WASPS: ‘Workshop and Artists Studio Provision Scotland’ is a leading cultural organisation, founded in 1977, which will celebrate its 50th anniversary in 2027.
This Festival Fringe exhibition is another eclectic and inspiring showcase of work at WASPS’ Patriothall Studios in Stockbridge, Edinburgh – a vibrant and important creative base for the resident artists.
Having leased the building since 1984, Scotmid, the owners of the building, threatened in 2003 to convert it into residential housing. After a major campaign to save the studios, Scotmid agreed to sell the property to WASPS for £908,250, with emergency funding secured from City of Edinburgh Council, Scottish Arts Council and Scottish Enterprise.
Patriothall Studios is today ‘home’ to over fifty artists and features a gallery space for a year-round programme of exhibitions. Artists at Patriothall brings together 32 artists and makers working across painting, printmaking, ceramics, jewellery, mosaic, tapestry, photography and mixed media.
As an innovative concept, the Edinburgh-based photographer Alix McIntosh presents a series of portraits of the artists offering a rare behind-the-scenes insight into their work. Alix specialises in interiors, portraiture and documentary photography and her current collaborative project documents artists at Patriothall, exploring their relationship to the spaces in which they work, and the vital role that studios play in supporting their artistic practice.
This feature offers a concise but comprehensive overview of a few selected artists, highlighting works across a diversity of genres on display at Patriothall Gallery.
Printmaker and painter Sarah Knox explores the sublime and spiritual qualities of the Scottish landscape and other wild places, painting ‘en plein air’. As she describes, ‘being outdoors reconnects [me] with the land, quickly capturing an emotional response to shifting light, rhythm and atmosphere.’
Drawn to the Same Line is a quietly immersive, small-scale seascape, which evokes the essence of place through abstraction rather than topographical detail. Broad horizontal bands suggest the curve of a hazy shoreline, highlighting the ephemeral space between land, water and sky. A luminous palette of aqua, teal, ivory and ochre shimmers with reflected light, gently blended and blurred in a flowing wash of colour, as textural edges softly dissolve together. Perspective is achieved through subtle shifts in tone – a fine balance between an intimate and expansive scene. Knox’s expressive, signature brushwork depicts atmospheric movement of time and tide, creating a visually contemplative and emotionally compelling work.
The dark, almost surreal, emptiness of a distant coastline in Silver in the Darkness is captured through an impressionistic lens. Shades of deep indigo, midnight blue and slate grey are punctuated by shafts of silver-white that break through to illuminate the craggy cliffs. Such fluidity of oils echoes sweeping rain clouds and restless sea with fleeting shafts of shadowy light in the night sky.
Working with paper, wood, textiles and mixed media, Gail Turpin is both a designer and artist. North Berwick 1 is a deceptively simply drawing crafted with translucent cadet-grey watercolour, bold graphite and ink lines, while flashes of smoky slate introduce energy and movement. This subtly distils the character of the East Lothian coastline into a series of confident, sketch-like marks and layered washes. Rather than offering a topographical view, the work captures the rhythm and mood of this seascape with a lively sense of flow.
‘Colour, texture, composition and use of space, the line between art and design is very blurred. A scene can be daunting as there’s just so much to observe and it takes time to edit. I enjoy paring down, making drawing after drawing, until I eventually capture, what feels to me, like the essence of the place.’ – Gail Turpin
Broad horizontal forms portray sea and sky, with the distinctive shapely islands emerging as simplified silhouettes offshore. Turpin’s sketchy design is both economical and evocative – one of quiet observation, spontaneity and elegance.
Gail often reimagines her drawings to create textile designs, illustrated in this photograph by Alix McIntosh to show her hands and fabric in close-up, based on original landscape drawings in Shetland.
Paul Furneaux is a Master Printmaker whose work draws inspiration from the colours, shapes and textures of both Scottish and Japanese landscapes through an innovative use of the traditional Japanese printing method, Mokuhanga. In Spring 2023, he experienced the Shikoku 88 Temple Pilgrimage, which had a major influence on his artwork.
‘We traversed four steep mountain paths, surrounded by huge ancient trees. The temple nestled into a hollow in what seemed like towering cliffs. The path was lush with beautiful pale orchids as we walked…’ – extract from artist’s diary.
Mountain View is a striking abstract landscape using this Mokuhanga technique with meticulous craftsmanship. The composition is a carefully balanced arrangement of geometric forms, layered stripes, grid and diamond motifs on a vibrantly coloured, textured surface. Structure, balance and memory replace literal representation, drawing on Japanese aesthetics of simplicity, repetition and harmony with quiet luminosity and crisp definition.
