Image: Dovecot Studios, Edinburgh
‘Elizabeth Blackadder: A Life in Colour’ brings together paintings, drawings, tapestries and rugs in an exhibition at Dovecot Studios’ Tapestry Balcony in Edinburgh. Running from 20 June to 14 November 2026, the presentation marks five years since the death of the Scottish artist and examines the sustained importance of colour across her work.
Presented in partnership with the Royal Scottish Academy, the exhibition draws on works from the academy alongside textiles made by Dovecot Studios. The selection places Blackadder’s work across different media, showing related approaches to colour, texture and composition in two-dimensional works and woven or tufted forms.
A central element is Blackadder’s collaboration with Dovecot Studios, which the venue describes as having lasted more than 50 years. The partnership produced more than 30 tapestries and hand-tufted rugs. The exhibition includes a newly made rug, ‘The Red Bouquet’, based on Blackadder’s 1975 painting of the same name. Its bold colour and shifting composition are presented as examples of how the artist’s imagery translates into textile form.
Blackadder is represented through several strands of her practice, including still lifes, botanical studies and printmaking. Dovecot’s account of the exhibition characterises her arrangements as quietly challenging conventions of space and composition, while identifying colour as a consistent thread linking her different materials and methods.
The presentation also reflects Dovecot Studios’ focus on tapestry and textile production. The Edinburgh organisation describes its weaving operation as the UK’s longest-running tapestry studio and supports the preservation of tapestry as part of the work of the Dovecot Foundation, a Scottish charity advancing visual art, craft and design. In Blackadder’s case, the exhibition foregrounds the extended relationship between an artist working across painting and drawing and the studio’s textile makers.
Works in the exhibition are available to purchase. Exhibition hours are listed as 12pm to 3pm from Monday to Friday, and 10am to 5pm on Saturdays, with Sundays in August also included. ‘Elizabeth Blackadder: A Life in Colour’ remains on view at the Tapestry Balcony, Dovecot Studios, Edinburgh, until 14 November 2026.
