Perth Pillars: Thriving Tay

I am delighted to be commissioned by Culture Perth & Kinross to create artwork for the pillar wraps for the entrance of AK Bell Library.   The brief was to capture their vision for ‘reinvention and renewal’.  I took my inspiration from the River Tay with water being a symbol for renewal, vitality and life, layering meaningful local imagery with colours and surface patterns to capture a sense of place.

Design experience

These site specific artworks are designed to be seen from different angles.  Entering from either side or walking, wheeling or driving past so that they have an impact from a distance as well as close up.    

Viewpoints

View 1 – Capturing moments in time with the heron standing patiently camouflaged in its surrounding then gradually flying off.  Progression of the colour palette and variation of ripple and movement of the water catching the light.  

View 2 – Uplifting warm colours with positive imagery playfully combined highlighting local features on The Tay – daffodils along the bank, butterflies flying, mushrooms, ladybirds, golf, heather, bridges, flowers, swans.

View 3 – The chevron striped artworks are seen from a distance bringing attention to the building.  The contrast of colour and patterns flow from one pillar to the next, from a more contrasting combination to a harmonious one, echoing gradual transformation.

View 4 – As leaving the building or walking past you can see the chevron stripe with details of the pattern, imagery and texture closer up.  

Consultation

Artwork was informed by the consultation with: staff, a family workshop for 2-5 year olds and their adults, LGBTQ+ group and the knitting group that are held in the library.  

During the consultation I found out what made the area meaningful and unique to the participants, finding out favourite places, things people liked to spot such as herons, golf, ripples, daffodils in the spring, sun on the water, swans, butterflies, dragonflies, heather, leaves, mushrooms, bridges, sunsets, current on the Tay. We explored colour combinations to bring joy. You can see these references in the final designs.

Site Visit Research

I enjoyed walking along the Tay capturing colour, texture and imagery – lovely rhythm and movement of the water, reflections of the bridges and buildings, the variety of public art sculptures in Rodney Gardens, the colours of the heather, the activity of the ducks and swans.

Moncreiffe island is quite unique with having a golf course in the design you can see a sunny pattern of golf balls and blooming daffodils and patterned paving. I loved seeing  ‘Soutar’s Menagerie’ by Rhonda Bayley on Tay Street – you’ll find a wee nod to this in the artwork.

Development and Installation

I drew, played with different elements and mocked up concepts, lots of more technical elements linked to measuring, sampling and installation, then created the final artworks ready for production.

Culture Perth & Kinross Vision

The brief was to animate the familiar space in a new way.  To contribute to the recognition of Perth as a creative place to live, work and visit and be a new visual marker as a destination.

The aim of my artwork is to capture the positive progress and shifting of perspective in the city of Perth with my striking artworks that uplift and bring joy and a sense of place creating confident, uplifting, joyful designs capturing the shifting perspectives of the city.  I hope you enjoy seeing them, they are up for up to 6 months.

Thanks

Thanks to librarian Louise for reading ‘love your earth’ by Jane Cabrera and ‘A home on the river’ by Peter Bentley and Charles Fuge as a great start to the crafty consultation workshop with families. Thanks to Kirsty for being my contact at AK Bell, thanks to Paul for initial chats on previous pillar wraps used. Thanks to the families, LGBTQ+ group and knitting group for your help. Thanks to Circle Signs for fabrication and Barry for installation.

My Creative Practice

With my artwork I like to create work that captures a sense of place and is meaningful and unique to space and the people who use it.  You can find out more about my projects and  commissions on my website where there are examples of a range of projects from outdoor active travel public artworks, healthcare corridor artworks, illustrations for books and much more.

Harmonious Artwork for The Sycamore Centre in Edinburgh – Rhythms of Nature

Delighted to share my latest commission for The Sycamore Centre in Edinburgh.  I was commissioned to create a welcoming, comfortable and calming environment to reduce the clinical and institutional feel.  I did with a mindful approach through my choice of imagery, colour, materials and consideration of the user experience.

The Sycamore centre is the Equally Safe Multi Agency centre (ESMAC) is based in Edinburgh and is a dedicated facility, which provides a wraparound person-centred trauma informed service for adults 16 and over who have encountered gender-based violence, rape, and sexual assault, who live in Edinburgh and the Lothian areas.

This is my largest project to date where I created artwork for 12 rooms (including forensic suites, police interview rooms, welcome rooms), corridor with 3 feature murals, signage, visual wayfinding, activity sheets, reception area and entrance feature windows and window manifestations. 

