The Leith Gallery has two exceptional painters showing in August, Marion Drummond, an established artist who paints with her fingers but warns others not to do so as some of the paints are carcinogenic. There is a lusciousness to her still lifes which is partly achieved through her work method and partly by the inspiration of the flowers she grows in her garden specifically as models for her paintings.

With her is young artist Paul Kennedy, a graduate of Edinburgh College of Art in 2004, who has been winning many awards in the last few years. The portrait of “Colin” was exhibited in the BP Portrait Award exhibition. "Bond" shows the close bond between man and animal and “New Day” is that first moment when we greet what the day has waiting for us.

They are joined by ceramicist Dana Lazarus-Cass and jeweller Jillian Noble, both of whom are new to the gallery. Dana explains, “Rather than speak about my work - I think it speaks a volumes about me. It relays my passion for the material and its innumerable ways it can be used. My work, which are miniature ceramic tableaux, convey an affinity for utilitarian ware coupled with an appetite for visually intriguing forms using slip cast figures. My pieces disclose contradictions about both my literal interpretation of the world while being juxtaposed with the absurd and surreal. Mixed media is used to highlight deeper psychological complexities within the narrative.

Combining a range of potter’s techniques; throwing, slab building, slip casting, and extruding; I endeavour to explore ways to express a variety of ideas through the medium. None of my pieces are perfect; some suffer from their innate fragility but all sit on firm foundations. Tensions are exposed between characters or isolated figures on their structure which further reveal known and unconscious anxieties, both personal and universal.”