I am delighted to announce that I will be opening my brand new studio as part of the new POSt Art Trail in just 2 weeks.
I am one of the 6 founders of POSt. We are a collective of professional artists whose studios are united by their location near the upper valley of the Water of Leith, Edinburgh’s principal river, and its adjoining walkways.
Save the date! This year, artist/maker studios will open for one weekend: Sat/Sun 30/31 August 2025.
You will discover 18 artists in 10 different venues along the villages of Colinton, Juniper Green, Currie and Balerno. I am in venue number 6. It is a stunningly beautiful walk between venues with lots of wildlife spotting to be done. There will be lovely places to eat and drink. A special pop-up cafe in Spylaw Park will give out information and maps.
Opening Sunday 1st June, this group exhibition brings together the work of three Scottish artists. Each presents a unique yet equally compelling vision, capturing the human form in ways that are both fascinating and beautiful.
Find Each Other
Gill Walton, Tilda Williams-Kelly and Ruby Pluhar
1 – 27 June 2025
Open to visit most Fridays & Saturdays in June 12 – 4 pm
Opening Reception Private View, 12 – 3 pm on Sunday 1st June
After that please arrange an appointment to view with Sarah Kudirka 0777 9043307
My art practice has been on the back burner for a few months. I have been getting my house renovated and a new studio built. All my equipment and materials were packed up into a shed for a couple of months, AAAArgh! The longest break I have had from my practice since having babies. Now I start to find my feet again. It is a long and slow process. Still, I can’t take too long. I have the Borders Art Fair in just three weeks.
Borders Art Fair
“Gill Walton’s paintings and drawings are renowned for their emotional depth and technical brilliance. Blending classical techniques with contemporary themes, her work often explores transformation, resilience, and the human condition. Each piece invites viewers into a world where light and shadow, strength and vulnerability, exist in perfect balance.
Meet the Artist in Person
“Whether you’re interested in discussing techniques, themes, or the journey of a specific piece, this is an opportunity. You can connect with one of Scotland’s most compelling contemporary artists.”
Gill Walton at Borders Art Fair 2025: Stand no. 3
I will be there throughout the fair, and I really look forward to seeing you. You will find me easily just by the front door on the right hand side when you enter the building.
When
The Borders Art Fair will take place from 14th – 16th March 2025
Friday 14th March 10am – 4pm
Saturday 15th March 10am – 5pm
Sunday 16th March 10am – 4pm
Where
Springwood Hall Borders Events Centre Border Union Showground Springwood Park Kelso TD5 8LS
Cost
Entry is by donation. Please pay what you can afford on entrance to the fair, to help support next year’s event.
“This year’s Borders Art Fair promises a vibrant mix of established and emerging artists. It makes it a key event in Scotland’s cultural calendar. Be sure to stop by Gill Walton’s stand and experience the depth and beauty of her work firsthand.”
For more information, visit Borders Art Fair or follow Gill Walton on social media for updates.
Private View invitation
I would love to invite you to the Private View on Thursday evening, 13 March 2025. Contact Gill for more details.
I am delighted to be returning to Dalkeith Country Palace with 10 brand new pieces from my Reliquary Series.
The exhibition returns to Dalkeith Palace from 3rd – 12th May 2024.
This year offers an extended programme and beautifully curated collection of sculptors, artists, photographers and painters. Over 10 days art lovers will have access to artists and their work with an inspiring additional programmer of Palace tours, an online charity auction and an exciting Family Day featuring live music, workshops and demonstrations for all ages.
With a focus on contemporary art and sales, Inception Art Show promises an enriching experience for art enthusiasts. This year, 35 modern and contemporary artists will take over Dalkeith Palace, offering visitors the opportunity to engage with the artists and their collections.
The programme also features an online charity auction, which opens on 24th April, raising funds for My Name’5 Doddie. I have included ‘Imagine Peace’, a drawing I did in 2022, in the auction.
The Graystone Gallery will host an Artist Talk on Saturday, April 20th, featuring SSA Award winners Gill Walton and Rebekah Tolley-Georgiou. Their collaborative work, “Sotto Voce,” impressed at the 2023 Society of Scottish Artists Annual Exhibition, winning the SSA Past Presidents Award. Join the artists for an inspiring conversation about their multimedia artwork. RSVP at lesley@graystonegallery.com.
SSA Award Winners Gill Walton and Rebekah Tolley-Georgiou
This event has passed but you can see both recordings here.
Navigating the Narrative … and expressing internal worlds.