‘Bringing the outdoors indoors, I want to explore the complex relationship between representation and abstraction to have an immersive experience. The challenge is to mirror nature through paint and composition in a coherent and aesthetic way. I find myself longing for open expanses of sky, land and feelings of escapism.’ – Cornelius Wright
Iona is a dramatic personal vision of the tranquil Hebridean island, conveying its elemental beauty through energetic mark-making and a richly textured surface. As a lyrical landscape, stormy sea and sky merge to express that desire for escape into the natural environment. The palette is dominated by soft greys, charcoal black and misty white, contrasted with vibrant seaweed green to animate the rocky foreground. Gestural splashes and drips depict changing weather and light while the muted horizon and faint contour of hills recede into an atmospheric haze. The mood is both wild and contemplative as Wright transforms Iona into a place of memory, at once raw, rugged and deeply emotional.
As a visual artist and former landscape architect, Alison Grant has recently researched work based on coastal communities of Scotland. Shifting Baseline is a unique print composed of two monotype plates, printed side by side on the same piece of paper in a single white frame. These images depict rock-carved graffiti of a medieval boat at low tide on the Isle of Luing, and a modern mining machine for renewable energy.
‘The simplicity of the structure powered directly by the wind and ocean currents stands in contrast to the destructive capability of a modern deep-sea vehicle mining metals’. – Alison Grant
This monotype juxtaposes the ancient and modern, reflecting on our relationship with the sea as a source of energy in a dramatic diptych: the mining machine emerges from the murky, grainy depths of the sandy sea floor, and a terracotta rock carving of a traditional sailing boat. The visual distinction between stark, industrial technology and the weathered image of a ship, articulates the changing human reliance on the ocean over the centuries.
The award-winning ceramic artist Lara Scobie is renowned for her distinctive, slip-cast porcelain vessels, integrating decorative surfaces through drawing, mark making and volume, with abstract and graphic pattern, bold colour and texture a continuous source of inspiration. Each piece is individually made in fine porcelain Parian clay and hand-decorated using a combination of inlay and sgraffito drawings. The term ‘Parian’ is derived from Paros, the Aegian Island famous for its white marble, used extensively in classical Greek sculpture.
Tall Bowl is a refined porcelain vessel featuring an intricate design, the crisp white contrasting beautifully with the vivid yellow interior and base. Delicately-drawn linear patterns wrap the bowl in layered bands, while geometric grids and asymmetrical motifs add textural rhythm and visual depth. Both sculptural and functional, the bowl reflects a thoughtful blend of minimalist Art Deco style with a cool, contemporary aesthetic.
As a jeweller, Laura Cruikshank’s designs are process-driven where the precision of observing, drawing, gathering and making overlap. Using traditional techniques of filigree and chain-making, her playful collection of handcrafted, statement accessories is often inspired by the natural environment, such as the way flora sways and dances.
These attractive chain-link ear-rings feature a dainty cascade of interlinked gold-tone rings suspended from simple hook fittings. The flowing, organic arrangement creates a light, airy silhouette, their textured, layered design creating graceful movement and shimmer, fashionable elegance through artistic craftsmanship.
Culturally inspired by her dual Scots/Chinese heritage, Elaine Woo MacGregor is a painter and also the author of a recent monograph published to accompany her exhibition Daughters of the Silk Road. Her work has frequently featured through Cynthia Corbett’s Women-Led Galleries initiative.
Following a research travel scholarship to China, Macgregor’s Alone by Aral Sea, II (purple breeze), part of her Silk Road series, is a dreamlike, narrative landscape. Once a critical oasis, the Aral Sea, which fuelled the Silk Roads economy, became a desert due to Soviet cotton-field irrigation in the 1960s.
‘I used dynamic brushwork to create a feeling of tension, inviting you to take on the role of the unseen rider. This piece fosters curiosity about our role in protecting land and water for future generations.’ – Elaine Woo MacGregor
Below the dark stormy sky, vivid yellow and orange pierce through the sombre palette, suggesting a sense of enduring hope against a vast, desolate backdrop. The image of a weary pack horse and faint ghostly shape of a hump-backed camel illustrate the arduous treks across the challenging terrain. The paint is applied thickly, blended purples and pinks illuminating the rugged, isolated scene. The interpretation of Chinese motifs creates a sense of shifting time and memory, the classic symbol of a horse representing power, beauty and freedom.
‘This exhibition is an opportunity to experience the breadth of talent working in Edinburgh today. Visitors can encounter everything from emerging voices to internationally recognised practitioners that celebrates the energy and diversity of our studio community.’ – Sarah Knox
Admission is free, and the venue is wheelchair-accessible.
With thanks to Vivien Devlin for contributing this review.
