Jack Vettriano - A Retrospective Exhibition in Glasgow

Scottish Artist, Jack Vettriano has an exhibition being shown at the Kelvingrove Art Galleries in Glasgow from 21st September 2013 - Sunday 23rd February 2014.

"​It will not be without some considerable emotion that I will also be reunited with some of my own paintings; works that span 20 years of my career and many of which I have not seen in years." Jack Vettriano

This the most comprehensive exhibition​ ever devoted to Scottish artist, Jack Vettriano. 

This is the first major Vettriano retrospective, bringing together his most definitive and best-loved works gathered for the first time from private collections around the world. 

Vettriano's art has been described by Sir Tim Rice as evoking 'an era of Hollywood but no film of that town's heyday was made with Vettriano's burning colour'. 

The paintings in the range date from 1992 - 2012 and include familiar works such as Dance Me To The End of Love, The Billy Boys and Elegy for the Dead Admiral. 

The exhibition runs from Saturday 21 September 2013 - Sunday 23 February 2014. 

Tickets are £5 adults and £3 concessions

You can find out more about Jack Vettriano here: http://www.jackvettriano.com/ 

We also sell a couple of umbrellas with the images of two of his most famous paintings on the canopy. You can find out more about them here: http://www.theumbrellashop.co.uk/search/vettriano

Celebrity Big Brother 2013 - Umbrella review

Celebrity Big Brother Umbrellas

Celebrity Big Brother on Channel 5 came to a rather damp end on the 13th September 2013.


The live final was a very wet affair, but...... we loved their umbrellas.

Here we look at the some of the umbrellas that were used on the evening.

The presenter, Emma Willis, used a large clear PVC golf umbrella.

It is very similar to this one 

 

 

 

 

Large Clear PVC Umbrella @ £19.99

 

Some of the contestants used a clear Birdcage umbrella without any colour trim or pattern on the PVC dome shape.

The clear domed birdcage umbrella is very similar to our Jackman Birdcage umbrella which retails at £9.99.

The winner of Celebrity Big Brother was a lady called Charlotte Crosby from the television programme Geordie Shore. 

Charlotte Crosby is pictured here with her large pvc golf umbrella with the black trim.

We have another very similar version of this umbrella which has a lovely crook handle, and with more panels which gives the umbrella more detail and makes it extremely eye catching too.

Clear PVC Golf Sized Sky Walker umbrella with a black crook handle retails at £12.99

Hielanman's Umbrella in Glasgow

The Hielanman's Umbrella located in Glasgow is also known as the Highlandman's Umbrella which is actually the platforms for Glasgow Central train station above Argyle Street.

30,000 people from the Highlands of Scotland who did not speak English came to Glasgow to find work and they kept in touch with each other by meeting under the bridge, mostly at weekends.

Ian R Mitchell tells the story of the Hielandman's Umbrella at Central. This is an extract from a book he is currently researching, called Walking through Scotland's History, and is from the chapter entitled, Walking In And Out Of Town. 

Many migrants to the growing urban areas arrived on foot. Before railways, and even afterwards given the cost factor, Highland migrants to Glasgow often walked. The mother of John Maclean, the famous Clydeside socialist, was a victim of the Highland famine in the 1840s, and walked with her mother to Paisley from Corpach near Fort William. Maclean himself was no mean walker, and while a student at the Free Kirk Training College at Trinity on the north side of the city, walked daily there and back from Pollokshaws, at least 50 miles a week. And the Highland community, which in around 1900 represented 5% of Glasgow's population of 1,000,000, and was the largest ethnic group after the Irish, developed its own, semi-institutional forms of urban walking. These along with the Gaelic Churches and Highland Societies, helped maintain a sense of community for the Gael in the initially alien urban environment. 

There is a marvellous piece of Victorian engineering, in riveted cast iron and glass, which carries the railway from Glasgow Central over Argyll Street. 

Recently restored to its original glory, it boasts a plaque denoting that it goes by the name of the Hielanman's Umbrella, though this name appears unknown to younger Glasgwegians. The name resulted from the habit of the Glasgow Gaels meeting there, often conveniently using the bridge as a shelter from the inclement climate, so like that of their own homeland. Glasgow's Gaels predominantly worked either in domestic service in areas like Park Circus, or in the many industries to the north and south of the navigable stretch of the Clyde, for example in the bustling river ferries, known as the 'Skye Navy.' Most also lived in the riparian areas of Govan, Kinning Park, and Partick. The Umbrella was convenient for this littoral, and so too were many of the various Gaelic Churches which the immigrants frequented. 

Although arriving in the city in the era of horse drawn omnibuses and later trams, the Highlander appears only slowly to have given up his or her historically acquired ability to walk. The servant girls of the Park area would meet on their half-day off, and walk together (safety in numbers) out the Great Western Road, to the Botanic Gardens or further. Walking to Church, additionally, was also a Highland tradition, as using other transport was formerly seen as breaking of strict sabbatarian rules. In Glasgow, with places of worship not too distant from dwelling places, and the cost of fares being an extravagance, this tradition continued even into the 1950s, when Gaels from the South Side would walk to Kirks across the river. 

People would meet at the Umbrella between services, for example walking down from St Columba's Gaelic Church of Scotland to the 'Hielandman's', and there swopping gossip and news from the homelands and of urban events. If the weather was fine, various groups would depart from the Umbrella in an urban promenade, in their several directions, returning to exchange more gossip. As well as its Sabbath function, the Umbrella was also used as a weekend evening meeting place, and doubtless many a troth was plighted beneath its girders, as couples 'walked out' -the old phrase showing the traditional link between courtship and walking. 

