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Artist makes 7000-mile honeymoon trip to Black Isle to see work which inspired lifelong passion


By Hector MacKenzie

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Anneliesse found time on her honeymoon to pop in to Groam House Museum in Rosemarkie.
Anneliesse found time on her honeymoon to pop in to Groam House Museum in Rosemarkie.

AN artist from Chile didn't let her honeymoon get in the way of an eagerly anticipated visit to a Black Isle museum this week.

Scotland has always been close to the heart of wood carver Anneliese Peebles Gonzalez, who is from Santiago.

Inspired to start carving Celtic designs by her love of the work of the legendary George Bain, Ms Gonzales placed a visit to Groam House Museum in Rosemarkie high on her honeymoon to-do list – particularly as one of her own contemporary designs is currently on display there.

She said: "I was born in Santiago and lived there all my life, but my great-grandfather was Scottish so I have always been drawn to Scotland.

"My father had an old edition of George Bain’s book so I started drawing from there and still today I find new

patterns and drawings to carve. I’m honoured to be part of the exhibition in Groam House."

Groam House Museum, Rosemarkie. Picture: Gary Anthony. Image No. 036530.
Groam House Museum, Rosemarkie. Picture: Gary Anthony. Image No. 036530.

The museum showcases some of Bain's finest work and he continues to inspire up-coming artists more than half a century after his death.

Ms Gonzales is one of three contemporary craftspeople whose work is on show in the museum this summer alongside the work of Bain that inspired them. Her intricate designs are hand-carved from the wood of the Rauli tree, a native of Chile.

She is joined by Lucy Hague, a knitting designer from Orkney, whose work combines

inspiration from Pictish stones with innovative knitting techniques and Thomas Keyes from Cromarty.

Thomas’s work takes inspiration from the Book of Kells and then adds graffiti art and a modern twist.

The exhibition Crafting the Celtic is on upstairs in Groam House until October 31.

Admission is free but donations are always welcome.

Groam House scoops £60K to breathe fresh life into nationally important collection.


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