This painting's a real hoot

ELMO the white faced Scops owl was able to stretch his wings with a visit to the Axolotl Gallery on Dundas Street.

Elmo was one of several owls brought along by Edinburgh Zoo to mark the opening of an exhibition by artist Allan Goodwillie, entitled The Secret Lives of Owls and Other Works.

The exhibitions include landscapes and paintings from Mr Goodwillie's Hero series, as well as the Secret Lives of Owls series. The owl paintings are a mixture of fiction and reality, and are being developed for a children's story book.

About his source of inspiration, Mr Goodwillie said: "I once read about a family of owls who lived in an old aeroplane at the side of an aerodrome and fell in love with the idea."