At its height in the 1920s and 30s, the Umbrella tradition did not survive the social disruption of the war and the blackout, and soon became a fond memory. The educationally successful and upwardly mobile Gael moved away from the banks of the Clyde, and now the greatest concentration of Kelvinside Krofters is in middleclass Milngavie, where the Street is a source of imaginary suburban terrors.

Author: Ian Mitchell (C) 2000
Copyright I.R. Mitchell
Read about Ian Mitchell

Ladies Luxury Double Canopy Umbrellas

Brrrrrrrr, today we turned on the heating in the office. Us girls here held out as long as we could, but it does feel as if Autumn has finally arrived. 

We have chosen a few of our different double canopy umbrellas for you to look at for you to browse in today’s blog - again just a small selection of what we have to offer.

Talking of Autumn - here is one of our favourites this year, Bloomsbury Falling Leaf Umbrella

This is an elegant, stunning, and beautiful umbrella.

This umbrella has a double canopy - which means a top and a bottom cover which covers the ribs of the umbrella.

Only £25.00 + P&P

The outer canopy is navy blue and the inner canopy is floral which resembles falling leaves.

This fabulous umbrella also has an automatic opening mechanism.




Blue Dahlia Double Canopy Umbrella

This stunning, top selling range consists of beautiful floral designs, with detailing and colours second to none.

The outer canopy is a warm blue colour, and the inside canopy shows a blue dahlia flower. 

It just gives it that extra wow factor.

Just £34.95 + P&P

Featuring virtually unbreakable fiberglass ribs, fully automatic opening. 

This umbrella is really something special.




Floral Meadow Double Canopy Umbrella

 
This is an elegant, stunning, and beautiful umbrella.

It is only £25.00 + P&P
 
This umbrella has a double canopy - which means a top and a bottom cover which covers the ribs of the umbrella.

The outer canopy is black and the inner canopy is floral which resembles a floral meadow.

This umbrella also has an automatic opening mechanism.

We have chosen a few from our large selection of double canopy umbrellas for you today. If you would like to see a larger selection, please have a look at our Double Canopy Umbrella department. Or for our full range please visit us at www.TheUmbrellaShop.co.uk

Full Length Mens Walking umbrellas

As we we write it is raining outside and we are looking at our selection of Autumn / Winter 2013 umbrellas at the side of our desk, and we are wondering exactly which umbrella to road test today. 

We have chosen a few full length Gents Umbrellas for you to browse in today’s blog - again just a small selection of what we have to offer.

Large Gustbuster (Doorman) Umbrella (62")

You have heard about this superior brand of umbrella - The Gustbuster.

The GustBuster's Doorman umbrella is similar in design to the Classic but has a larger span of canopy which means you are completely protected from the wind and rain.

Award-winning double-canopy — expansive 62" canopy

What makes a Gustbuster different?

The Gustbuster umbrellas has a uniquely patented double canopy design that works in 2 ways.

The first is that the upper canopy consists of large rain drop shaped wind vents that allow the air to flow through and out the sides of the umbrella.

The second part of the design is the elastic staps that connect the upper level to each of the outer fibreglass spokes which are mounted on the lower canopy and main frame.


The frame holds itself well in strong winds which have been tested up to 55mph, it is just that you have to keep a hold of the umbrella which may prove your own firm grip.



Huntsman Umbrella in Double Check - navy colour

• Classically inspired walking umbrella with double strength frame
• Sturdy 14mm steel shaft 
• Strengthened double rib steel frame
• Genuine wood handle
• Also available in black

Knightsbridge Umbrella in black

• The perfect walking umbrella combining luxury, strength and style
• Lightweight and flexible fibreglass frame for extra strength
• Smooth automatic opening at the touch of a button
• Extra large canopy made with luxurious woven fabric
• Rubberised hooked handle for comfort and secure grip
• Also available in Knightsbridge City Stripe Black and City Stripe Grey

We have chosen a few from our large selection of umbrellas for you today. If you would like to see a larger selection, please have a look at Gents Walking Umbrellas. Or for our full range please visit us at www.TheUmbrellaShop.co.uk

Gents Umbrellas for Gentlemen - folding umbrellas

As we approach Autumn at rapid speed, it is time to change from your summer duvet to your autumn one, to look out your winter coat, and a few of your lighter jumpers.

It is at this time of the year, we are more aware of watching the weather forecast as the skies tend to be greyer and the rain becomes more frequent. 

As weather becomes more changeable, and one way of preparing for this is to get yourself a new umbrella to put a spring in back your step.

We have chosen a few Gents Umbrellas for you to browse in today’s blog. Today we are going to look at folding umbrellas for men.

Magnum Umbrella

• The Magnum has is an extra strong automatic umbrella with great coverage
• Automatic opening at the touch of a button
• Highly engineered to provide maximum wind resistance 
• Extra large 104cm canopy cover
• Genuine wood handle
• £19.00 + P&P 

Chelsea Umbrella in grey with a white stripe.

 

• Luxurious fashionable gents automatic umbrella
• Luxurious woven fabric
• Steel frame for extra sturdiness
• Flexible frame to enhance wind resistance
• Ergonomically designed wooden crook handle
• Automatic - Opens and closes easily at the press of a button

Jumbo Umbrella in black

• This umbrella is great. It is really quite a compact gentleman's umbrella, that opens to golfer size at the touch of a button

• Largest span folding umbrella ever produced measuring 125cm
• Opens and closes easily at the press of a button
• Hexagonal shaft and flexible wind resistant frame for extra strength
• Easy grip foam handle

We have chosen a few from our large selection of umbrellas for you today. If you would like to see a larger selection, please have a look at Gents Folding umbrellas. Or for our full range please visit us at www.TheUmbrellaShop.co.uk