Many site visits, meetings and feedback from stakeholders and lived experience really helped me to create designs suitable for the space and to help support the experience of using the service.  

Inspiration

The final designs are inspired by a Scottish woodland walk bringing in nature elements.  Adding in nature into the interior environment helps to reducing stress and making it less clinical, linking into biophilic design.

Visual clues

I created a concept for the whole building with visual clues with colour and imagery to help you gently transition through spaces.  My colour palette changes as you go through the corridors in both the door artworks and feature murals. Metal clinical signs were removed with warm wooden friendly ones that coordinate with the rooms and whole experience.  

Conscientious Colour

I conscientious used colour to create a warm, safe and welcoming feel that helped to reduce the clinical feel of the while plain walls and the colour worked through the building and helped with wayfinding.  Applying colour really helped to get away from the clinical feel.

It’s not all art

I chose materials suitable for each room that linked to health and safety, produced installation guidelines to ensure smooth running installation, choose suitable plants and soft furnishings for each space and extra details to make the experience better. Thanks to Eastern Display Graphics for laser precision installation!

Impact

Quote from Head of Service ” The design and artwork now in place at Sycamore is transformative, it has made the difference between a functional and fit for purpose clinical facility, into a SARC. The colours, images and visual texture are welcoming, warm and peaceful, and at the same time, not memorable, thus not triggering. It gives a vibe, a feeling rather than an impression not to be forgotten. People will always remember, above everything, how you made them feel and I think the trauma informed design reflects and melds with our purpose to provide recovery in a psychologically safe space.”

Louise Kirby Creative Practice

I am a Dundee based visual artist and designer enhancing experiences and placemaking that support positive wellbeing.  I creates site specific artworks and designs that transforms the experience. Each project or commision is distinct to the organisation or space with a flavour of my signature style of  playful pattern, conscientious colour and meaningful references that captures a sense of place. 

You can find out more about my projects and  commissions on my website

You can read the NHS Lothian Charity blog about it here

Sense of Belonging at Harris Academy

Louise Kirby smiling with a background of decorative metal circles on a wall
photo credit Mark Thomas, Dundee City Council

A privilege to work with Harris Academy to create the public art for the front of the school building.  Artwork was inspired by the creative consultation during the summer term of 2024 where pupils and staff were invited to help me capture what’s great about Harris and it’s sense of belonging through drop in sessions, focus groups and the art department working with S2 pupils to hear their views.  It was great to hear their responses, see their artworks and get their feedback which all helped form how the artwork developed.

Research and Development

Key themes emerged from the consultation that linked to the welcoming pupils and staff, subjects and extracurricular activity, feeling of belonging and the sense of place with the the tiered building with great views over the trees, ripples on the Tay, seeing the rail bridge and big skies and features from the past including the clocktower in the courtyard.

Some of the pics from the research and pupils artwork from the consultation and art department working with S2 classes.

Part of the research and logistics I had site visits and tour of the building, accessed maps and plans and access to old school yearbooks and meetings with senior management.

For this site specific design I wanted to captured a real sense of place and sense of belonging that worked from a distance with flowing movement of various sizes of circles working together and as you get closer you see the illustrated details with meaningful references to the school.  Colour of the artwork links into the Harris school blazer colour as a majority plus pops of the brights of the house colours of Birnam (Red), Cawdor (Yellow), Forres (Green), Kinloch (Blue), that would contrast on the surface of the wall.

I developed concepts and created illustrated artwork and worked with fabricators and contractors to have the work fabricated and installed.  As this was an outdoor artwork I chose to fabricate in metal and use a cutting technique to apply the decorative illustrative feel.  This technique has some design challenges to create imagery without losing the essence of the image.

Pupils from Harris Academy standing outside the school with Louise Kirby all smiling next to the circular artworks on the front of the building
Photo Credit Mark Thomson Dundee City Council

“ What a privilege to work with Harris Academy to create the public artwork for the front of the building , it was a joy to run the sessions and hear so many positives about the school and bring this together to capture the pupils and staff feeling of the sense of belonging and the feeling of abundance and harmony.  Within the circle illustrations I hope that people connect and interpret how it connects to them.” Louise Kirby

Planning and Installing

Thanks for Sam for helping in the studio with the files to meet the timeline for production and to local fabricator AS Fabrication for producing the final pieces and installing and local Powder Coating Services for adding the colours.

