A LOCAL artist has created a captivating, Ayrshire-inspired mural on the walls of the Sorn Inn to mark the pub and restaurant’s grand reopening after lockdown.
When Elaine Johnston was approached by owner David Miller to add a touch of creativity, colour and craft to the restaurant dining room, she could never have imagined how much it would “grow arms and legs” to culminate in a beautiful work of wildlife, deer, pheasant and highland cows.
There is even a nod to Rabbie Burns country, with three little mice depicted in the painting, providing endless fun for kids to trace their fingers along the piece to see how many of the pesky animals they can spot, as well as scenes of Arran, Troon and surrounding coastal landmarks.
On the painting, Elaine told the Chronicle: “David spoke vaguely about what he wanted included like Ailsa Craig, Arran and Turnberry Lighthouse. I did a sketch and arrived on the Monday morning ready to draw it all out.
"For the next three days, every time I walked in in the morning, David said, could we have Troon Harbour and some langoustines? David had been speaking to the chef and he buys langoustines from the Troon boat so everything had a connection to the place itself which was lovely.
“It really did grow into David’s vision even though he didn’t know what he wanted at first. Sometimes hoteliers leave you to it and never want to have an input but David was a wonderful client.”
Originally from the west end of Glasgow, Elaine moved to Sorn 15 years ago with a degree in fine arts from Glasgow School of Art and another in set design from the Royal Academy of Art and Drama.
She now fully considers herself an Ayrshire artist and credits the county for a change in artistic style, mainly after a request by prominent farmer, Hugh Hodge, to paint his highland cow caused Elaine’s business to go from 20 per cent animals to 80 per cent overnight.
She now takes much inspiration from the Ayrshire countryside and projects this on to canvas in her three-storey gallery/studio in Mauchline.
Elaine continued: “My gallery is at the top of the big National Burns memorial tower which is a far cry from when I used to paint in a glorified back shed. If I had never moved to the countryside, I would have never been asked to paint that cow and my business wouldn’t have taken off in this direction. It’s nice to have that freedom.”
Since reopening last Monday, David, who owns the Sorn Inn alongside wife, Karen, says the place has been “mobbed” but that he looks forward to May 17 so punters can enjoy their pint indoors.
He said: “May will be even more normal. We’ve waited long enough but we’re nearly there.”
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