Calendar An icon of a desk calendar. Cancel An icon of a circle with a diagonal line across. Caret An icon of a block arrow pointing to the right. Email An icon of a paper envelope. Facebook An icon of the Facebook "f" mark. Google An icon of the Google "G" mark. Linked In An icon of the Linked In "in" mark. Logout An icon representing logout. Profile An icon that resembles human head and shoulders. Telephone An icon of a traditional telephone receiver. Tick An icon of a tick mark. Is Public An icon of a human eye and eyelashes. Is Not Public An icon of a human eye and eyelashes with a diagonal line through it. Pause Icon A two-lined pause icon for stopping interactions. Quote Mark A opening quote mark. Quote Mark A closing quote mark. Arrow An icon of an arrow. Folder An icon of a paper folder. Breaking An icon of an exclamation mark on a circular background. Camera An icon of a digital camera. Caret An icon of a caret arrow. Clock An icon of a clock face. Close An icon of the an X shape. Close Icon An icon used to represent where to interact to collapse or dismiss a component Comment An icon of a speech bubble. Comments An icon of a speech bubble, denoting user comments. Comments An icon of a speech bubble, denoting user comments. Ellipsis An icon of 3 horizontal dots. Envelope An icon of a paper envelope. Facebook An icon of a facebook f logo. Camera An icon of a digital camera. Home An icon of a house. Instagram An icon of the Instagram logo. LinkedIn An icon of the LinkedIn logo. Magnifying Glass An icon of a magnifying glass. Search Icon A magnifying glass icon that is used to represent the function of searching. Menu An icon of 3 horizontal lines. Hamburger Menu Icon An icon used to represent a collapsed menu. Next An icon of an arrow pointing to the right. Notice An explanation mark centred inside a circle. Previous An icon of an arrow pointing to the left. Rating An icon of a star. Tag An icon of a tag. Twitter An icon of the Twitter logo. Video Camera An icon of a video camera shape. Speech Bubble Icon A icon displaying a speech bubble WhatsApp An icon of the WhatsApp logo. Information An icon of an information logo. Plus A mathematical 'plus' symbol. Duration An icon indicating Time. Success Tick An icon of a green tick. Success Tick Timeout An icon of a greyed out success tick. Loading Spinner An icon of a loading spinner. Facebook Messenger An icon of the facebook messenger app logo. Facebook An icon of a facebook f logo. Facebook Messenger An icon of the Twitter app logo. LinkedIn An icon of the LinkedIn logo. WhatsApp Messenger An icon of the Whatsapp messenger app logo. Email An icon of an mail envelope. Copy link A decentered black square over a white square.

From painting in garden sheds to studio success for Grantown art teacher

The business will celebrate its first birthday with an exhibition this October after a year of overcoming challenges.

The business has allowed Angus Grant to fulfil his dream of teaching adult art classes. Image: Catriona Parmenter Photography/ Spey Bank Studio
The business has allowed Angus Grant to fulfil his dream of teaching adult art classes. Image: Catriona Parmenter Photography/ Spey Bank Studio

A couple who opened their own art gallery in Strathspey in a former bank say they have a lot to be proud about despite facing several challenges.

The Spey Bank Studio in Grantown will celebrate its first birthday in October.

Owners Angus Grant and Jane Candlish say running a business has been a learning curve so far.

Journey to opening Spey Bank Studio

The couple purchased the former Bank of Scotland building in the town’s High Street two years ago.

It then underwent a nine month transformation before opening the doors.

Jane said the result was a long-held dream of talented artist Angus, who is known in the area as a school art teacher.

She said: “Angus went from painting in our garden shed to an industrial unit in Grantown for three or four years. Now we have the gallery.

“The expansion will probably stop for just now as we continue to learn more and grow the business further.”

The building on High Street in Strathspey is a former Bank of Scotland. Image: Spey Bank Studio.
The building on High Street in Strathspey is a former Bank of Scotland. Image: Spey Bank Studio.

Jane said the pair have worked together to overcome several challenges and are proud of the progress so far.

She added: “I never really knew what to expect when we first started as I’m learning the business as we go on.

“I won’t pretend it’s all been incredibly easy. Of course we’ve had our stresses and challenges.

“However, we’ve worked well as a team and juggling everything which comes towards us.

“I’ve loved the challenges of getting to grips with different things. The exhibitions have been a great learning curve.”

Business plans

The business currently sells a range of artwork from the Cairngorms, as well as giftware and ceramics by Angus, who is also an art teacher at Grantown Grammar School.

It hopes to offer two exhibitions a year in the future and October’s exhibition, which coincides with its birthday, will include work from local award-winning painter Joanna Wilson.

Angus said the first year has excited him and is delighted at how popular classes have become.

He said: “Grantown is a wonderful place to do business and everyone has been incredibly encouraging of our venture.

Inside the ground floor studio which opened last year. Image: Spey Bank Studio Date

“Our first year has been full of hard work but we are delighted with how our first year has gone.

“One of the aspects I have enjoyed most has been running the shop and talking to so many new people about art.”

Jane has enjoyed telling the “story of the art” to customers and is excited to see what the future holds.

She added: “We’ve got to know some artists and are able to sell the work which we love as well, it’s been a continued expansion getting us to where we are now.”

The upcoming exhibition is set to open on October 7 and will run for two weeks.

Conversation