Exhibitions

The garden of the Sculpture Park, whose biggest feature is the dry stone walls that form the bones of the garden was designed by the two directors, Karen and Colin Scotland, over a period of 25 years with the help of a local gardener Jim Gilfillan and laterly Jeremy Kaufman. Each autumn, as one enters the garden an avenue of lovely tulip trees change colour and create a wonderful carpet of seasonal hues and two magnolia sieboldii trees display their delicate flowers. Wandering past the cliff, a pathway leads down to the Big Pond. Looking back up the cliff, Rosa Himalayan musk climbs up the face of the rock through the magnificent rhododendron trees. The pond, surrounded by foliage in summer, has a warm, almost tropical feel to it. Wandering down past the pond to the boathouse, one is suddenly gripped by a temperature drop from the fresh breezes off the Kyles. Walking along the beach one will find mollusk shells and tiny shells that whisper the sound of the sea in one's ears. On the Burnt Islands, the seals outdo each other to see who can be the last to remain on an island that will disappear into the tide. Walking up the steep slope of the grassy expanse would be it, but for the moss. The garden levels into the croquet lawn, bounded by four white beams and memories of Australia. Coming across the canopus, which is surrounded by tall, swaying eucalyptus trees, one finds that at one end, our friend Tom Allan has carved a sculpture of a head in Tom's inimitable style.