The Leith Creative Trail also co-incides with Leith Maker's first birthday.  What a voyage the last year has been.  Carmen came on board this time last year, and her tireless energy and commitment has been fundamental to our success.  Andrew joined us in the summer, and has been another invaluable member of the team, who many of you will have met in our gallery and shop.  And thanks to you too - whether artist or customer - for helping establish Leith Makers as part of the Leith Community. 

We are celebrating with a whole host of events:  Loyal local artist Beth Primrose has a solo exhibition of paintings and prints.  If you pop in on the afternoon of 30th November, we will have some snacks and drinks on offer, alongside open studios, to celebrate our first year.

The following week sees a host of christmas workshops on offer - it's a perfect opportunity to craft a present for someone you love, or just make yourself a decoration to add to this year's festivities. From 4th December we also are opening our upstairs gallery to an additional ten makers for our Christmas showcase.

Leith Makers has enjoyed a summer of creative talent, with beautiful and different exhibitions from local artists, such as Susan Mitchell (and friends), Callum Russell, and young artist Achille Banos.

One of the pleasures of being in the heart of Leith is the wealth of local creative talent - and we have so many excellent and stimulating exhibitions coming up - again - all from locally based artists.

First up is Miriam Morris's evocative Face-Off exhibition - where 26 portrait photographers get to capture each other.  Portraiture is always so immediately personal, and engaging - and we are so pleased to be helping bring this idea to life.  Face Off opens on 18th September for just a week, so catch it while you can.

Face Off is swiftly followed by a very different joint exhibition from Portobello artist (and Leith Makers stockist) Mare Trella, and Donna Riddington.  Flying in the Dreams of Others is an exploration, through video and drawn and painted works, of the artists' responses to the social and natural environments they inhabit. The works on show offer critical viewpoints while exploring alternative, queer realities and dream-like spaces. Flying in the Drams of Others runs from 25th Septemer to 6th October.

Leith Makers just received our Entertainment Licence in the last few days, and we are really looking forward to welcoming some music acts to our accoustically wonderful gallery. 
It's the perfect venue for small, accoustic, ensembles - from jazz trios or quartets, strings, voice and piano....

With the sad demise of the Jazz bar, we offer a more intimate environment for concerts, music and dinner events and the like..  Get in touch at enquiries@leithmakers.co.uk to discuss any ideas you might want to explore.  We are really looking forward to adding music to the arts that we support.

Sharp rusting car-parts, aggressive dogs, derelict buildings:  these are the stuff of Edgelands - the powerful exhibition of lino-cut hand-prints from local artist, AJ Kinroy.   Partnered with his lockdown linocuts of the north coast, and a special set of leith-related prints, this is an exciting exhibition from a relative newcomer on the exhibition circuit. 

Entry is free - and you can view the exhibition Wednesdays-Sundays 11am to 5:30 until 14th April.

Leith is Edinburgh's creative heart, and it is such a pleasure to see Leith Makers' shop filled with such beautiful hand-made objects.  Leith Makers was set up with a vision of combining artists' making space, public workshops and events space, and somewhere where a diverse range of local makers can showcase their art.

We offer beautiful and useful arts and crafts from candles to cushions, flower vases to crocheted frisbees, original paintings and prints to purses and pencil-cases -at a range of price points for almost every pocket.

There is a sustainability ethos embodied in many of the pieces - using repurposed fabric lampshades, non-soy waxes, organic fabrics and water-based inks, to list just a few.

The last weekend of each month sees an even wider range of artists and products, with our makers markets.  And many weekends will showcase the works of a specific artist in addition to our usual stock - so look out for our upcoming artists pop-ups.

The majority of our stock is made in Leith for Leithers, with some carefully selected crafts from artists in the Lothians and beyond.  Carmen and Calum welcome you - we are open every Wednesday to Sunday from 11am to 5.30pm.

We are inviting artists interested in being part of Leith Makers  - whether its for an exhibition, running classes and workshops, or renting one of our studios - to come to our open day on Saturday 13th January 2pm - 5pm.  Drop us a line (enquiries@leithmakers.co.uk) to let us know you'll be coming, or just drop in on the day. 

We are delighted to anounce that Caitlin Bowbeer of Bowbeer designs is joining Leith Makers from mid-December.

Caitlin will be continuing her stunning ceramics and wider graphic arts practice, while offering a variety of workshops from the new year.

As a long time admirer of Caitlin's work, it's wonderful to have her on board. 

The sun was shining on Leith Walk today!  With only three weeks to go to our opening Christmas Makers' Market on Saturday 25th November, it's so exciting to see the fruits of months of hard work finally pay off. I just love how the sun streaming in our first floor gallery windows is filtered through the banisters and brings out the simple beauty of our century-old staircase. 

Hopefully you will come and see for yourself soon too! We are counting down the days to opening....

We are launching Leith Makers with a Christmas Market showcasing the best of local arts and crafts.  Running Thursday to Sunday every week till Christmas from the 23rd November.  Why not join us?  Apply via our contact form, or simply email or telephone for more information.