New Artists announced for Demijohn’s Big Spring Weekend

Demijohn at Glenlair Steading has been chosen as the venue for a new selection of talented artists at this year’s region wide Spring Fling Open Studio Weekend at the end of May.

Now in its second year, Demijohn’s Big Spring Weekend has become a major part of Scotland’s largest art festival, helping celebrate fine art with delicious local food and drink.

The May Bank Holiday event runs daily from 10am to 5.30pm between Sat 24th and Mon 26th May and is free to attend.

Throughout the weekend painter Sally Jennings and jeweller Jesse Ball will open their studios within Glenlair Steading to demonstrate their creative skills and exhibit their work as part of the region wide art festival.

Demijohn’s flagship store at Glenlair Steading will be open for tastings of their unique range of handmade, sustainable food and drink.

Visitors will also be able to enjoy dangerously drinkable creations from the now famous Demijohn Cocktail Bar, Coffee and Cake from Cuddy’s Coffee and a selection of other local artisan street food.

Angus Ferguson, Owner of Demijohn said: “We are over the moon that the committee of Spring Fling has asked us to host new artistic talent for a second year running. Our plans for the weekend are more bold than ever as result of support from the South of Scotland Destination Alliance (SSDA). A greater selection of local food and drink will be on offer to cater for the anticipated increase in visitor numbers. Sally and Jesse are superbly talented artists and we are lucky to be able to host them. Visitors will I think be really impressed and surprised by what they discover within the beautiful rural and historic setting of Glenlair Steading.”

More details about Demijohn's Big Spring Weekend and regular event updates can be found on the Demijohn website:

https://www.demijohn.co.uk/products/demijohns-big-spring-weekend-sat-24-to-mon-26-may-2025

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Note to Editors:

Glenlair Steading is listed as Venue 51 & 52 on the Pink Route in the Spring Fling Open Studios brochure. Recently restored in 2023 and architecturally significant, Glenlair Steading is the home of Demijohn, Scotland’s award winning liquid deli. It is also historically famous for having been the home of Scottish Physicist James Clerk Maxwell.

Open Studio 51 - Sally Jennings is a Glasgow-based painter and printmaker. Drawing inspiration from spiritual, esoteric and religious belief systems, she incorporates symbols and shapes that are removed from their original context and hidden within layers of texture and colour.

Sally’s work is also influenced by theories of place, objecthood and observation found in contemporary physics and philosophy. She explores the mystery and phenomena of our human journey, disrupting contextual clues and obscuring meaning and form, creating images that invite the viewer to search, meditate, explore; generating an intimate interaction with the painting that is entirely unique to that pair.

Open Studio 52 - Jesse Ball is a self-taught jeweller, working predominantly using the lost wax method. Designs are made directly in wax to then be cast in gold or silver, after casting Jesse often incorporates precious and semi-precious gemstones into her designs, she chooses stones for their meaning, beauty and ‘personality’. After several years of working as a jeweller, Jesse was surprised to discover goldsmithing has been in her family since her Great Grandfather Arthur’s time. Arthur was also a jeweller and had his workshop in London’s jewellery quarter, Hatton Garden.

Jesses’ collections are inspired by her love of ancient history, organic natural forms, sacred relics and ancient treasures, imperfect and marked by history. She creates wearable talismans that can symbolize an intention, represent a story or mark a precious moment. She also makes jewellery to commission, incorporating personal stories and meaning into designs as well as transforming unworn jewellery into future heirlooms.

More details about all the artists involved in the Spring Fling Open Studios Weekend can be found on the Spring Fling website: https://www.spring-fling.co.uk/

Demijohn:

Demijohn was founded in Edinburgh in 2004 by Angus and Frances Ferguson and is now based at Glenlair Steading on their family farm in South West Scotland. They source unusual, delicious artisan liqueurs, spirits, oils and vinegars from around the UK and Europe and sell them in a wide range of refillable glass bottles via their international mail order service and growing network of farm shop concession stores. Each bottle can have a free handwritten personalised message added. Gift wrapping is also available.

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