Individual Circle Artworks

With my artwork I like to create work that captures a sense of place and is meaningful and unique to space and people who use it.  You can find out more about my projects and  commissions on my website

Sense of Place

Places mean a lot to us. 

My bespoke artworks are inspired by a sense of place, creating something that is unique to the people that use the space. A sense of place helps to connect people to their area, to give them a sense of belonging that helps improve wellbeing, making people feel at home and safe in their environment.

During consultation I find out what is meaningful and unique about the area or organisation gathering what makes somewhere unique. 

Calm colours to bold and exciting!

My designs can feel quite different on each project I work on as I respond to the people, place and purpose of a space.  From a calm artwork in a hospital corridor to help reduce stress and anxiety for visitors and patients to a bright vibrant cultural space to inspire people to come and to capture the essence of the building activity.

you can read more about the Dundee Contemporary Art Project https://louisekirby.com/window-designs

Locals to an area or service users of an organisation need to feel welcomed and connected to a space so they feel comfortable.  Buildings, streets and spaces can be daunting, uninspiring and scary. With the use of imagery, colour and good design in consultation with people that use the space designs can have a positive impact.

“Sustrans commissioned Louise to spruce up Albert Street with her beautiful artwork as part of the Stobswell Pocket Places project and it’s been a pleasure working with her. Her designs were carefully considered and every detail was inspired by the local area, helping to create a sense of place and an identity for Albert Street. Louise eagerly engaged with business owners to get them involved in the project and ensure they were happy with the designs before she painted them. Her warmth, authenticity and personal approach put the business owners at ease and encouraged them to participate in the project. She was in regular communication with the project team, remained flexible under changing circumstances, and even helped to raise the profile of the project through her social media and other channels. I would not hesitate to work with Louise again – 10/10 would recommend!” – Tremaine Bilham, Project Lead, Sustrans Scotland

Artwork for the enhancement of the corridor James Court sheltered housing unit in Pitlochry

For Pitlochry Sheltered Housing Unit corridor enhancements inspiration came from the local trees and wildlife to bring in a bit of the outdoors inside as talked about during the staff and tenants consultations. 

I have a vision of the world full of colourful creative interventions to bring more joy to the spaces we play, live, work and travel through.  My aim is to uplift and connect people and highlight the positives by creating artworks that capture a sense of place which creates a sense of belonging.  I love to do this with my use of playfully applying colour and pattern.

I am ready to take on new design challenges and if you have a project, collaboration or commission in mind please get in touch hello@louisekirby.com or you can check some samples on my website to give you a flavour of previous projects.

How to transform the streets to bring more joy!

I believe colour and pattern can make a positive impact in the world!  The right colour can uplift mood helping people to feel more positive.  Pattern and imagery can help connect people to places and add meaning to placemaking.

Joyous Ground Graphics

Cobalt Collective, commission by V&A Dundee. Photo Credit Louise Kirby

One way to add more colour into the public realm is through adding ground graphics and colourful crossings transforming dreary tarmac streets into colourful ones! Look how joyful these are! Cobalt Collective in collaboration with with some community groups decorated the plaza around the V&A Dundee to create this colourful positive artwork.

Plaza by Cobalt Collective outside V&A Dundee. Photo credit Cobalt Collective

Examples of colourful ground graphics from around the UK

Camille Walala, 2016, London, commissioned by the Transport for London’s Future Streets Incubator Fund.
Photo by Better Bankside

“The aim of the Colourful Crossings commission is to explore how everyday infrastructures in the city, such as pedestrian crossings, are perceived and can be transformed,” said Better Bankside.

Stobswell Colourful Crossing 2021, Dundee by Louise Kirby, UNESCO City of Design Dundee funded by Sustrans Scotland.

I (Louise Kirby) created this design inspired by the local area taking elements from the historic architectural details, green spaces and public art after consultation with locals wanting more colour into the grey streets. You can see more about it and a blog about the whole process here

Eley Kishimoto, 2016, Brixton, London. Photo from Brixton Buzz

I’ve always loved this graphic iconic print design by Eley Kishimoto. It’s got great movement with the use of strong graphics in the positive and negative space. It looks great on the streets of Brixton, also in the variations of colours.

