Autumn Birch
from £74
Mary Crawford · Aviemore, Scotland
A creative life in the Highlands
From pottery glazing to painting, Mary’s work grew from a life shaped by making, colour and the Highland landscape.
Mary met her husband, James, in Edinburgh after coming to work at Castlewynd Studios, the pottery company he founded. They later moved to the Highlands, where the pottery became Aviemore Pottery Scotland. Mary undertook much of the glazing and also painted extensively.
They built their family home in Aviemore and called it Gifford Gates. Now known as Strathy House, it gave this studio its name.
Many of Mary’s original paintings from the family collection now hang on the walls at Strathy House. The house remains available as holiday accommodation, giving visitors the opportunity to stay in the place where Mary lived and painted.
After Mary died, her paintings remained with James and later passed through the family. Created mainly from the 1970s to the 1990s, the collection was eventually rediscovered and is now being carefully digitised. Many more works remain in folders, waiting to be scanned.
