Fortingall Art is well under way since the opening on Friday night. I was on duty yesterday afternoon and expected a quiet few hours with an occasional chat as people drifted steadily in. Instead at times it was a frenzy of wrapping, receipt writing and taking money. We had over a hundred visitors to the Molteno Hall, despite its location in a very quiet village some distance from anywhere much, and they were spending too. It was good to see, if a little bemusing, where do they all come from? 
The Splinter Group wood engravings were a quiet contrast with the paintings in rest of the hall. The book was printed in time, just and alphabet was almost complete (apart from X, which is extinct). Our wee images take some looking at, but they make a satisfying and intriguing tile effect when they’re all together and the book is very beautiful and reflects not just the diversity of the Scottish fauna but also of the members of the Splinter Group. I suspect it needs to be handled to be fully appreciated, but there’s been lots of interest in the prints. Philippa Swann produced some lovely booklets explaining who the Splinter Group is and a little about the processes of wood engraving and printmaking. I think it’s quite difficult to convey how much work and skill is involved in traditional printmaking in these days of computers and laser jets so we need to put some effort into explanation. The exhibition finishes on Sunday, and then it’s onto the Splinter Group’s next project.
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