TWO exceptional art exhibitions curated by Scottish Borders Council’s Museum and Galleries Service are currently on display in Peebles and Hawick.

Allegories and Other Mind Journeys showcases the combined works of Joy Parker and Michael Jessing and can be seen in The Gallery, Tweeddale Museum, Peebles from now until Wednesday, December 16.

Joy is based in Selkirk at the WASPS studios and endeavours to uncover and celebrate the life of her grandmother who spent 45 years in a Bristol Institution for Mental Health. The result is a very personal show in a range of mediums including mosaic, collage, painting and film.

Michael is a well-known Peebles-based muralist who concentrates on creating allegorical paintings. His work is full of symbolic imagery which can be interpreted in many ways. This exhibition focuses on work from his most recent project, an imaginative look at urban systems titled ‘Babylon Prophecies’. His latest mural on the gable end of the Bake House in Pennel’s Courtyard will soon be officially unveiled and will become a permanent work of public art in the heart of Peebles.

The Gallery is based in the Chambers Institution, High Street, Peebles. It is open Monday-Friday 10.30am–12.30pm and 1–4pm and on Saturday from 9.30am-12.30pm. Admission is free but there is no wheelchair access.

The Scott Gallery in Hawick is exhibiting Debatable Landscape, an exploration and celebration of the rich variety of landscape art available across the Borders. On display are important works from Hawick Museum’s permanent collection dating from the 1800s, including Smailholm Tower by Horation McCulluch, Tom Scott’s Goldielands: Watch Tower of Branxholme 1908 and William Johnstone’s Ploughed Field c1970.

An exciting range of contemporary artists have also been invited to show work which tells the story of landscape art up to the present day. These include photographic artworks by Norman McBeath and Hannah Imlach, laser-cut paper by Liz Douglas, collages by Mooie Scott and abstract paintings by Siobhan O’Hehir and Mary Morrison.

Debatable Landscape will run until 18 December in the Hawick Museum, Wilton Lodge Park. The Museum is open Monday-Friday 12–3pm and Sunday 1–3pm. Admission is free and wheelchair access available.