums in celebration of his homeland,

Humorous, engaging and heart-warming, Hamish’s performances often incorporate poems and stories about nature, folklore and communities.

A regular visitor to the Highlands, this show will demonstrate Esther’s passion for the Cairngorm landscape. With just a few brushstrokes of oil paint, Esther brings the mountains and forests to life. These paintings capture the atmosphere of this special place.

The Spey Bank Studio is taking part in North East Open Studios for a second year.

This long-running event involves 300 artists opening up their studios to the public for 10 days. That means you can delve into their practice, see their materials and where they spend their days producing amazing artwork.

The event runs from September 13-21, with each artist keeping different opening hours – check the wee yellow book (available from us!) or check the website entries.

This year, as well as Angus’s work, we will be hosting a young local glass artist, Brodie Birss, AKA Brodie B Designs.

Brodie is a graduate of Gray’s School of Art, where she studied 3D design and specialised in glass and metal. She went onto attend Bishopsland Educational Trust, which provides postgraduate education in silversmithing. Since returning to Scotland, Brodie has continued to develop her glass and silver practice.

Her work is inspired by nature, process and material. She believes that that working with our hands and immersing ourselves in nature is essential to mental and physical wellbeing.

Join us for the start of our summer exhibition. Angus Grant and Campbell Bryson are teaming up for Sunshine & Shadows, a reprise of their first show 14 years ago.
Both men are landscape painters with distinctive styles. Bryson’s work is renowned for its treatment of light and shadow, creating almost mosaic-like patterns. Grant’s work features the familiar landscapes of the Cairngorms, especially the lochs and mountains.

Join us at OpenSpace in Grantown on Spey to celebrate the local artists and creatives in the National Park – sparking conversation, connecting landscape and community and inspiring collective action.

Arboreal By Liz Green explores the iconic Highland woodland types made by Pine, Birch and Oak trees as well as plantations. These paintings are a feast of colour, pattern, texture, season and botanical identity distilled to depict the character and atmosphere of uniquely different woodland places.
‘I hope these paintings immerse the viewer in arboreal realms that I have found to be awe-inspiring, grounding and uplifting. Knowing trees can span several human generations and support an intricate wealth of other life is endlessly fascinating at every scale of observation’.
Liz Green is a self-taught artist based at WASPs Inverness Creative Academy and living in Inverness since 2003. Working in both oils and acrylic, her paintings include a mixture of realistic detail and stylised abstraction at differing scales. Her previous life strongly informs her art. With a degree in Botany and career as a plant ecologist, then environmental campaigner Liz has a deep understanding of ecosystems, the value and jeopardy of habitats and the complexity of trying to influence policy. Doing garden design work to suit places and people, then working in schools embedded her interest in visual communication. It was worsening arthritis that propelled her to start painting more in 2010 and she has not looked back.

The book launch of ‘Off-Piste Performance’ by Alison Thacker will be the first opportunity to see this exciting and insightful book in print, with signed copies available and the enjoyment of a social evening to chat with Alison and likeminded skiers to get excited about the season ahead!

The Mountains are Calling is our new summer exhibition, taking inspiration from the rugged landscape of the Highlands and beyond.

Our specially selected artists will show their beautiful works of art, including photography, painting and printmaking, and reveal how they are inspired by those imposing peaks.

Artists include Kitty Watt, Shona Cammack, Campbell Bryson, Esther Tyson, Rona Kant, Myrddin Irwin, Georgia Murray and many more.

This collection is representative of Joanna Wilson’s early interest in the metaphysical power of art. The healing properties of crystals, the inner wisdom of oracle cards and the outward sense that a greater power
is at work — all of these inform her attempts to connect her own creativity with Creation itself. Her hope is that the unique intentions with which each piece is created transfers to its viewer or owner.