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REVIEWED BY RHYS FULLERTON  

From the moment you step through the doors of the Open Eye Gallery this month, you know you’re about to witness something special. 

John Bellany (1942–2013) was a hugely talented and creative person, something reflected in the fact that this is the first time the gallery has dedicated an exhibition entirely to one artist.

The works on display have been selected by Helen Bellany, the artist’s lifelong muse and inspiration, and take us on a personal journey through key works from the family collection.

One of the many delightful things about Calton Hill is how it brings out Edinburgh’s unruly side. 

No matter how keenly the authorities seek to sterilise, beautify, formalise or metaphorise this geographical eminence, human nature seems to resist.

A community exhibition of thoughts, paintings and photographs will be held in Rodney Street Tunnel next month.

Locals of all ages can start contributing photographs now.

Hold Me Dear: Four Cities, (Extra)Ordinary Places will feature images of people’s most treasured spots in Edinburgh, with 50-word explanations of why they feel a special connection to that particular place. 

The idea is to then create a series of walking/cycling trails … all starting at the Tunnel.

Susan Rae of the Scottish Greens was the first Ward 12 by-election candidate to confirm attendance at the Spurtle hustings later this month.

We bumped into her canvassing outside the Croall Place police box on Saturday, where she told us that overflowing bins and the lack of affordable housing were the main issues local people had raised with her.

In the midst of all the Festival fun and hullabaloo … a real human drama.

The kind of nightmare you always think will never happen to you, but sometimes does.

In the last week, a student has lost a USB stick like the one pictured here, probably between King George V Park and George Square or between the Meadows and King’s Buildings.

It contains invaluable PhD work and is the only copy.

There’s an unspecified monetary reward, but the owner is essentially depending on people’s sharp eyes and better natures.

Come on, Edinburgh. Please help!

JENNY MASON’S ‘BLOOM’ 

I’ve been hoping to see more of Mason’s work since I first encountered it in a mixed show at The Sutton Gallery in March (reviewed here). I was captivated by it then, and the paintings on display this month in the same venue’s Festival Exhibition do not disappoint. 

Costa Coffee will take over running the café pavilion in St Andrew Square ‘Garden’, a reader pointed out to us today.

The company was granted a Building Warrant on 11 August to refit the premises according to its own style and requirements (Ref. 15/02546/ALT).

We don’t know the date of the works, but assume they will follow the Festival.

Gayfield Creative Spaces and Whitespace in Gayfield Square are proving a real draw  this Festival, showcasing a variety of innovative and thought-provoking events in dizzyingly quick succession.

This disorganised reviewer just managed to catch the last hour of In Our Element, a group exhibition of landscapes painted en plein air.

Among those works which particularly caught the eye was Edinburgh-based Josie McConnell’s semi-abstract ‘Beach 2’, part of her ungoing project to capture ‘the underlying structures, rhythms and functions of the land’.

EXCLUSIVE 

Antony Gormley’s Six Times will be fully restored to the Water of Leith next year, possibly as soon as May.

The four component statues that were removed from the river in early 2012 and put into storage in Granton will return to their original positions.

An anonymous private patron of the National Galleries of Scotland (NGS) will meet the costs of re-engineering, re-installation, and of any ‘failures’ for the first three years afterwards.

A total of ten candidates had registered to stand in the Leith Walk (Ward 12) Council by-election by yesterday's deadline. 

They are, in alphabetical order:

DONALDSON, Marion – Scottish Labour Party

HUSSAIN, Mo – Scottish Liberal Democrats

LAIRD, Tom – Scottish Libertarian Party

MELVILLE, Alan Gordon - UK Independence Party (UKIP)

MURDIE, Gordon – Scottish Conservative and Unionist

RAE, Susan Jane – Scottish Green Party

REID, Natalie – Scottish Socialist Party

RITCHIE, John Lewis – Scottish National Party (SNP)