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.

New exhibition celebrates one of Highlands’ most popular landmarks

Lesley Banks
Lesley Banks

The majesty of the Caledonian Canal is featured in an unusual exhibition starting this week.

The 60-mile long waterway connecting Inverness with Corpach in Lochaber has been captured on canvas by Lesley Banks who is Scotland’s first ever canal artist-in-residence.

Ms Banks spent 15 months travelling round the country’s canals in all weathers creating paintings which celebrate the different environments and stories surrounding Scotland’s 250 year-old waterways.

Clachnaharry

Now she is inviting people to go ‘gongoozling’ and see the first exhibition of her work which opens on Saturday at the Park Gallery in Falkirk.

‘Gongoozlers’ are people who love watching boats – and the world – pass by on canals and they will be spoilt for choice at the event as Ms Banks has travelled the length of the Forth & Clyde, Union, Monkland, Crinan and Caledonian canals for her art.

She said: “From the water to the banks and beyond, Scotland’s canals are unique environments with over two centuries of stories to tell and I feel very lucky to be Scottish Canals’ first artist-in-residence.

‘I’ve spent the past year gongoozling, using the towpaths as a studio and capturing some incredible sights on the waterways throughout changing seasons, weather and times of day.

Holmes2

“The Gongoozler exhibition celebrates the unique character of each canal, from the majestic Caledonian to the post-industrial Forth & Clyde, in a sequential form that will allow people to explore the waterways on canvas as if they were walking the towpath with me.”

Richard Millar, Director of Infrastructure at Scottish Canals, added: “From Neptune’s Staircase to The Falkirk Wheel and The Kelpies, Scotland’s canals have been associated with innovative art and engineering for more than 200 years.

“This project has helped celebrate that rich heritage and the vital role the waterways play in the communities that line their banks by committing their iconic sights and stories to canvas – many for the first time.

“We’re delighted with the results of the residency and hope that seeing the incredible scenery of Scotland’s canals during the exhibition will encourage even more to people to explore the waterways by boot, boat and bike and experience them in person.”

The residency, funded by the National Lottery through Creative Scotland Open Project Funding and supported by Falkirk Community Trust and Scottish Canals, has resulted in Ms Banks creating more than 40 paintings of the different waterways.

They can all be seen at the exhibition which runs until June 25.