Demijohn's Big Spring Weekend at Glenlair Steading will take place from Sat 24th to Mon 26th May 2025 this year.
Now in its second year, our Big Spring Weekend is set to be bigger and better, with more exhibiting artists and activities than in 2024.
This popular event is free to attend and is a celebration of fine art, as part of our local Spring Fling Open Studios Event, and the very best of local food and drink.
When will be held?
Our May Bank Holiday main event will run daily between 10am to 5.30pm from Sat 24th to Mon 26th May, with a special Early Opening Viewing for visitors to experience this year's Open Studios first between 6pm to 8pm on Fri 23rd May.
Early Opening Viewing Free Drinks
If you are planning to come to the Early Opening Viewing evening on Fri 23rd May between 6pm to 8pm and would like a drink on us then we recommend you purchase a FREE* Demijohn Drink Voucher as soon as possible.
Simply add your Early Opening Viewing Free Drink Voucher to your basket and checkout as normal to register.
*Terms: Please note this is a limited offer. FREE Drink Vouchers are limited to one free £5 alcoholic or non-alcoholic Demijohn drink per registered customer and redeemable only between 6pm and 7pm on Fri 23rd May 2025 for the first 50 registered customers.
What can you expect?
Visitors will be able to enjoy unique works of art exhibited by both Sally Jennings, a talented Glasgow based painter and print maker, and a highly skilled Morayshire jeweller, Jesse Ball.
Over the weekend, Sally Jennings, in Studio 51, will be demonstrating her methods of painting, drawing and printmaking and Jesse Ball, in Studio 52, will be revealing how she creates her collection of beautiful handmade jewellery.
Our new store within Glenlair Steading will also be open daily from 10am to 5.30pm daily for free tastings of our unique range of handmade, sustainable food and drink.
Our favourite Demijohn Cocktails and Mocktails will be available to purchase, as well as a pop up Cafe serving teas, coffees, home baking and more.
More details on all our artists can be found below and in our press release, New Artists announced for Demijohn's Big Spring Weekend.
Directions:
Please follow this link for directions to Glenlair Steading.
Car parking is free of charge.
By car, we are roughly 10 minutes North of Castle Douglas, 20 minutes West of Dumfries, 1 hour from Carlisle or 2.5 hours South East of Edinburgh or 1.5 hours South of Glasgow.
Anything else I should know?
Please be aware that we are covered well at Glenlair Steading by the EE mobile network, however, there is little coverage with some of the other network providers. Wifi is available on request.
Spotlight on our Spring Fling Open Studio Artists
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/