Rainbow art brings colour to Fife restaurant

When the lockdown began, the windows of The Boathouse restaurant and bar were boarded up – another signal that the usually vibrant harbour front was closed up.

Now, thanks to the efforts of Crail-based artist Raymond Wilson, known as Rainbow Raymond, the colours of summer have come back to the shore. Each of the four large windows of The Boathouse now hosts a slightly different rainbow. All four windows share the same message – thanks to our NHS and to all essential workers.

Boathouse manager, Blane McKnight, is delighted with the outcome.

“I think we managed to achieve three things together and I am so pleased with this work,” he said.

“One is the brighter look to the building and to the harbour. The second is the tribute to the NHS and key workers who are doing so much for us just now.

“And the third one is expressing confidence in the future. This is a great community. I think the rainbows are a wonderful, bright, optimistic symbol of how we view the future as a business and as a wider community here in the East Neuk.”

The Boathouse has now re-opened with a limited take-away and food sales service, but Blane is confident that the boards will survive on walls inside and around the buildings.

Raymond is delighted that his work will live on: “I decided to paint these as simple, bright rainbows representing our position where the land meets the sea. I am humbled but feel very proud that The Boathouse has indicated that when the boards come down, they are going to be kept and mounted inside the new larder area and in the garden.”