Arts and Craft Trail Weekend

We are now a few weeks in to my exhibition in The Tolbooth in Kirkcudbright. This year it spans the Arts and Craft Trail. With nearly 140 contributors, there is so much to see. We decided to book into our favourite hotel over the weekend to experience the atmosphere.

The first thing we noticed when we arrived on Friday was how busy it was. Usually there is loads of street parking but cars were nose to tail. Luckily we were able to get into the hotel car park. 

We checked in, it's been a different room every time at The Selkirk Arms. This time we were in a small budget room as it was all that was left when we booked. But it was comfortable and en-suite.

There were big blue boards with white numbers on, all around the town. 

First stop was to say Hello in the Tolbooth then we set out to explore the town. In the garden of Colin Saul, organiser of the trail was a fascinating and eccentric display. 

We wanted to explore the gazebos in the soaperie gardens because it looked like it might rain. 

There was an eclectic mix of art and craft stalls for all tastes and wallets.

The T Shirts with humorous slogans caught my eye and I enjoyed a tot of mead.

There were open air paintings and the felt animals by the Wicker Horse were charming, particularly the blue tits.  

To properly see everything, I think you need the 4 days. But if you can't manage a whole weekend then you can prioritise what you want to see.

In the ECO Cafe there were canvas squares that had been painted by the artists and donated to sell for a fixed price for the RNLI. Can you guess which one is mine? 

The Printers corner is home to two printers Joshua Miles and Laura Boswell. Superb to visit and watch them in action. I love the appropriate knocker on the door of Laura's house. Joshua is always very welcoming. 

Both the Cannonwalls and Claverhouse buildings sit in Kirkcudbright’s historic High Street, close to the Selkirk Arms Hotel. Inside are the Wasps studios. Not usually open to visitors except during Spring Fling or the Arts Trail and with 10 artists showing work it was fascinating.

In the church rooms there were 20 stalls and I was drawn to the man with wooden puzzles. I love a puzzle and refused to be beaten. James was getting impatient, so I vowed to be back another day.

We had an early evening meal so we could enjoy a walk afterwards. We are slowly working through the Selkirk menu. 

The Tolbooth shuts at 4pm and that meant some more time to see some other artists. I wandered down a little passageway to find a painter called Stewart Morrison. The shed at the bottom of the garden was in a superb setting. James guessed where I was and found me talking art in the shed.

We ate early in The Selkirk again because the weather was lovely but set to break that evening. 

We walked round St Mary's Isle. It was very quiet and quite eerie as we never saw anyone else whilst walking down there.  

On Sunday after some early rain it kept dry so I went off to visit more studios whilst James went out cycling. I headed up to cornerways to meet Jane Gibson and her guest artists. 

I met dressmaker Jessica Corlett, sewing in her garden. She is a professional costume maker, but with a passion for making miniature clothes for dolls. Every day she dresses up her dolls in the window of the house with a new outfit.  

The Tolbooth opened at 1pm so I settled down to do some more painting. The day was busy with visitors but there was no doubt that cash only transactions affected my sales. 

Highlights of the day were meeting couples from Workington that knew of my work and selling Lighthouses of Dumfries and Galloway to a man from St Mary's who I had spoken to on Saturday and returned with cash.  

We had an early tea in The Garrett and then watched the Olympics as the rain came on heavy. A weather warning for the area meant that all the tents had to come down as the wind was wild and the rain torrential. 

Monday morning and we had a last look around the Whitehouse gallery and The Ochre Gallery before heading home. I just had enough time to pop into the church and have another crack at the wooden puzzle. I managed to solve it and so I decided to buy it to challenge my friends. 

I have another week left of my exhibition. I'll be going back next Monday and hope that I've sold some more paintings. I'm going to have to decide whether I'm going to come back again next year perhaps in my van and perhaps into a gazebo in the gardens.