Our tree is up in the window and the Christmas lights are up along the High Street. Our thoughts are turning to helping you find the perfect gift for a loved one – no matter what your budget. Read on for our 2024 gift guide!
Stocking fillers
Whether you’re filling a sock with wee gifts or need a quick secret Santa, we think you’ll find something special in the studio. We have a range of gifts for under £20.
Angus’s handmade soap dishes come in a range of colours. He used carved rolling pins and doilies to create the intricate patterns on these ceramics items. And for £20, you get a beautiful dish and a fragrant soap to go with it. Choose from flavours such as banana and toffee (Angus’s favourite), sandalwood and patchouli or tangy pear and apple.
The Cairn Gang, created by our friend Cathy Haworth, also appear on items that are perfect for a stocking. There’s our cute wooden pin badges (£5), fridge magnets (£5) or stacking mugs (£12). The latter are a great space saver in your kitchen. And of course, you can also slip a wee bar of chocolate into the gift pile as a treat. We’ve got a range of flavours to choose from – take your pick from Milk, Dark Whisky, Iron Brew and Buckfast and more.
For the hillwalkers among you, we also have Myrddin Irwin’s zine of mountain photos. Zines are mini-magazines, often handmade by their author. These can involve creative writing, have illustrations or photos. Myrddin’s Land & Sky (£8), give a lovely snapshot of life in the hills.
Gifts for £50 & under
For the first time this year, we’ve produced some mini-hampers, packed with our favourite products made in the studio. Presented in a small basket, you’ll get a scented candle, jar of honey (from Jane’s bees!), a soap dish and soap, a pack of Red Squirrel cards, and a Cairn Gang fridge magnet. These items would normally cost £70 individually - our hamper is just £45!
Also in this price range, you can select one of Angus’s handmade mugs – wonky or otherwise. Angus has been hard at work in the pottery to make these beautiful vessels – all glazed in bright colours. He’s also produced a great range of candle pots, inspired by the plumage of birds. You can see the collection online and in store.
Or you might like to select a piece of beautiful silver jewellery by Marram Blue, AKA Julie Steele. Julie’s work has a charming simplicity – silver pendants and bracelets, and cute stud earrings.
Luxury gifts
Obviously, being an art gallery, we have items for those with a larger budget. Penelope Timmis’s puffin paintings are brightly coloured and full of energy. They’re a great addition to a large wall – a real showstopper piece for a room.
Puffins also feature in Julia Cox’s collection. Her ceramic wildlife sculptures are beautifully posed. Birds are a favourite subject and we have her studies of oystercatchers, plovers and owls on display currently.
Esther Tyson is another artist whose depictions of birds win plaudits. Esther visits the Cairngorms regularly in winter to sketch the snow buntings at Cairngorm Mountain, later committing her observations to paper in oil. Her work is deceptively simple – loose brushstrokes create an abstract impression of her subject, reflecting their rapid movements in real life. Esther’s landscapes are equally impressive, as are her studies of mountaineers preparing for a winter hike.
We’ve also been delighted to welcome new artists to the studio this year – Kitty Watt and Olivia Yorston.
Kitty Watt is a renowned printmaker, based in Caithness. Her work takes inspiration from the Highland landscape and uses a technique of aquatint etching. This creates tonal effects, rather than lines. Kitty’s work is subtle and beautiful and there’s a host of prints to choose from.
Finally, Olivia is a young jeweller, working in silver. Her pieces are inspired by nature, including sycamore seeds, and acorns. And there’s some delightful sleeping squirrels, each holding a cute gemstone in its paws.
Or learn something new!
And last but not least, we've launched a new schedule of pottery classes just in time for Christmas. The programme starts in the New Year, when everyone is buzzing to learn something new.
As well as one day workshops in sgraffito and upcycling, our ever popular Clay Club is back. This is an eight-week evening course, teaching you a range of skills, from basic pinch pots to throwing on the wheel. And there'll be a chance to decorate and glaze your work.
Best of all, you'll get to take your amazing handmade creations home to show off to the family.
Places are limited so booking is essential! Visit our Classes page now to get your space!
Pop into the studio between now and Christmas to see these items and much, much more. We’re open from Tuesday to Saturday, 10am-5pm. Holidays may vary – please check before travelling to see us!
