Edinburgh's Colinton Village gets new section of mural by Chris Rutterford and promise of more to come
Mural artist Chris Rutterford has finished his latest artwork in Colinton - and is already planning ahead for his next venture in the village.
Having unveiled an extensive mural of a bustling historic Colinton Village running along a large stretch of the neglected Cuddie's Lane, in the summer, he has now added a new section to complete the picture.
He said: "We've completed the lane from one end to the other. We have a drovers feel in the new area with some Highland cows being led round the bottom corner of the building. It’s a very photogenic section - great for posing in front of."
Among the people featured in the latest section of mural are long term Colinton resident Dantes Margiotta with his wife Nancy. But the fact they are portrayed along with a donkey is a surprise for Mr Margiotta which Chris included after chatting to their sons Remo, Fabio and Sandro.
Chris said: “Dantes was brought up in rural Italy and was given unenviable the task of leading the family donkey to the river for a drink . As he hated that chore, his sons thought it would be amusing to pop it next to him as a reminder. I love a practical joke.”
Another local characters who appears in the mural is third-generation Colinton resident Lorraine Rutherford , who is pictured among the cows and next to local MSP Sue Webber’s beloved dog Alfie.
And the three farmers at the end are Colinton Amenity Association members Iain Gotts, Tim Lawson and Andrew Paterson.
Chris is perhaps best known for leading the project to create the Colinton tunnel mural, completed in 2022 and now a popular attraction.
He is currently working on the Alloway tunnel mural in Robert Burns' birthplace and a mural trail in Stornoway.
But he is also looking ahead to further work in Colinton - updating the tunnel mural and trying to have murals all the way along the route between the tunnel and the village.
"The eventual aim is to link Cuddie’s Lane to the Colinton Tunnel," he said. And the first part of that could be a mural near the entrance to Spylaw Park.
"There's a 100-year anniversary of Colinton Amenity Association and the Scouts in Colinton in 2027.
"The Scouts and Cubs are just 50 metres away from this new chunk at the end of Cuddie's Lane, so we'd love to get them involved in painting and there's a 70-80 metres long retaining wall just opposite the scout hall.
“Because Cuddie's Lane is in the heart of the village it had to have a very heritage feel, but the next bit would start to be half way to the Colinton tunnel, so it can be half heritage and half town participation.”
And Chris is planning an upgrade for the existing mural in the tunnel.
He said: “The Colinton tunnel was a prototype because no-one else was doing it like that and I have a new studio that is big enough that I can do four-metre tall sections.
“The Alloway Tunnel has a much more polished feel, so some of the larger sections there I would like to replicate in the Colinton Tunnel. It's a case of replacing some sections, adding some new sections and just polishing it up a bit.
“It's several years since we did the tunnel and it's an unforgiving environment - you need to love it if it's going to last. And I would rather have it evolve rather than just fix it - I want it to get better.