Graphic design by Callum Laird, Union Street, Dundee, UNESCO City of Design Dundee funded by Sustrans Scotland.
Photo credit David P Scott

It brings great joy to walk up and down through the colour of Union Street, Dundee to and from the V&A Dundee. I love the limited colour palette and bold graphics. Nice to see local businesses making use of the street, it reminds me of cafe culture on holiday! I look forward to seeing what happens next in this project to create a more permanent enhancement. I am really inspired by Dundee City Councils vision.

Craigie Compass by Bigg Design and Fun Makes Good, 2022, funded by Sustrans Scotland.
Photo by Bigg Design

Hamish from Bigg Design and Eleanor from Fun Makes Good created these cool ground murals called the ‘Craigie Compas’ to help with wayfinding in Perth, Scotland. Great to see the ground graphics used to help wayfinding, brighten up the area and the addition of fun signage giving it a 3d feel. You can read about it here

Practical Considerations

On ground graphics we have a limited colour palette. By using different colour combinations we can get varied results.  There are options from the material used to apply the designs depending on if it’s a temporary or longer term installation and what the purpose of the area is used for.  When designing a ground graphic in the public realm consideration and consultation needs to be in place for accessibility for all users’ needs.

They are a great way to inject a bit of fun, playfulness and joy!

Dundee cake inspired design in Puebla Mexico for UNESCO City of Design Dundee, designed by Louise Kirby.
Photo credit UNESCO city of Design Dundee

An example of taking a bit of Dundee to the other side of the world in Puebla,Mexico, representing UNESCO City of Design Dundee. You can read more about this project where students from Puebla painted my design and used design to highlight a safety issue on the roads you can read more about it here

I have a vision of the world full of colourful creative interventions to bring more joy to the spaces we play, live, work and travel through.  My aim is to uplift and connect people and highlight the positives by creating artworks that capture a sense of place which creates a sense of belonging.  I love to do this with my use of playfully applying colour and pattern.

I am ready to take on new design challenges and if you have a project, collaboration or commission in mind please get in touch hello@louisekirby.com or you can check some samples on my website to give you a flavour of previous projects.

Stobswell Shutter Arts

I’ve loved painting the shutter art designs on 3 businesses on Albert Street in Stobswell Dundee. All designs are inspired by highlighting the positives in the area.

It’s been a joyful experience with lots of banter from locals giving me positive encouragement ‘what you up to?’ and me replying I’m bringing a bit of colour and pattern to the area to brighten it up!

Here’s a flavour of what folk have said over the weeks I was painting: “You’re doing a braw job of this, it’s keeping you busy, it’s so cheerful “, “Amazing what a difference it makes”, “That’s smart”, “You must have good patience, it’s lovely!”, “Radical Colours”, “He’s fascinated with your swans”, “Are you painting the whole street?”, “I hope you’re getting paid for this, it’s lovely and making a real difference”, And to top it off ‘Eh Ken you’

Colour is really important to me and I believe it can change how a place feels, which in turn can change how people feel. I want the people of Stobswell to feel positive and uplifted. For these designs I used the same vibrant colour palette from the Pocket Parks I designed in 2021 on Craigie St and Eliza Street.

The Albert Bar

The Albert Bar design is filled with colourful patterns, shapes and colours taken from the local area, such as the row of 7 arches inspired by the arches of the windows of the Baxter Park Pavilion, zig zags from the public art sculpture on Princess Street and geometrics from the brickwork gable end on Craigie Street.

Initially I was only to be painting one shutter but I extended the design onto 2 other shutters to look like the squares were falling off like an old school video game and bouncing in the shape of a zig zag to echo the detail. I think having all 3 together gives a stronger impact and the zig zag directs your eye to the main shutter.  Great to hear The Albert Bar or should I say L’lbert is planning on upgrading their frontage and fixing their sign now that they have shutter art!

The Property Shop

The Property Shop design is inspired by the Swannie Ponds featuring rows of swans, leaves and rippling water to create stripes of colourful patterns. This design idea developed further as I was painting as I wanted it to be more engaging to the children that walked and wheeled past as the bottom section is at a good eye level for them. I added 2 larger scale swans and some boats to give a nod to the Dundee Model Boat Club. It was nice to hear “He’s fascinated with your swans” as a lady and wee boy passed daily.

Lucky House

The Lucky House bold circular design is full of decorative details on the inside and outside and I think the clashing red and pink just sing together.  I was keen to include red as it represents happiness, beauty, success, and good fortune in China.

Can you spot where the patterns come from?

