Many people begin their festive shopping early with a visit to the Peel Christmas art crawl and market.

The pop-up shop initiative took place at many venues in Peel, based mainly along the harbour side, along with the isle Gallery, at Tynwald Mills, St John’s.

The House of Mannanan attracted a lot of attention, with displays and stalls from popular artists such as Michael Starkey, Nicola Dixon, Bruno Cavellec and Frances Boyd.

The next venue on the trail was housed down the road, at the Pilates Studio.

This was home to many more artists, such as the wood carver Martin Smith, from MS Wood Art, with a stunning range of carved bowls, and illustrator Laura Espinosa.

Further down the trail, there was a rare chance to see a display of the works by renowned painter Richard Plumley, at the Arts and Antique Centre, on Crown Street, as well as a collection of paintings by Sally Black.

The Isle Gallery had four artists on display, such as the designer Kasia Mirska, who’s creations of Manx caricatures have proved incredibly popular, along with demonstrations by the organiser of the art trail, Kate Jerry, from the Isle Gallery.

Kate believes that Christmas is the ideal time to look at the work of local artists, as they can often be the source of inspiration for buying presents.

’This is just a really good time of the year for artists to be out with their creations,’ said Kate.

’We have tried to keep the trail small this year, and make it so people can get around to all the venues, rather than be spread out.

’But, I think that generally speaking, this is the time of the year when artists should be supported by the local community, especially while people have a few pennies in their pockets and looking to spend them on presents,’ she said.

’Also, I really do think that it is a good thing that the public have the opportunity to meet the makers themselves, and buy some artwork from them directly. I think that it is better to do that, rather than just drop into a shop and buy something off the shelf.’