For now until the end of December, the castle will be home to its very own artist in residence. This is a new twist on two traditions. The first is Historic Scotland’s work to get people up here to enjoy everything this beautiful and historic site has to offer to artists working in any medium – from painters and photographers to weavers and poets. The second is the centuries-old tradition of using the castle as the focus for works of art. There are countless drawings, watercolours, oil paintings and photos which attempt to capture aspects of this grandest of Scottish monuments.

        

However, the idea of inviting Iona Leishman along to set up studio allows us to do several things which are very new. One is to have a professional painter onsite who can work with all sorts of different organisations. This will include helping local high school students as they prepare their portfolios for art qualifications and working with other community art groups.

Iona will have a couple of days a week to concentrate on creating artwork of her own, so visitors will doubtless encounter her from time to time as she sketches and paints different scenes. It’s going to be fascinating to see what she comes up with. Having several months to really get to know the place and its people I expect she will develop some new and unusual perspectives.

On Wednesdays and Thursdays, visitors can visit Iona in the workshop to chat further about her work or even have a go at their own masterpiece! There will also be a number of workshops for adults and children throughout the autumn. Further details will soon be available on our website. We hope you’ll come along and take a look

Kirsten Wood, Stirling Castle Learning Development Officer