Ornamental details from the Baxter Park railings and the ironwork on the rooftop of Morgan Academy, zig zags from the public art sculpture. Some of these elements are also seen in my colourful crossing on Eliza Street. (you can read more about it here)

While painting the Lucky House shutter a local said ‘That’s not an oriental design’ and I explained the meaning of the patterns which started the conversation and hearing the history about how the Morgan Academy railings were removed in the 2nd world war to be used for bullets. You learn something new everyday!

I wanted each design to look unique but also to work as a series. I think they make a stronger impact being positioned quite close together, just imagine if they went all the way up Albert Street!

This commission was part of an open call from Sustran Scotland who are encouraging walking and wheeling in the area. We approached business owners with possible designs to find out if they were interested. I created sketches and shared for feedback, then agreed suitable times I could paint that didn’t interfere with their opening hours. I got all layered up in my painting clothes. The designs were painted by hand and I used some stencils and I created the circle shape using the lofi method of a bit of string and chalk. Thanks to all the help from Stobswell Forum and Dundee City Council Community Officer to encourage businesses to take part.

We had a Celebration Day to showcase the shutter art where myself and artist Gordy Crawford did tours talking about our inspiration and process. This event was in partnership with the Stobswell Form, Sustrans Scotland, Dundee City Council, where fun chalk activities were happening on Craigie Street and info about the future regeneration plans.

I really hope that the shutters bring joy to the people of the area who use it. Let me know what you think or how they make you feel!

`You can find out more about my projects here

This project was funded by Sustrans Scotland, Pocket Places programme where local communities shape their neighbourhood and take a lead in making their local area a better place to walk, wheel, cycle – and live.

Explore. Play. Create.

DCA Windows Inspiration and Process

I was delighted to be commissioned by the DCA to create an exciting, vibrant window design that celebrates all the activity, energy and sense of community found across all the programme areas of DCA.  Bringing the inside activity and energy to the outside of the building in the window areas.

The process involved research, development, prototyping and good communication with the DCA team and fabricator to creating the final designs on display.

Research

I got a feel for the building by visiting all the different departments, taking lots of photos that I could refer to in the studio.

I found lots of geometric shapes within the building from the angular windows, step shaped walls, winged gallery roof plus so many circles, from the vintage projectors, printing press wheels, pegboard, retail display units, circular fairy lights fittings in Jute Café Bar to products in the shop.

I am naturally drawn to seeing pattern and texture and loved the overlaid wire racks in the print studio that created modern checks and the negative space of the screen-printing racks full of irregular stripes.

I found colour references from the bright cinema seats, pots of ink in the print studio, participant artwork on display in the creative learning store, bright colours of the Riso print samples to the more subtle cladding of the building. 

Development

To process ideas, I created sketches in pencil and ink then found visual connections.  I created rough thumbnail sketches of designs in situ and mocked them up digitally to test various colour combinations and played with different juxtaposition of textures within shapes.  I played with rotation and scale of the spots to capture the energy from the activity from inside of the building.  I referred to the brief, discussed technical details with the local fabricator RobertSign and worked within design constraints so that the design would work practically.  I selected and rejected elements to create coherent concepts for presenting to the DCA team.

The final designs are inspired from the bold geometric shapes with a playful feel using my signature style that retain the hand drawn feel of my linework and confidently uses a vibrant colour palette with clashing and contrasting of patterns bringing together all the activity of the building. I wanted the circles in the top windows to have a lot of movement the capture the energy of the building and connect to the shop windows below. 

With my design work I like to capture a sense of place by creating bespoke designs that are meaningful and unique to the space and I hope these designs help people to connect to the DCA and remind past visitors to come inside and entice new visitors to see the variety of things it has to offer, from a trip to the cinema to taking part in a workshop to grabbing a bite to eat with friends or seeing the latest contemporary art exhibition.

You can find out more about my work here

Colours and pattens inspired by the River Tay for Artist Support Pledge.

During lockdown the simple things in life became even more important to me, from watching the waves in the River Tay to spending time painting for fun on the kitchen table.  During this time I created a series of watercolour collages playing with rhythms of stripes with the juxtaposition of colour and pattern inspired by my local surroundings of the River Tay. It’s great what’s on our doorstep here in Dundee.

Prices range from £15 – £25 each, if you would like one for your home or office drop me an email on hello@louisekirby.com   Each one is a one-off original piece, initialled with free delivery. Each one is numbered under the image so please quote that in your email.


