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Saorsa Gallery

The studio and gallery of the painter Tommy Fitchet in Stockbridge, hung with his seascapes and landscapes of the islands and coasts of Scotland.

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Welcome

Just off the bridge in Stockbridge, Saorsa is small, bright and full of the sea.

Visited and photographed by Simon Hird

The walls of the white room are hung with seascapes: monochrome waves breaking under a pale horizon, a dark headland, calm blue water under a brightening sky.

It is a working studio as much as a gallery. Framed paintings lean against the walls and stand together on a wooden bench, above a wide wooden plan chest. Small monochrome studies are laid out on a table in a wood-panelled back room. The painting is loose and layered, somewhere between landscape and abstraction, and the colours move from crisp black and white to deep blues. Drop in on a walk through Stockbridge, and take your time.

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Before you go

The gallery is also the painter's studio, where he works, shows his paintings and welcomes visitors.

Where
8 Deanhaugh Street, Stockbridge.

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Did you know

A blue seascape painting captures a wave breaking beneath a pale horizon.
Did you know

A painter of passing light.

Tommy Fitchet paints the moments that do not last: a break in the cloud, light moving across the sea, the last glow of evening.

Framed seascape paintings hang above a wooden plan chest stacked with prints in an artist's studio.
Did you know

Self-taught.

He taught himself to paint.

Framed monochrome seascape prints lean against each other on a wooden bench, a desk lamp beside them.
Did you know

A painting a day.

From September 2016 he painted one small landscape every day for a year, each 22 centimetres square, and hung all 365 in the gallery, sold for charity.

Small monochrome seascape prints are laid out on a table in a wood-panelled room.
Did you know

A hundred for charity.

An earlier show of his, 100/100, raised more than £5,500 for Cancer Research.

A blue seascape painting captures light breaking through clouds over calm water.
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Where it is

On Deanhaugh Street in Stockbridge, near the bridge over the Water of Leith.

Close byThe places nearest the gallery, in Stockbridge.
  1. StockbridgeStockbridgeAn old village on the Water of Leith, of Georgian terraces and a market arch of 1825.Under a mile 1 min by road
  2. Golden Hare BooksGolden Hare BooksAn independent bookshop on St Stephen Street, founded by a former director of the V&A.Under a mile 1 min by road
  3. Green corner shopfront reading "I.J. Mellis Cheesemonger" with cream awning and wooden bench outsideI.J. MellisAn artisan cheesemonger.Under a mile 1 min by road
  4. Stockbridge MarketStockbridge MarketA Sunday market by the Water of Leith, since 2011.Under a mile 1 min by road
  5. Candle and cocktail on a glass table beside an open fireplaceThe Last WordA cocktail bar in Stockbridge.Under a mile 1 min by road
  6. Circus LaneCircus LaneA curving cobbled mews of the early 1800s behind Royal Circus.Under a mile 1 min by road
Directions
The coral-pink shopfront of Sotto on Deanhaugh Street in Stockbridge, with green awnings, its name in the windows and steps up to the door.RestaurantsSottoA step away
Green shopfront of Kestin, with clothing displayed in two windowsShoppingKESTINA step away
A large steak on the bone cooking over glowing coals and flames on the grill at The Captain Darling.RestaurantsThe Captain DarlingA step away
Wooden table set with cheese boards, wine glasses and bread on white platesRestaurantsSmith & GertrudeA step away
The purple front of Rare Birds Book Shop at 13a Raeburn Place in Stockbridge, its name in white capitals above two wide windows.ShoppingRare Birds Book ShopA step away
Shop window reading "shoptreen.com, a killer wardrobe without killing the planet, treenShoppingTreenA step away
Jorum Studio perfume bottles labelled Arborist and Medullary Ray displayed on a shop shelfShoppingJorum StudioA step away
Plate of fudge, truffles, biscuits and cake with "Happy Anniversary" piped in chocolateRestaurantsPurslaneA step away
The dark front of Skua at 49 St Stephen Street in Stockbridge, with its name in red neon letters down the wall beside the door.RestaurantsSkuaA step away

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Stay nearby

Places to stay near the gallery, and when each is next free.

West End Muse
  • Sleeps 4
  • In Edinburgh
  • Under a mile from Saorsa
Check datesA hotel studio room with a beige fitted kitchen unit and stainless sink beside a bed dressed in white and teal cushions, a wall of black-framed pictures above a patterned headboard.Old Town Chambers
  • To stay
  • In Edinburgh
  • Under a mile from Saorsa
Check datesA round table and chairs stand before tall curtained windows looking onto stone buildings, a sofa and mounted television to the right.Moment George IV Bridge
  • Sleeps 2
  • In Edinburgh
  • A mile from Saorsa
Check datesA turreted sandstone building with conical spires catches the evening light above rooftops, a large pine tree standing beside it.The Scott Hotel
  • A hotel
  • In Edinburgh
  • 2 miles from Saorsa
Check datesPlaces to stayEvery stay in EdinburghAll our places to stay nearby, to search by date and by who is coming.See them all
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The collections it is in and more in Edinburgh.

CollectionScotland's Best Art Galleries
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