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Man stands outside a gallery beside Twelve Triangles bakery shopfront
Edinburgh

The Velvet Easel

A gallery of contemporary Scottish art on Portobello High Street since 2013: painting, sculpture, ceramics, glass and jewellery.

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Welcome

Portobello is Edinburgh's seaside, three miles east of the centre, with a long promenade above a wide sandy beach.

A street back from the sea, on Portobello High Street, the Velvet Easel has been showing contemporary art since November 2013.

The gallery shows modern work, most of it by Scottish artists, and it runs a programme of group exhibitions through the year that brings emerging names together with established ones. The mix is broad: paintings and sculpture, ceramics, glass and jewellery, with limited-edition prints, cards and gifts for anyone looking for something smaller to take away. The work changes often, and much of it takes the sea and the coast as its subject.

The gallery is open from Wednesday to Sunday, and closed on Mondays and Tuesdays. The beach and the promenade are a few minutes' walk away.

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The Daily for 9 November, from Scotland with love. an autumn-wooded loch reflected in still water, rocks breaking the surface in the foreground
A short drive awaySheep Heid InnAn inn in Duddingston village with a claim to 1360, one of the oldest in Scotland, with a skittle alley of the 1880s still in play.8 min by roadSee itSheep Heid Inn

Before you go

Open from Wednesday to Sunday; closed on Mondays and Tuesdays.

Where
298 Portobello High Street, Edinburgh EH15 2AS.
Open
Wednesday to Saturday 10am to 5pm; Sunday 11am to 5pm.

Opening hours

Monday
Closed
Tuesday
Closed
Wednesday
10am–5pm
Thursday
10am–5pm
Friday
10am–5pm
Saturday
10am–5pm
Sunday
11am–5pm

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Where it is

On Portobello High Street, a street back from the promenade.

Close byPortobello.
  1. The blue shopfront of Rising Tide Cafe on Portobello High Street, with blue chairs and round tables out on the pavement.Rising Tide CafeUnder a mile as the crow flies
  2. Empty plates and coffee cups on a wooden table overlooking a sandy beachThe Beach House, PortobelloA cafe on the promenade at Portobello with tables looking over the sands, known for its cakes, gelato and brunches, open every day.Under a mile 1 min by road
  3. Portobello BeachPortobello BeachEdinburgh's own beach, a sweep of sand and a Victorian promenade three miles from the city centre, with Turkish baths on the prom.Under a mile 1 min by road
  4. Cyclist rides past a mural-painted pink kiosk on the promenade under coloured flagsPortobello PromenadeThe Victorian promenade along Portobello's beach, just east of Edinburgh city centre.Under a mile 2 min by road
  5. Coade Stone ColumnsCoade Stone ColumnsThree ornate pillars of Coade stone in a community garden on Portobello promenade, rescued from a garden in 1989 and put up again in 2006.Under a mile 2 min by road
  6. Cove shop front listing gifts, skincare and jewellery, covescotland.com signage abovePortobello’s High StreetPortobello High Street, with its own greengrocer, butcher, fishmonger, bakeries and bookshop.Under a mile 2 min by road
Directions
Bottle-shaped brick kiln tower stands beside an information sign near the roadsideAttractionsPortobello Bottle Kilns0.6 miles
Green shopfront of The Portobello Bookshop, number 46, with "We Are 2 Years Old" window artShoppingThe Portobello Bookshop0.6 miles
Cyclist rides past a mural-painted pink kiosk on the promenade under coloured flagsRestaurantsCiverinos Slice0.7 miles
Cyclist passes Oscar's ice cream kiosk with painted barrels outsideRestaurantsOscar's on the Prom0.8 miles
Customer at the wooden Shrimp Shack kiosk beneath coloured flagsRestaurantsShrimpwreck0.9 miles
Water of Leith winds through Dean Village beneath timber-fronted tenements and stone wallsAttractionsAround Duddingston village1.7 miles
White-washed Sheep Heid Inn Duddingston with black-framed windows and a ram's head signRestaurantsSheep Heid Inn2.0 miles
Wooded hillside slopes down to a calm loch under grey skiesAttractionsDuddingston Loch2.0 miles
Rows of small boats resting on mudflats behind a harbour wallAttractionsFisherrow Harbour2.0 miles

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Stay nearby

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

A 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
  • 3 miles from the Velvet Easel
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
  • 3 miles from the Velvet Easel
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
  • 3 miles from the Velvet Easel
Check datesWest End Muse
  • Sleeps 4
  • In Edinburgh
  • 4 miles from the Velvet Easel
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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