{"id":302591,"date":"2025-07-30T00:55:10","date_gmt":"2025-07-30T00:55:10","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/302591\/"},"modified":"2025-07-30T00:55:10","modified_gmt":"2025-07-30T00:55:10","slug":"hm-king-charles-iii-visits-90th-annual-exhibition-of-society-of-caithness-artists-in-thurso","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/302591\/","title":{"rendered":"HM King Charles III visits 90th annual exhibition of Society of Caithness Artists in Thurso"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

During his visit to Caithness, HM King Charles III took time to visit the annual exhibition of the Society of Caithness Artists<\/a> (SCA), which was celebrating its 90th show at the ETEC building, part of Thurso\u2019s UHI NWH campus.<\/p>\n

Ian Pearson, the SCA chair, welcomed the King and introduced several of the Society\u2019s members, who explained various aspects of their displayed artworks.<\/p>\n

\"IanIan Pearson welcoming King Charles III to the Society of Caithness Artists’ 90th exhibition in Thurso. Accompanying the King was Lord Thurso. Picture: Angus Mackay Photography\"SocietySociety of Caithness Artists members at the royal visit were, from left, Valerie Barker, Don Clarke, Anne Grain, Aileen Paton, Ian Pearson, Penny Irvine, Jackie Newton, and Jean MacKay. Picture: Angus Mackay Photography\"TheThe King greets Christine Campbell, ETEC facility manager. Picture: Angus Mackay Photography\"KingKing Charles is introduced to Jean MacKay, treasurer of the Society of Caithness Artists. Picture: Angus Mackay Photography\"TheThe King appears intrigued by Valerie Barker’s artwork on display. Picture: Angus Mackay Photography<\/p>\n

The King was particularly interested to hear about the newly formed Thurso Art Club, where several new members were encouraged to participate in the annual exhibition for the first time.<\/p>\n

Mr Pearson explained how the King was \u201cimpressed by the wide range of techniques\u201d on display and specifically noted the numerous materials used, which he described as inspiring.<\/p>\n

\"StudyingStudying sculptures at the show. Picture: Angus Mackay Photography\"TheThe King chats with local artist Penny Irvine about her work. Picture: Angus Mackay Photography\"IanIan Pearson and King Charles looking at Sheila Butler\u2019s work. Picture: Angus Mackay Photography\"IanIan Pearson and the King discussing Lisa Critchley\u2019s seascape paintings. Picture: Angus Mackay Photography\"ArtistArtist Aileen Paton chats with the King about her mixed media piece. Picture: Angus Mackay Photography<\/p>\n

While touring the show, King Charles was keen to learn how each artist had produced their work. He also highlighted the \u201cshortage of art and craft skills\u201d and encouraged members to \u201cteach other and share their skills\u201d, said the chair.<\/p>\n

The King also took note of two of his own watercolours that the SCA had been loaned for display. One titled \u2018The Castle of Mey from the Walled Garden\u2019 and the other \u2018Abandoned Croft on the island of Stroma, Caithness (i)\u2019 have never been exhibited in the annual exhibition before now.<\/p>\n

\"KingKing Charles III talks to the Society of Caithness Artists’ chair Ian Pearson. In the background is an eclectic painting by professional artist William B Wallace called ‘Celebrating Caithness’. Picture: Angus Mackay Photography\"KingKing Charles and Ian Pearson closely study some of the works on show at the Thurso exhibition. Picture: Angus Mackay Photography\"AnneAnne Grain explains her creative techniques. Picture: Angus Mackay Photography\"KingKing Charles speaks to artist Jackie Newton at the Thurso show. Picture: Angus Mackay Photography\"ProfessionalProfessional artist Don Clarke talks to King Charles about his artwork. Picture: Angus Mackay Photography<\/p>\n

\u201cAs a keen artist himself, the King appreciated all the exhibitors\u2019 efforts in producing an excellent exhibition,\u201d added Mr Pearson.<\/p>\n

At the end of the visit, the King congratulated the Society for celebrating its 90th annual exhibition and wished all a \u201chappy, creative future\u201d.<\/p>\n

The exhibition is open daily from 3pm until 8pm until Friday, August 1. Visitors can enjoy the traditional scenes of the Caithness countryside with views of Orkney, along with more imaginative creations using a varied mix of material from felt, metal and wood to ceramics, glass and stone.<\/p>\n

Prices are also most varied between \u00a315 and \u00a33500. Entry to the exhibition is free.<\/p>\n

Grab your first year of a Digital+ subscription for \u00a320, available to new subscribers using the promo code DAVIDGSCOTT<\/strong><\/p>\n

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Do you want to respond to this article? If so, click here<\/b><\/a> to submit your thoughts and they may be published in print. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"During his visit to Caithness, HM King Charles III took time to visit the annual exhibition of the…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":302592,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[7708],"tags":[7709,7730,7731,5554,1760,1501,7710,519,5900],"class_list":{"0":"post-302591","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-royals","8":"tag-british-royal-family","9":"tag-charles","10":"tag-charles-iii","11":"tag-community","12":"tag-king-charles","13":"tag-latest-news","14":"tag-royal-families","15":"tag-royal-family","16":"tag-update-me"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@uk\/114939463354627716","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/302591","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=302591"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/302591\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/302592"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=302591"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=302591"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=302591"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}