Gill’s sculptural paintings depict the human form; she layers graphite pencil with beeswax, metal and other precious, elemental materials. Her process echoes the layering of emotions, using the human figure as a mechanism for reflecting our own internal worlds.
Rebekah’s projects frequently delve into the delicate balance between truth and fiction, history, and memory. Her work often explores the concept of multiple realities or parallel narratives existing simultaneously. This could manifest in nonlinear storytelling structures, where different versions of events coexist or interact with each other.
Long-standing friends and colleagues, Gill and Rebekah have collaborated to create ‘Sotto Voce’ a large-scale, multimedia artwork incorporating vintage star cluster images and ancient dog roses.This beautiful, complex image features a combination of Gill’s drawing and Rebekah’s skills with mixed media composing. ‘Sotto Voce’ was chosen to be exhibited in the 2023 Society of Scottish Artists Annual Exhibition, where it won the SSA Past Presidents Award. Kate Downie PPSSA RSA called it “… a very detailed piece but she holds sway over the room and has a quiet power.”
To hear more about their astonishing collaborative works, join Gill and Rebekah for Graystone Gallery’s next Artist Talk at 2pm on Saturday 20th April.
Image: Gill Walton & Rebekah Tolley-Georgiou, Sotto Voce
Interested in attending the Artist Talk at Graystone Gallery on Saturday 20th April at 2pm? Simply RSVP to lesley@graystonegallery.com to reserve your place and meet the artists.
I have three of my Reliquary Series and two collaborative pieces in the Graystone Gallery Spring Exhibition which opens on the 12th April and runs until the 12th May.
The private view is 11th April, 6-8pm. Please email lesley@graystonegallery.com by this Monday (tomorrow) if you would like to come.
Graystone is a fabulous gallery in Stockbridge, Edinburgh and I would thoroughly recommend a visit.
Included in the exhibition is ‘Sotto Voce’, the award winning collaboration between Rebekah Tolley-Georgiou and myself, and ‘Persistence of Vision’ another collaborative piece from the start of this year.
‘Reliquary – Milons Swordtail’ is one of the three Reliquary pieces I will be showing. This series is based on medieval reliquaries but re-imagined to honour the precious creatures we are losing to climate change. I will be giving an artists talk about this and our collaborative works at the gallery alongside Rebekah. Dates to be announced.
I hope you’ll join me 15th to the 17th March at Borders Events Centre, KELSO TD5 for the annual Borders Art Fair.
I’ve been busy busy getting new work and a new series made for the art fair. Look out for the debut of ‘Reliquaries’. These works are what I feel future reliquaries might be, holding sacred the loss of biodiversity. They are beautiful and precious and reverential pieces.
Reliquary – Damselfly
This year I will be sharing a space again with my friend and colleague, Rebekah Tolley-Georgiou. You will find us on stand #70 where we will be exhibiting some new collaborative pieces alongside our own works. We are very excited with our new work and look forward to showing it to you.
Marchmont
On Thursday evening there will be a private view. If you would like to attend the private view please contact me for details of how to register for one of the limited number of free tickets. There will be an exceptionally good jazz band playing, it just happens to be my partner John’s trio.
On Saturday, between 12pm and 2pm, I will be giving a live demonstration of my drawing process in the ‘Artists at Work’ area. I also have some recorded workshops on the Borders Art Fair website.
In other news
‘The Philosopher and the Golden Sun’ became the cover image for the Art Mag this month.
Look out for my next newsletter where I will be telling you all about ‘Inception Art Show’ at Dalkeith Country Palace.
Artists, Rebekah Tolley-Georgiou and Gill Walton have collaborated to create ‘Sotto Voce,’ a large-scale, multimedia artwork incorporating vintage star cluster images and ancient dog roses. Printed on quality rag paper and overlaid with drawing, pigments and gold and silver, it recently won the Past Presidents Prize at the Society of Scottish Artists Annual Exhibition. The artists intend to produce more pieces, with an exhibition planned for 2024/25. The artwork is available for sale until January 2024.
Recently, I have been collaborating with my long time friend and colleague, Rebekah Tolley-Georgiou, to create a couple of large scale, complex, beautiful pieces. They are a combination of my drawing and Rebekah’s skills with mixed media composing. She included (amongst other things) vintage glass plate negatives of star clusters taken through a telescope in the 1800s and dog wood flowers that died more than 200 years ago. The resulting image was printed onto highest quality archival rag paper, we then both worked over the top of the image with drawings and pigments and gold and silver leaf.
