Summer Letter 2026
- Amandine Vincent
- Jun 29
- 4 min read
Updated: Jun 30
Resonance #3
Dear readers,
Summer rarely lives up to what we imagine. We tend to picture warmth and time that stretches, and then it comes and something is always slightly off. In Scotland, we take whatever warmth and light we can get and are grateful for it. What summer does consistently, though, is replenish. Nature fills up regardless of the forecast, storing energy in anticipation of the darker months, and something in that definitely rubs off.
Looking Back ...
Several exhibition visits this quarter, for which I've been sharing first impressions on social media. Shared experiences of art viewing have been deeply enjoyable, and from the feedback, it was mutual. Hoping to organise more of those in the future.
Research into the 16th-century fresco at Abbot House is ongoing and progressing. The call for help connecting with knowledgeable people generated a generous response and opened some new directions. It's slow work, but it's a remarkable object to have in the community, and I'm hoping more people in Dunfermline will get to encounter it.
An independent research project has also begun, looking into the art and visual cultures of Dunfermline - the making, the viewing, and the owning. Early conversations have been interesting and the feedback encouraging. The aim is for the research phase to develop into a curatorial project over time, built in collaboration with a range of actors in the social and cultural life of the city.
The website in its new form is up and running, though still a work in progress. When Life Stands Still has been translated into French, the first part of the essay-review 'Reading Against White Feminism' was published, and a fresh curation titled Accidental Collection #1 is now available.
... Looking Ahead
A lot is brewing, but it's too soon to share details just yet! What I can say is that there are more exhibition visits to come, more articles, reviews, crossed perspectives, and interviews. I'm also exploring the intersection of art, wellbeing, and local community - still taking shape, but watch this space.
A Small Seasonal Offering
As usual, here is a selection of seasonal gifts, from me to you.
A poem
Spotlighted by PEN International on World Poetry Day 2026, this poem has stayed with me. Awakening by Cuban poet Duannis León Taboada, is from the unpublished collection Poemas.
This clash of thoughts
dims the senses
and the soul's future breath.
It's your choice to grow your awareness.
To save the fragile weight
of temptation's delicate hold,
the bend within the crystal lens
a brittle glass of our modern age.
We are what no eye can grasp.
Root yourself to save life's core.
An artist
Zehra Doğan is a Kurdish artist and journalist born in 1989 in Diyarbakır, Turkey. In 2017 she was sentenced to 2 years, 9 months and 22 days on charges of 'terrorist propaganda', based on articles she had written and a drawing depicting the destruction of Nusaybin by the Turkish army.
During her detention she continued to make work using whatever materials she could access: hair, pomegranate juice, newspaper pages, menstrual blood.
She was acquitted of all charges in 2024, but a new arrest warrant was immediately issued. She now lives in asylum in Germany. I strongly recommend you take a look at her website, particularly her prison works.
A book
Against White Feminism by Rafia Zakaria is my read of the season, without hesitation. It's been living in my thinking for months and feeding into everything else - what I'm reading, writing and looking at.
Two final suggestions
Art viewing is always worth engaging with, especially if it means putting your critique hat on. Explore your local venues and programmes this summer. If you have children, take them; if you go alone, take your time!
Art making is also accessible to all, regardless of finances, skills or age. Drawing for instance needs nothing more than a pencil and something to look at - you can find plenty of tutorials online, but a few objects from the kitchen will do too. A piece of advice though: leave self-criticism at the door, and call in mindfulness instead! Air-dry clay is cheap, widely available, and so satisfying to work with - the kneading alone has such a calming effect. This clay dries naturally and can be painted, varnished, left plain, made functional or purely ornamental. Paper crafts are another easy entry point into art making, from paper flowers to origami, and Pinterest is a gold mine for inspiration!
If any of this gets your attention this summer, I'd love to know about it - share your artsy ventures with me on Instagram @_byamandine_ or drop me a line at hello@by-amandine.com
Until autumn,
Amandine for Echoes of the Canvas
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