Gallery has gone state of the art
Paintings being sold online
Public gatherings may be on hold at the moment due to coronavirus but one Buchlyvie gallery is taking the virtual lead to show off talented artists’ work.
Green Gallery in the village joined those across the country when it was forced to abruptly close its doors in March as a result of the lockdown measures put in place.
But owner Becky Walker was determined to give artists a space to show off their work, so she took to social media to conduct a virtual exhibition for visitors to her social media page - and they are still going strong five shows later.
The exhibitions have allowed the gallery to keep selling paintings during difficult financial times, with some buyers even stumping up from across the pond.
Becky told the Observer: “I’m quite lucky that the gallery is next door to my house so I’m able to go in and film a little bit and then put it up online.
“When the gallery was closed, we just thought about how to embrace the situation and so we got artists to send in images of their studios, some were putting classes and putting them up and that was when we thought of doing a live show on a Saturday.
“We’ve done five already and people are really liking it because they realise we’re not trying to sell them something and they can get tips on framing and hanging.
“The filming allows you to zoom in and get close to the work that you can’t do with images and a lot of people are just at home and just want something to cheer them up.
“The sales haven’t really dropped off for us because maybe people aren’t spending so much on going out and things and we’re getting people buying from everywhere there was one lady from Nantucket in the US who bought a painting because she knew the artist’s sister.
“It’s all being done with social distancing throughout - artists just leave their work at the end of the drive and we pick it up from there.”
One of those artists benefiting from the gallery’s online efforts is Dunblane-born painter Shona Harcus.
Her work has been featured in one of the virtual exhibitions put on at Green Gallery and a video by Shona showing her working garnered thousands of views online.
Shona, who now lives in Perthshire with her husband and two young children, told the Observer: “It’s been a case of thinking outside the box about getting work out there with most galleries closed.
“I’ve actually been a bit busier because I’ve been able to work in the mornings rather than just at night with my husband home and I’ve obviously had the exhibition coming up with the Green Gallery.
“It’s just about taking things day-to-day and trying to stay positive, but people are continuing to buy art which I thought might not be the case as a result of budgets getting tighter.
“For example, I had someone who lives and works in London getting in touch about one of my seascapes because they want a bit of escapism at home where they are spending most of their time.”
The former massage therapist, who has been a full-time artist since 2017, also believes the lockdown is forcing artists and non-artists alike to discover their creative sides.
Shona added: “People are having adjusting to working with what they have around them in the house as they can’t get hold of the parts they want and even people that are not artists are getting inspired by what is around them.”