Meet Harry Sutton, one of Millport’s talented artists.
As we conceptualized our distillery and Nostalgin, we knew right away that we wanted to engage local artists in our project; what better way to capture and honour the Scottish island experience than through art. And if there is anything that can create nostalgia for this island more than our gin, it is one of Harry’s beautiful paintings of Isle of Cumbrae bays, his ability to capture the harmony and depth of colour in the land, sea and sky and to marry it with the ever-changing island light. His paintings evoke a longing for something familiar, the smell of the sea, the sound of the waves, the feel of the sand, the majesty of the surrounding mountains – a powerful emotional longing for Scotland and Millport.
A relatively recent island resident since 2016, Harry was quickly embraced as one of Millport’s own with his beautiful depictions of island views. Having graduated from Glasgow School of Art in the 70’s, he had a successful 35-year career as an art and design teacher before he retired and bought an island home in Millport with his wife Audrey. More than about buying gin, one of our key goals at Isle of Cumbrae Distillers is to help celebrate the island and create an island experience. Many people come to Millport for a day, to rent a bicycle, to enjoy an ice cream, to have a pint or wander the shops. But that’s just scratching the surface; the island is so much more. We hope to inspire visitors to have a deeper experience and connection with the island through its island artists. When you come and visit us at the distillery, we can’t wait to show you our feature wall, hand painted by Harry, which will be a mural of the island, surrounded by scenes depicting many of our lovely island bays and viewpoints. How it evolves we don't yet know, but we know for certain it will be a showpiece for our distillery! We hope creating images of these special places will inspire people to visit, to enjoy the views, to sit awhile, to breathe in the salt air and to listen to the sound of the sea. We’ll even give each of our distillery visitors a map – we’ll be calling it the Harry Sutton Trail – so that
people can visit and enjoy these places, guided by the paintings.