26.Costal Calm Watercolour Collage B. (fits a standard 8” x 6” frame). £15 – SOLD

31.Mindful Watercolour Collage B. (fits a standard 8” x 6” frame). £18

35.Sandy Shore Watercolour Collage C. (Fits a standard 8” x 6” frame) £18

41.Meditation Watercolour Collage D. (fits a standard 8” x 6” frame) £20

42.Meditation Watercolour Collage E. (Fits a standard 8” x 6” frame) £20

43 Colour Study Watercolour Collage A. (Fits a standard 8” x 6” frame) £20 – SOLD

44.Zesty Summer Watercolour Collage. (Fits a standard 8” x 6” frame) £20

45.Colour Study Watercolour Collage . (Fits a standard 8” x 6” frame). £20

46.Tranquil Tay A Watercolour Collage . (Fits a standard 8” x 6” frame). £20

48.Seaweed Watercolour Collage. (Fits in a standard 8” x 6” frame).  £20

49.Rustic Watercolour Collage (fits a standard 8” x 6” frame). £20

51.Ripple Watercolour Collage A (fits a standard 8” x 6” frame) £20

52.Ripple Watercolour Collage B. (Fits a standard 8” x 6” frame) £20

53.Rhythm Watercolour Collage A. (Fits a standard 8” x 6” frame) £20

54.Rhythm Watercolour Collage B. (Fits a standard 8” x 6” frame) £20

55.Teal Tay Watercolour Collage . (Fits a standard 8” x 6” frame). £20

56.Journey Watercolour Collage A. (Fits a standard 8” x 6” frame). £20

58.Accent Watercolour Collage A. (Fits in a standard 8” x 8” frame).  £25

59.Accent Watercolour Collage B (fits a standard 8” x 8” frame). £25

60.Accent Watercolour Collage C. (Fits into a standard 8” x 8” frame) £25

62.Costal Calm Watercolour Collage F. (Fits a standard 8” x 8” frame) £25 – SOLD

64. Sand Meets Seat and Sky Watercolour Collage . (Fits a standard 8” x 6” frame). £20 – SOLD

65. Brightness After the Rain A Watercolour Collage . (Fits a standard 8” x 6” frame). £20

66. Brightness After the Rain B Watercolour Collage . (Fits a standard 8” x 6” frame). £20

67. Rhythm A Watercolour Collage . (Fits a standard 8” x 6” frame). £20

68. Rhythm B Watercolour Collage . (Fits a standard 8” x 6” frame). £20

When my sales reach £1000 I pledge to buy £200 from another artist to help support others artists through this difficult time. This initiative was set up by Mathew Burrows Studio to support artists who have lost commissions, teaching and gallery work through the Covid-19 pandemic.

If you’re interested in my design commissions or Dundee Delights products you can see more about them here

Hogmanay Scottish First Foot Tradition

Here in Scotland its tradition on Hogmanay (New Years Eve) to give a first foot gift after midnight.  Traditionally gifts would be whisky to represent financial prosperity and good cheer, a lump of coal to represent warmth and to keep the fire burning, or a black bun or shortbread to symbolise that the receiving family would not go hungry during the forthcoming year.

Or a Dundee tradition I’ve been hearing about through Lynne Campbell (local folk singer) is the Dundee tradition of dressed herring in paper bonnets and skirts, which is meant to be a good luck charm (not for eating).  Never seen it but sounds pretty unusual and cool!
A couple of alternative Scottish First Foot Gifts in Dundee would be a Dundee Cake Tea Towel from my Dundee Delights collection of illustrated gift products or some Char Coal cheese from The Cheesery (Broughty Ferry or Exchange Street), which the first all black delicious vintage cheddar cheese with charcoal.  Message me on social media or by email of what you like to be gifted as a first foot?

At the bells a Robert Burns song of Auld Lang Syne is often sung (or belted out!) or the bag pipes or some cheesy tunes.

All round Scotland on New Years Day some brave people take part in The Dook, where you go in the freezing water whatever the weather.  You’ve got no chance of me doing that but I’ll will be watching The Dook in Broughty Ferry, with all the fun costumes and brave people.  More info on it here.

What will you be doing for Hogmanay?  Tucked up cosy in bed before the bells of partying the night away.  What ever you’re doing enjoy and all the best for 2020!

 

 

 

Photo credit: David Band Photography