In the Night's Garden: Inverlochy Artists at Thistle Hall 2025

What began as a conversation in Christine’s long-running Keep on Painting classes blossomed into In the Night Garden—a vibrant group exhibition held at Thistle Hall from 24–29 June. The idea first took root when a group of long-time students expressed a shared desire to exhibit their work together in a public gallery. With Christine’s encouragement, and some administrative support from Inverlochy staff, this grassroots initiative quickly gained momentum. The result was a diverse and dynamic exhibition featuring contemporary painting, ceramics, and printmaking, all loosely exploring themes of nature, reflection, and transformation.

Artists included current students and tutors, alongside works gifted to the school by a collective of printmakers, including acclaimed painter and printmaker John Drawbridge, who worked at Inverlochy Art School. in the 1990s {Read more about Drawbridge and his work at Inverlochy here.} This inclusion made In the Night Garden a true celebration of Inverlochy’s creative community—past and present.

From start to finish, students were at the heart of the exhibition's creation—contributing imagery for promotional materials, writing poetic blurbs and snappy media releases, installing the show and filling holes in the gallery walls at the end.

The exhibition was open for a week, with exhibiting artists taking turns gallery-sitting and enjoying the opportunity to engage with visitors. Over 210 people visited throughout the week (not including the final night—we forgot to count!), and artists spoke of how valuable and fun it was to share their work with the public beyond the Inverlochy community. For many, it was their first time exhibiting outside of our art school and several artists sold their work.

The week concluded with a closing party complete with mulled wine, a table overflowing with snacks, and the final moments of the silent auction. The majority of auction proceeds went directly to the artists, with the remainder supporting Inverlochy’s Accessibility Project—an initiative to provide wheelchair access to our historic school building, helping to ensure a more inclusive future for all creatives {Find out more about this project here.}

A huge thank you to tutor Christine Gregory for her guidance and encouragement, and to all the artists who took part. We're incredibly proud to have supported this wonderful event. The quality and diversity of work on display reaffirmed what we know to be true, that at Inverlochy, creativity is nurtured.

View all artworks included here.