No Woman Is An Island: Art exhibiton with a new look for 2024.

The five artists – Rona MacLean, Cat Outram, Aileen Grant, Kairen Bergius and Karen Rogers – will be joined by their friend and fellow artist-printmaker Doreen Boogert. The show will have paintings, various types of prints and mixed media pieces.

The artist's life can be a lonely one, but five friends based in different locations in Scotland have found a way to support and inspire each other. As well as getting together for regular sketching trips and weekly Zoom calls, they exhibit together once a year as “No Woman Is An Island”. And over the years they have been sketching in Venice, Lisbon, Verona and, closer to home, in Cromarty, Aberfeldy and Northumberland.

This year, the six artists will be showing paintings, screenprints, monotypes, other prints and mixed media pieces. Subject matter will include colourful landscapes, wildlife and tree-related scenes, and other more abstract pieces – many inspired by the sketching trips.

Karen Rogers' mixed media piece.

Doreen Boogert's forte is creating monotypes and she will be showing several of these unique prints inspired by observations of wildlife and landscapes in and around her home town of Musselburgh and the East Lothian coast. Galloway is also another favourite, particularly the Moffat hills.

Rona MacLean is showing a mix of tiny acrylic landscapes and colourful monotypes made in Florence in May this year. Most of these are of imagined spaces based on memories of favourite places. Her screen prints of trees also feature.

Cat Outram will be showing work developed from trips with NWIAI friends including Lisbon, Venice, Cromarty, Berwick-upon-Tweed and at home in Edinburgh.

Aileen Grant has spent the past year immersed in the landscapes of the Wester Ross UNESCO Biosphere and has a few woodland paintings, shoreline scenes and some new prints.

Kairen Bergius continues to paint bold landscapes using strong vibrant colours. She has selected several new pieces which capture her own unique interpretion of various scenes.

Karen Rogers uses a variety of techniques and media to interpret different landscapes. Geli printing, photographs, thread, fabric and found objects are combined with acrylic or watercolour to produce expressive semi-abstract pictures.

This promises to be another joyful celebration of painting and printmaking. In the words of the artists “We hope our oasis of colour will help to dispel your election blues....at least for a moment or two.”

The new exhibition will open on Saturday, June 15 and will be open daily 11am to 5pm until Wednesday, June 26 at the Birch Tree Gallery, 23A Dundas St, Edinburgh EH3 6QQ