Drawing inspiration at Grantown's Cairn Distillery
With the help of a Strathspey distiller, aspiring artists are being offered the chance to fulfil a long-held ambition to collaborate with one of Instagram’s favourite artists.
For millennia, cairns have encouraged people to explore new paths and the latest initiative from The Cairn Distillery’s Beacon of Inspiration campaign aims to encourage people to realise a long-held ambition, with the help of Phil Dean.
Dean – fames as The Shoreditch Sketcher – has over 100,000 followers and is a published author.
People from across the UK are being invited to tell The Cairn why they’ve always harboured a dream to become an artist, and what it would mean to them to be given the chance to hone their craft under his expert wing.
The winners will first embark on an all-expenses paid trip to London to take part in an inspiring tutorial on how to capture an urban environment, with Dean sharing valuable insights including the top tips he has learned over a lifetime of sketching.
The workshop will focus on refining the artists’ styles, helping the pair form a deeper understanding of the art they want to create and how to create it.
Working with the star, the winners will learn new methods and techniques to capture both natural and urban landscapes in an intriguing and innovative way.
After a few weeks of self-practice, the successful applicants will then join him in September at The Cairn, just outside Grantown, to put their new skills into practice, by sketching the distillery in its stunning natural environment, on the banks of the River Spey.
The Cairn, which opened its doors in October 2022, is the first new distillery to be built in the Cairngorms National Park since its inception. Its owners, Moray-based family business, Gordon & MacPhail, aim to build on its 128-year heritage of producing exceptional Scotch whisky by creating legacies that inspire future generations.
Mr Dean said: “Drawing in urban spaces gives you a completely new way to engage – to sketch a city is to truly see it. You are out in a public environment, part of the landscape and embedded in your surroundings. You have to embrace the freedom it provides.
“The Cairn is truly inspirational in terms of its whisky, its building, and its surroundings, so I’m very much looking forward to helping our amateur artists to bring this magnificent place to life on paper.”
Ian Chapman, marketing director of Gordon & MacPhail said: “We are so proud of our home here in the Cairngorms, from the stunning mountains to the glorious River Spey, we are never short of inspiration. It truly is the perfect place for artists to bring their canvas and create something special.
“We are delighted to be working with Phil to give aspiring artists the chance pursue a life-long dream and collaborate with such a talented creator. We can’t wait to see the final results..”
The mission to discover aspiring artists is the third instalment of The Cairn’s initiative to inspire visitors to pursue long-held ambitions.
The first was launched last year when The Cairn brought together three musicians who shared a goal to collaborate internationally and offered them the opportunity to create a unique track inspired by Scotland’s incredible landscape, which encompasses the distillery. This was followed by a competition earlier this year, giving ambitious chefs the chance to design a bespoke menu with Tim Maddams, one of the UK’s leading chefs.
Full details are available now to help those who want to enter
