Go on the trail of Mull and Iona artists this Easter
The first Mull and Iona Open Studios is happening this Easter weekend.
Visitors and residents are being invited to take a journey around the outstanding scenery of both islands, dropping in on artists and craftspeople in their studios and galleries.
More than 50 artists have joined together on this venture with 24 venues taking part.
Journey times on single track roads are longer, so people planning to visit are being encouraged to give themselves plenty of time and to check the opening days and times of each studio to avoid any disappointment.
It takes around 1.5 hours to travel from Tobermory in the north to Fionnphort in the south. The ferry to Iona departs from Fionnphort and takes around 10 minutes.
Charlotte Mellis at No 14 on the map is just one of the artists and makers opening her studio this weekend in her Tin Shed gallery, three miles south of Calgary Bay at Larach Mhor.
The Easter weekend marks the start of Charlotte’s showing season from now until October. Keeping to the spring theme, her work includes ceramic plates featuring snipes and eggs.
Also on show in the Tin Shed until June 11 are paintings by invited artists Ben and Judy Blathwayt, who came to live and work for a year on a farm on the Isle of Mull in 1974. Their time on the island, and its colours and magic, have inspired and shaped their art blackbirds, ever since. Judy has held many exhibitions and Ben is a wellknow children’s author and illustrator, both working in watercolour, gouache and oils.
“Their exhibition Shared Colours demonstrates beautifully their deep love of the island,” said Charlotte, excited about taking part in the islands’ first Open Studios event.
“I think the Open Studios trail will be fun. We have so many incredible artists in such a relatively small space,” added Charlotte.
To find out more about ceramics by Charlotte Mellis, you can visit her website here www.mellisceramics.co.uk or check out Instagram: @ tinshedgallery.
Andy and Helen Mortley are No 19 on the map at The Clachan, Dervaig, with their original paintings, painted panels, recycled tin sculptures, jewellery, recycled fishing rope baskets and cards.
Susan Campbell at Wyvern, Lochdon, is the first on the map with her landscapes and seascapes mostly, painted in acrylic on canvas and board.
From Fionnphort, over to Iona and across Mull taking in Glengorm, Helen MacCallum is 26th on the list exhibiting at Tobermory Chocolate shop in the Main Street. Her work, with links to mental health and anxiety struggles, take some inspiration from Tim Burton characters.