You’re Invited: Step ‘Into the Wild’ at Leith Makers Gallery
We’re excited to announce the opening night of Into the Wild, our new group exhibition at Leith Makers Gallery that ventures deep into the natural, mystical, and shadowy corners of the world around us.
Join us on Friday 11th July, from 6pm – 8.30pm, for a free preview evening where you’ll get the chance to meet the artists, explore the works, and soak in the wild wonder of it all. Everyone welcome!
The exhibition features three Edinburgh-based artists, Dani, Dee and Jim, whose unique styles and stories come together to create a rich, atmospheric journey through art. Whether you’re drawn to enchanting creatures, fantastical worlds, or hidden forces in nature, there’s something here to spark your imagination.
Meet the Artists:

🐻 Dani (@dancleeart)
Originally from the Lake District, Dani moved to Edinburgh in 2017. She previously gained a degree in Fine Art from Lancaster University in 2014. Although she is not a full-time artist, she spends most of her evenings and weekends drawing, painting and printmaking. Inspired by nature, her works show some of the incredible animals we share our planet with, and give you a glimpse into their life. She primarily paints using gouache, taking advantage of both its acrylic and watercolour qualities.

🍄 Dee (@dee_raspin)
Born in the Scottish Highlands, Dee moved to Edinburgh in 2002, where the city's dramatic Gothic architecture, beautiful green spaces and easy access to nature made her feel right at home. With degrees in Biological Sciences and Creative Writing, Dee's work draws inspiration from the natural world, mythology and fantasy. Incorporating materials such as twigs, wool and gemstones, Dee's creatures are a part of their environment.

🦊 Jim (@thedorkwood)
Jim is a self-taught illustrator, originally from South Africa. He was enamoured with comics and graphic novels from a very young age, and was heavily influenced by Miyazaki, Moebius and Hergé growing up. He works primarily in black ink (due to deuteranopia), and is obsessed with animals taking over the world (but in a good way).


The Into the Wild exhibition runs from Wednesday 9th July to Sunday 27th July with our preview evening on Friday 11th.
📍 Leith Makers Gallery, 105 Leith Walk
📅 Friday 11th July
🕕 6:00pm–8.30pm
🎟️ Free entry, all welcome
Come celebrate creativity, curiosity and step into the wild. See you there! 

Leith Makers Gallery is thrilled to invite you to the opening night of (RE)BIRTH, the debut solo exhibition by Edita Strazdauskaite, taking place this Thursday, 26th June from 7–9pm.

This vibrant and deeply personal collection marks a major milestone in Edita’s creative journey, showcasing a series of nature-inspired, emotionally rich paintings that explore themes of transformation, healing, and self-discovery. Using vivid colours, layered textures, and abstract forms, Edita invites viewers to connect with the beauty and fragility of life, while reflecting on the values that shape our personal and shared realities.

A self-taught artist, Edita’s work draws inspiration from the natural world, travel, and the sensory richness of everyday experience. (RE)BIRTH offers a glimpse into her evolving perspective with each piece serving as both meditation and message, blending realism with abstraction to evoke a sense of wonder and emotional resonance.

Edita will also be hosting a Meet the artist session on Saturday 28th June from 1 - 3pm to chat more about her work, processes and inspirations.

We hope to see you there!

We are proud to have a lot of local landmarks amongst our stock, from a range of talented local artists.  Whether its a Banana flats textile wall-hanging, a three dimensional model of Storries Bakery, prints of a variety of leith landmarks from the Central Bar to the Rainbow Bridge... the list goes on. 

We were tickled pink when Jane Gray presented us with her latest print - of Leith Makers, no less! We will be stocking it very soon.  Thank you Jane for putting us on the map of local landmarks - a lovely way to celebrate our first full year of trading last month.  We marked the anniversary with a big restock - and we now have more original artworks, new ceramics, and a wider range of print-makers in stock.  We are also back to our standard opening times - Wednesday-Sunday 11am-5.30pm.

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 [email protected] 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 ([email protected]) 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.