Arran Visual Arts exhibition, Lochranza Hall

There’s still time to see the AVA summer art show in Lochranza Hall, as it runs until and including Thursday of this week, 4th August. It’s well worth seeing. There is an astonishingly wide range of materials and techniques, with many beautiful things that might grace a wall space, stand on a table or even wrap round your shoulders.

The talented Rorie Rutherford keeps alive the old sailors’ skill in the use of yarns and knitting, as is evident in his gloriously lacy open-work shawl, a robust pair of Norwegian gloves and a sweater of hand-spun, warm brown wool that is, as they say, to die for. Subtly and intricately patterned, it is a covetable object of rare beauty. In a wealth of embroidery, silk painting and weaving, Gaynor Harris’s La Fleur was memorable, along with Marion Gentleman’s delectable hand-painted silk cushion.

Paintings, drawings and photography covered a wide range of vision, from great black-and-white cloud studies that would grace a modern hotel to a traditional view of Kilmory Cows (David Penn) that could have been painted at any time in the last two centuries. There is professional work from Ronnie McNiece, his Hill Farm being particularly attractive, and Viv Parks touches a dramatic note in her Approaching Storm over Pladda and Ailsa Craig. Morag Campbell’s paintings included a sensitive study, Lapwing on Nest and Jan MacGregor’s drypoint etching, Geranium Seed-Head, probably derived some of its strength and charm from the drypoint workshop run last month by Tim Pomeroy.

Tim himself was present as the professional (and increasingly famous) sculptor who opened the exhibition, and his short talk was full of practical good sense and artistic insight. Addressing an attentive, sun-tanned crowd that had obviously benefited from the glorious recent sunshine, he praised the range of talent on show and talked about the necessity of sheer practice to ‘get it right’. Combined with the intuition and private vision of the artist, the sheer work of handling the medium is at the very least half the battle, and there was a constant need to keep at it and keep working. ‘Inspiration’, he said, was ‘a difficult thing to talk about’. It came from a personal vision, but the task was always to examine that vision and identify exactly what it is that the artist finds interesting about it. ‘You must always push the boundaries, be more aware of the character of the thing seen,’ he said, adding that everything has its individual identity, to be understood and expressed. He added that ‘to make art without showing it is only part of the story.’ He felt strongly that art belongs to the community and personal vision must be shared, to the benefit of all.

Certainly at Loch Ranza this week, a goodly amount of strong, highly individual vision is there to be shared. And what a setting it is! To come out of the hall and see the evening light spreading across the loch and its silhouetted keep and moored boats is something no city gallery can offer. Don’t miss this show – it really is very good.

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