GREENLAW.- An open studios weekend at Marchmont House, in The Borders, gave visitors the chance to meet artists and makers exhibiting everything from vivid textiles to paintings, ceramics and sculpture.

The event took place at Marchmont Studios, a group of beautiful studios and workshops created through the refurbishment of outbuildings set round the former stable yard at the stately home near Greenlaw.

Among those taking part were:

• Lou Gardiner from Bristol who was showing a range of silk scarves created using prints of her original embroideries.

• Frippy Jameson, a sculptor from near Greenlaw, well-known for her sculptures of horses.

• Michelle de Bruin a stone carver, who has a studio at Marchmont House, and had created an installation artwork entitled 10,000 Hours, which featured a carving on an easel with dozens of the chisels she has worn out during her career.

• Tod Hanson, a visual artist from Berwick, who has created limited edition prints that playfully reimagine the 1750 Palladian mansion, and which are being sold to raise funds for the Marchmont Makers Foundation (a charity supporting sustainable creativity).

• Visual artist and ceramicist Annabel Wightman, who has been resident in one of Marchmont’s Creative Spaces studios for a year.




• Richard Goldsworthy, a young visual artist and sculptor now based at Marchmont studios.

Among the special guests at the open weekend was artist and promoter Richard Demarco CBE, who visited each of the studios, including Annabel’s.

A central theme of the event, on 28-29 August, was reconnecting society and nature through art and it involved a wide variety of emerging and established artists and makers.

Some are long or short-term residents of the growing creative community based in the Marchmont’s Studios.

Hugo Burge, Director of Marchmont, said: “It was wonderful seeing the Marchmont Studios come to life, with visitors from all across the country enjoying the opportunity to see some superb contemporary art, and talk to the artists and makers about their work and inspiration.

“Many of them are inspired by nature and the need for contemporary society to reconnect with the natural world.

“It’s such a pleasure for us to be able to host events like this, and to help nurture talented creators and makers from across The Borders, the rest of Scotland and elsewhere in the UK.

“Our hope is that we will increasingly become a hub of artistic excellence and a place that holds events of all kinds to explore and promote creativity and the arts.”

In addition to the open studios event there were also guided tours of Marchmont’s outdoor sculpture collection, which features pieces from the 18th century to the present day.

The collection includes works by Charles Poulsen, Paolozzi, Michelle de Bruin, David Nash, William Turnbull, Antony Gormley and more.