The Hunter Saville Cumbrae Studio & Gallery in Millport on the Isle of Cumbrae has kicked-off its 2026 programme, promising an array of accomplished artists working in a variety of fields. First-off is a new exhibition showcasing recent work by painter Mark T Shepheard, whose practice has evolved since his move to Ayrshire last year, following repeated visits to this country over the past eighteen years on artist-led holidays, and falling under the spell of its coastlines, watching seasons change with their cleansing tides.

Equally happy working in realism and plein-air as he is in abstraction, he seeks to capture his feelings, particularly in watercolour – a medium particularly suited to his love of Ayrshire’s wet-weather coast: by its literally-fluid nature, watercolour erodes and reticulates in itself much as sea-changes do, and Mark tracks the erosion and shifts in his build-up of layers, adding texture and colour as the tide piles and replaces its flotsam and jetsam over its place.

Also showing are new screenprint works created by Mark at Glasgow Print Studio. Simon will be attending the gallery Wednesdays – Sundays 11am – 4pm, and will be painting in-situ with impromptu demonstrations of work in progress.

As reported on this website in October 2023, the Gallery was founded by Janice Hunter and Tim Saville, who studied at the Glasgow School of Art and Camberwell School of Art, London respectively. It looks to promote the work of emerging and established artists, particularly those who challenge our preconceptions of contemporary art, helping to foster an understanding of the necessity of art in the present day.

The gallery’s exhibition programme continues into the year with exhibitions planned by Eoghann MacColl in June, Caroline Millar in July, April Lannigan in August, Valentyna in September, and Martina Martina in October.