Interviews of Donald Samash

This interview forms part of the Kirkcudbright Artists Remembered project. This project was active during the refurbishment of the Kirkcudbright Town hall into the Kirkcudbright Galleries centre and was undertaken as a partnership between the Kirkcudbright Harbour Cottage Trust and the EERC.

Donald Shamash shares his memories of Kirkcudbright and some of the artists he recalled meeting when he was younger. He was painted by Lena Alexander when he was 2 years old and later she also painted his own son. Donald recalled her as a warm and friendly woman. He also shared memories of David Sassoon and Charles Oppenheimer, both of whom were keen golfers. David also reflected on changes in Kirkcudbright over time. In his childhood, there had been very few cars and people seemed to spend more of their time outside.

He also remembered Cooper’s store, where staff fetched and weighed everything you wanted. On reflection, he thought there was more awareness of the Kirkcudbright artists now than there was when they were living and working in the town and he attributed this to resources such as the Harbour Cottage Gallery and the Tolbooth. He was also looking forward to the new gallery opening.