Art exists for many reasons. It helps us understand the world around us. It makes us think and look at the world differently. It transports us to different places and times. It adorns our private spaces and gives our public spaces heart. It entertains us. It confounds us. Occasionally, it even matches our curtains.
You might think buying original art is for other people, but here at Dunoon Burgh Hall, we have in our midst a host of talented artists and makers and we not only show their work, we sell it too.
Our regular exhibitions often showcase the work of artists across the Cowal peninsula. Our shop in the foyer has original work for sale all year round.
Think about how much an art print costs in IKEA or John Lewis (other big name brands are available) and compare to the price tag of an original work of art on sale in our shop or in our gallery, with its rotating programme of exhibitions. Every single piece has been lovingly created from scratch.
Dunoon Burgh Hall is proud of its ongoing programme of support for local artists, displaying and promoting their work whenever possible.
We host an average of nine exhibitions each year, featuring a mixture of art, photography, sculpture and design. These exhibitions have been featured widely in the press and featured artwork is usually for sale.
Our current exhibition, Scottish Inspiration – Four Visiting Artists, showcases the work of four artists; basket maker, Lise Bech, Stevi Benson, whose work features drawing and cut paperwork, textile artist Paula Maughan and painter Carol Dewart.
Scottish Inspiration has been timed to take place during this year’s eagerly anticipated Cowal Open Studios (COS), which runs across the weekend of 23 – 26 September. This beautiful and thought-provoking show runs until 9 October. All work is for sale and prices range from £24 to £4,000.
Alongside this main exhibition is a COS Taster exhibition of miniature work by artists involved in the open studios events, all of which are for sale.
For Carol Dewart, current President of the Glasgow Society of Women Artists and a champion of artist-led exhibitions, this is the first time her work has been shown at the Hall.
She says: “It is so interesting to show alongside such an eclectic mix of artists and makers. The works definitely complement each other.
“As artists we may be guilty of only thinking of venues within the Central Belt or the more populated cities. Rather than hoping the public will come to us perhaps there is an argument for turning things around and taking the art to the public in more rural areas.”
Carol’s highly distinctive landscape paintings meld her interest in Aboriginal art and how pattern is used to describe the landscape with an ongoing fascination for the changing Scottish landscape near her home as the seasons change.
Lise Bech is originally from Denmark, now lives and works from her studio in Fife where she grows a wide range of willows (Salix species) which she uses in her work. These curvaceous and tactile artworks are sought after internationally.
Stevi Benson is inspired by the patterns and structures of plants, trees and insects, creating intricate drawings and cut paper artworks. Each one of these beautiful meditative artworks is cut by hand using a surgical scalpel.
‘Drawing’ with a needle, Paula Maughan’s intricate textile based artworks take inspiration from the natural world and feature birds and plant-life.
If you are in the area during the open studio weekend, do take a look at Cowal Open Studios website and download its free open studios art map.
During the weekend, around 60 artists and makers across the Peninsula open their doors for all comers. It’s a great chance to meet them and find out all about their work. Talking to artists is a revelation and you’ll begin to appreciate a little bit about the time, energy and creative sparks which go into making it. You might even end up buying something you love.
The rules in buying art? There are no rules, says arts journalist Jan Patience who has been writing and commentating about visual art in the media for the last 15 years.
Jan says the key to buying art is to keep your your heart and your mind open. “The more you look, the more confident you’ll become about the kind of work you like,” she explains. “Art is subjective. We all see things differently. Keep in mind the fact that what you are buying is unique. You’re not only buying an original artwork, you are buying a complex blend of experience, materials and creativity, which can’t be manufactured. If you’re buying from artists, ask questions about how they make their art. I am constantly surprised by my conversations with artists and makers.”
“Nothing compares to being up close and personal to original art”, she adds. “It feeds your soul apart from anything else. Seeing the work ‘in the flesh’, you find that scale is everything. Colours can also be different and texture is difficult to gauge. I’d caution against buying as an investment. Buy what you love.”
