When it comes to artistry, Rory McEwen was a master of many trades.

A much-loved folk musician and TV presenter, as well as a celebrated painter and sculptor, he produced a plethora of work in various art forms.

The Scot, born in Berwickshire in 1932, is revered by many as an artistic genius and has inspired artists such as Van Morrison, The Animals’ Eric Burdon, and Billy Connolly.

And now it is hoped that he will continue to inspire a new tranche of talent as his former cottage studio is being transformed into an artists’ residency.

Family and friends of the painter gathered at Fogo Cottage, near Marchmont House, at Greenlaw in the Scottish Borders at the weekend for the unveiling of a plaque in his honour.

Mr McEwen’s daughter, Samantha McEwen, said she and her three siblings are delighted that the cottage will once again be used as a creative space.

“My main memory is of Rory setting the place up,” she said. “The etching press and the wood burning stove from Sweden that he was completely delighted and obsessed with.

“There was also the schoolhouse where he worked one summer. He hung tarpaulins from the ceiling. Those were years when he was exploring all sorts of new ideas.

“It is truly wonderful that the cottages are being used again as studios. I feel, like my siblings, that Rory would have been really delighted by this inspired turn of events.”

The cottage is being restored as a creative space as part of a bigger project at Marchmont House led by former tech entrepreneur Hugo Burge.

It will serve as a hub for artists and creative businesses.

Mr McEwen’s other daughter, Christabel Holland, told of her memories of her father’s time at the site.

“Rory first began making etchings when he was at Fogo and I remember the excitement of the huge and heavy press arriving, and the trays of acid which I found terrifying,” she said.

“He showed me how you could use a feather to move the acid across a plate without it being eaten away.

“My memories of the Fogo studio are all very happy ones; the Manse was across the road and my siblings and I were encouraged to go and visit Rory at work. He even let us make etching plates of our own.

“I am thrilled that Hugo Burge has added the studio to the already thriving creative community at Marchmont, and cannot imagine a more appropriate use for it than to support and sustain present day artists and musicians.”

Mr McEwen began painting flowers at the age of eight, encouraged by his French governess.

He went on to study at Eton and was taught art by Wilfrid Blunt, who was working on his seminal book The Art of Botanical Illustration.

While he has dabbled in many art forms, it is his beautiful, realist paintings of plants and flowers that Mr McEwen went on to become best known for.

In the 1940s, he began playing the 12-string guitar and in the following decade he and his brother Alex toured the US, recording Scottish songs and ballads and appearing on the Ed Sullivan Show twice.

On returning to Britain, he became a regular face on the BBC’s Tonight show and regularly mixed with celebrities such as John Lennon.

However, in the 1960s, he gave up his musical career and decided to completely focus on art. His paintings can now be found in museums and collections worldwide.

He continued working in London and Scotland until his death in 1982 when, after being diagnosed with terminal cancer, he took his own life.

On his paintings, he said: “I paint flowers as a way of getting as close as possible to what I perceive as the truth, my truth of the time in which I live.”

Hugo Burge, director of Marchmont, said he hoped Mr McEwen;s cottage would prove to be a place of continued inspiration.

He said: “We’re delighted to be able to honour the memory and achievements of someone who was not just a man of towering talent but who was so well-liked and had such generosity of spirit.

“I very much hope that Fogo will be an inspirational place for many more generations of artists.”