When The Blue Easel Gallery opened in 2017 the then joint owners of the gallery, Ruth Farquhar and Jennifer Thomson had known each other for a long time. They met in 1999 at the Cramond Mother and Toddler Group at Cramond Kirk Hall, both were there with their baby sons who are now in their mid 20's. They shared a passion for art and a passion for their local surroundings. They immediately hit it off and became friends. Their friendship grew when their second children became best friends. They also had a love of terriers, Jennifer had a mischievous fox terrier and Ruth and equally naughty Irish terrier!  Their first joint artistic venture was when they were asked to design and paint a huge mural on the outside of their children's school, Cramond Primary. They had great fun and inspired many pupils, parents and teachers to leave their own mark too. The end result was a colourful scene of Cramond called "Keep Cramond Beautiful". 

When the perfect empty shop became available in the picturesque seaside village of Cramond, very close to where they both live, they jumped at the opportunity to have a space in which to work, exhibit their work and share their ideas. A few of months of hard work followed, in order to turn the dark disused shop into a light-filled gallery. On March 31st 2017 The Blue Easel Gallery opened its bright blue door, welcoming everyone in to enjoy their artwork - colourful, up-lifting images of Cramond and beyond. 

For the first two years artists Ruth and Jennifer had their own original paintings on display in the gallery as well as cards and a range of gifts such as coasters, cushions, mugs, fridge magnets and posters.
​Ruth's work is often inspired by Cramond - the village, the harbour, the island and the flora and fauna that are found there. Jennifer is inspired by the city life of Edinburgh. Both artists thoroughly enjoyed their new artistic venture, having the opportunity to share their work locally and to meet so many interesting visitors to the gallery.  
In 2019 Jennifer made the difficult decision to step away from the running of the gallery to spend more time with her family. Ruth was sad to see Jennifer go but was happy to support her in finding the right work/life balance.
Ruth has spent the years since creating a beautiful gallery filled with her amazing colourful work. She continues to paint in her studio space within the gallery, developing her own art practice, producing a range of inspiring work as well as launching her gallery on line shop.
The gallery continues to go from strength to strength, welcoming visitors from all over the world who are delighted to take a piece of Cramond and Edinburgh back home with them.
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Ruth Farquhar ARTIST AND OWNER OF THE BLUE EASEL GALLERY

​RUTH FARQUHAR
ARTIST AND OWNER OF
​THE BLUE EASEL GALLERY


Click on the image of Ruth
to find out more about her
art and gallery

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