Muirton paintings are wanted for book

Jennifer Woods, a descendant of distinguished Blairgowrie artists William and Ewan Geddes, has handed her research on the Muirton of Ardblair over to me as she is bogged down with other commitments.

With the input from quite a few interested people, a book has been put together of the history of the former village and the people who lived there over the centuries.

Due to the lack of records it has been a difficult task and much is ‘word of mouth’ – not my usual style, but we have tried to be as careful and as logical as possible.

The Muirton was a former agricultural/hand loomweaving village which would have faded into oblivion had it not been for a group of artists who discovered its charms and produced some very fine paintings which have kept the memory of the village alive.

In 2007, there was an exhibition in Perth Museum and Art Gallery when the name ‘The Blairgowrie Boys’ was introduced. This name has stuck and is here to stay, but there were other amateur artists who produced interesting work.

We want to include as many paintings of the Muirton in the book as possible and are appealing for anyone with a painting who is willing to either send a photograph of it, or have it photographed by our professional photographer, and we would be delighted if you could please get in touch.

Photographs can be sent by email to anton.blair@gmail. com and I can be contacted on margaretlaing28@yahoo.com.

Your details would be required but, if you do not wish your name connected with the painting, we will respect this.

Youth group SCYD is working closely with us and we are delighted at how businesslike and professional these fine young people are.

This is a very interesting project, with young and much older people working together in a common cause, and we will be very grateful if you can contribute a copy of a picture to add to the success of the book.