We are fortunate at Tolquhon Gallery to be surrounded by open countryside and a well stocked, constantly evolving, wrap-around garden. And we enjoy sharing it with visitors.

If you are responsible for any mailing lists, you will have had the acronym GDPR (General Data Protection Regulation) thrust at you from every quarter over the last few months, escalating to epidemic levels in the last few weeks and days.

We asked Ian Mastin if he might have a recent photograph of himself in his studio. It’s always interesting to visit an artist in their studio, to see how they paint and to view their surroundings and their latest work. But Queensland, Australia, is rather too far for an impromptu visit. 

We are delighted that renowned Australian artist, Ian Mastin, returns to Tolquhon on Sunday with his first solo exhibition in the UK since 2013. Ian Mastin paints in the classical still life tradition and he has developed an international reputation. 

“I can't bear thinking about missing out on my Saturday art!!” So read an email we received this morning. 

It is rare to see such a perfect image of an artist’s subject matter alongside the resulting finished painting. See the well used brushes, the enamel jug splattered with paint, the abandoned painting used to test colour, the edge of a laden palette — this is a busy studio.

We have some superb new prints in the gallery this spring. They are pochoirs by Mick Manning who is showing with us for the first time. So what is pochoir?

We were pleased to welcome a crowd to the gallery on Sunday for the postponed opening of our Spring Exhibition. It coincided with Mothering Sunday so there were a number of “children” visiting with their mothers. One special family was that of artist, Val Thomson, who came with her two sisters and her mother.