We are very proud of this work, we feel she is magnificent in all the details, from the stars to the tiniest flower. Our goddess is quiet but oh, so powerful, hence the title ‘Sotto Voce’
To our delight ‘Sotto Voce II’ was chosen to be exhibited in this year’s Society of Scottish Artists Annual Exhibition at the MacLaurin Galleries in Ayr this year and to further that delight, she won an award!
The Prize was awarded by Kate Downie PPSSA RSA, she stated that she was moved by the way our piece held her presence. “it is a very detailed piece but she holds sway over the room and has a quiet power.” Just what we thought Kate!
Rebekah and I have set the intention to produce much more work together next year with a view to holding an exhibition of the series in 2024/25.
The piece is currently available for sale from the MacLaurin Gallery until January 2024
I also have two pieces in the 30×30 online exhibition which runs alongside the annual exhibition.
The Alchemist’s Pot- 2023- Graphite, beeswax and bronze- 30cm x 30cm, £320
Vessel Hand Eye_2023_GraphiteBeeswaxBronze_26cmx30cm, £320
In other news
Two of my Alchemy series are currently in the Winter Exhibition at the Graystone Gallery in Stockbridge, Edinburgh. This is a new gallery in a very beautiful space and a great location. The exhibition runs until the 25th January and includes many wonderful Scottish artists. Pay a visit if you can.
Keep in touch because I will be busy next year. I am back at Borders Art Fair in March and Inception in May with a new series of work based on Reliquaries.
Hello everyone, the annual flurry of art fairs (Borders, Dalkeith, Glasgow) is over for me, summer is in full flow and the garden has burst into life at our new house in Juniper Green, Edinburgh. My next Art Fair will be in Aberdeen on 1st, 2nd and 3rd of September so I have a bit of time in the studio to concentrate on my latest series.
The Alchemess_2023_GraphiteBeeswaxCopper_65cmx100cm, £1,650.
Alchemy Series
My Alchemy works have a new Gallery here , where all the pieces have been collected together for you to view in one place.
The inspiration for the series evolved from using materials during the recent pandemic that had healing properties: The Breath Series. I loved that I was mixing elemental and meaningful ingredients to make work that was more than the sum of its parts, like turning lead into gold!
My research into the alchemists has been very interesting, for example, the earliest mention of alchemy was ancient Greece in the first century (two thousand years ago!) and the text was about a woman alchemist called ‘Mary The Jewess’, a healer. Early alchemists were not only interested in creating gold but were trying to create “The Philosopher’s Stone” which they believed would enable them to communicate with angels.
It also turns out that the guilds for artist’s were also the guilds for chemist’s. Both used similar equipment and materials, the artists to create pigments and paints and the (al)chemists creating their potions.
There are also the links with witchcraft and healing and the wealth of symbols that are found in alchemy with many esoteric meanings throughout multiple cultures. It is a rich seam of inspiration.
I also wanted to remind you about my Available Work. This ranges from oil paintings to mixed-media drawings, most of which are framed and ready to hang.
Events come thick and fast at this time of year: Borders Art Fair in Kelso; Inception in Dalkeith; and now REVEAL in Glasgow.
JOIN ME AT REVEAL|| Along with having a new name, Glasgow CAF will be moving from Kelvingrove Art Gallery to its new home at the SEC, Scotland’s foremost events venue. The exhibition takes place from 19-21 May 2023.
Similar to the Borders Art Fair in March, I’ll be sharing an exhibition stand with my friend and fellow artist, Rebekah Tolley-Giorgiou. We will show one collaborative piece as well as our individual works.
My recent works explore the alchemy of materials transforming base elements such as graphite, beeswax and metals into something precious with a hint of magic. I began using silver and beeswax during the pandemic because of their healing properties and discovered that this unusual mix of media gives the work a sculpted and solid feel; the flesh becomes more fleshy.
This drawing process, one which is unique to me, uses symbolic imagery from the early alchemists (Isaac Holland’s ‘Philosopher’s Hand’) and mixes in a touch of humanity, a dash of emotion and combines it with waxes and metals and graphite to create something more precious than the sum of it’s parts.
Tickets are now available for the exhibition. Full details can be found on the REVEAL website. The times are as follows:
Friday 19th, 6pm- 9pm, Preview Evening (you need to register in advance as a guest for this, see image below for details)
Saturday 20th, 10am-5pm, open for the public.
Sunday 21st, 10am-5pm, open for the public.
You can follow Reveal’s social media posts on Twitter (@reveal_glasgow), Facebook (@revealglasgow) and Instagram (@reveal_glasgow) Please do follow their accounts and like and share their posts.
Gill Walton VPSSA VAS 