New Abbey is blooming right now and it’s all thanks to a group of artists.
They decided to brighten up the scenic village with baskets and art work following their previous efforts to hoist hanging baskets of flowers last year as part of Village in Bloom.
Artist Arona Allan said: “I was approached by my friend Billy Weymouth about combining the beautiful hanging baskets, which line New Abbey main street, with work done by the many artists we have in this area.
“In 2019 Billy had made a wooden plaque and I painted Waterloo Monument on it and it was hung on one of the hanging baskets.
“It was very well received, so I started approaching other artists with the idea and Billy started making more plaques.
“New Abbey Art Group, based at Shambellie, got on board with the idea and by the start of 2020 we had nine other artists giving freely of their time and talents creating new plaques inspired by places in an around New Abbey.”
She added: “The baskets will be up until the end of the summer but the plaques will stay up for good. The baskets are renewed every summer. They look fantastic and it is great to see.
“It is very much a village effort because people from the village collect money in the local shop and the donations help pay for costs.
“The local garden centre provides the flowers and they look wonderful.”
The artists and their work are: Shambellie house by Tracy Graham; The Corn Mill by Mary McCallen; Shambellie Wood by Kath Mayo; Shambelie House in photo emulsion by artist and photographer Ricky Nolan; Corn Mill Top Pond by Arona Allan; The Guild Hall by Tracy Adams; Sweetheart Cemetery by Susan Wilson; The Abbey Window by Rachel Hennessy; and Pilgrims by Janet Henry.
