Alba the Artshop

Alba the Artshop sits at 6 Albany Street, a short walk from Argyll Square and the seafront, and does a job most towns lost years ago. It's part gallery, part art supplies shop, part framer, part gift shop, all in one small independent unit that's been a fixture of Oban's side streets for a long time now. Open Monday to Saturday, 9am to 5.30pm, closed Sundays.

The prints are the main draw. Alba stocks work by painters from across the Western Highlands and islands, and the roster leans heavily on names collectors will recognise. John Lowrie Morrison, the Argyll colourist better known as Jolomo, features throughout, and a handful of his prints are exclusive to the shop, Oban Sunset and Night Falls on Oban among them. You'll find work by Rob Hain, Stan Milne and Matylda Konnecka too, whose Glenfinnan Express print covers the West Highland Line's most photographed moment. 

Beyond the walls of pictures, the stock runs to greeting cards, ceramics, jewellery and small gifts, plus a full range of artists' materials for anyone who fancies painting the west coast rather than buying someone else's version. Hobby supplies get shelf space too, including Humbrol paints and scale models, which has earned the shop a following among modellers well beyond Argyll. There's an in-house framing service, and the counter will source items not on display if you ask.