by Catherine Stevenson
My work draws inspiration from the art of presentation and display. In my still lifes I aim to capture the focussed illumination and interplay of light and shade that can be observed in theatrical sets and spotlit exhibits in a museum cabinet. I enjoy the challenge of bringing balance and order to the intriguing chaos of crowded collections of objects. I love the still life paintings of Paul Gauguin, Suzanne Valadon and Victoria Crowe, the mysterious interiors of James Pryde and Andrew Wyeth, and the dramatic and colourful scenes of Indian Mughal painting and Japanese prints. These influences are expressed in my use of strong shadows, bold colour schemes, decorative pattern and juxtapositions of realism and stylisation.
At Edinburgh Art College I studied fine art and printmaking and after an enjoyable and stimulating career in teaching, I retired early to concentrate on my own work. In the last few years I have had paintings accepted for various Societies’ annual exhibitions and also shown work in solo and joint exhibitions at the Scottish Arts Club.
I am one of four artists who contributed watercolour paintings to the book ‘A Sketchbook of Edinburgh’, first published by Birlinn 2017 and reprinted in 2019.
by Paula Silvester
I began painting in 2017 having joined Michael Samson’s art classes as a start to my retirement as a primary school teacher. I soon found I really enjoyed painting and was always eager to learn more each week. I prefer painting landscapes, especially if they show colourful skies and water. My ‘go to’ medium is acrylics which I like to paint onto canvas though I also enjoy the occasional watercolour. I did a series of robin and bluetit sketches using pastel pencil and have also done several cat and dog portraits with this medium; more recently I drew a pheasant
I try to paint every day where possible for a couple of hours and love to see a picture come together. I have been quite successful in selling my art, not only in Scotland but also my artwork has travelled to England, Australia, Canada, USA, Dubai, Germany and Brazil.
I was amazed and delighted to have been awarded the ‘People’s Choice’ award at the Stonehaven Art Exhibition in 2022 for my largest painting to date – Sunrise Over Aberdeen Beach.
Most of my art work is then reproduced as prints, greetings cards, coasters and placemats.
by Lisa Brundrett
https://www.lisabrundrettartist.com/
Born in Hayle, Cornwall, Lisa has been painting for over 20 years and draws great inspiration from her travels. Her endeavours in the art world began to gain momentum after a move to Norway through local exhibitions and commissions. Three years of private one to one art tuition followed after the next move to Oman and on return to the UK, Lisa undertook an ‘Art Interpretation’ course at Gray’s School of Art which encouraged her to experiment; paving the way to her current style.
The spectacular scenery which surrounds Lisa on Royal Deeside bears a huge presence within her work – most notably the ethereal quality light possesses as it is cast upon landscapes and seascapes. Working in oils, Lisa focuses on the creation of dramatic skies and whimsical portrayals of mountains, lochs and the sea atop fine linen board and plywood panels. She strives to capture nature’s beauty by balancing hues and manipulating brushstrokes, creating light and depth by exposing the layers beneath, until the image emerges.
Having grown up on the coast, Lisa is drawn to the sea in particular – taking her inspiration largely from the stunning Outer Hebrides. The dramatic seas, islands and beaches inform her work and provide a reference for her colourful portrayals of this stunning location. She is never without her camera or sketchbook on her adventures, gathering plenty of inspiration to work on from her Deeside based studio.
Lisa has been involved in many charity exhibitions locally over the last 12 years and is known for her vibrant contemporary pieces.
by Catherine Imhof-Cardinal
07765 972497
https://imhof-cardinal.co.uk
by ian Ritchie
Contact mobile: 07784822722 email: i.ritchie34@gmail.com
I am married to Norma and have three daughters. I live in the heart of Angus, one of the four Ancient Pictish Kingdoms, sandwiched between the Grampian Mountains and the River Tay. I am a lecturer at Dundee and Angus College. My main area of teaching is in Art and Design with specific subject specialism in drawing and painting.
I am also a practicing contemporary artist working in Mixed media, acrylic paint and box construction. I am interested in a variety of subjects including Scottish Legends, The Highland Clearances and Scottish Emigration. The artists who have had the most influence on my work are Will MacLean and Andrew Wyeth.
New works I am currently working on are based on Neo Victoriana and specifically, investigate themes around Victorian Poisoners and the effects of Arsenic on Victorian Society. My current mixed media pieces include photographs, image transfers, wallpaper, and photocopies.
Awards for Painting
- Ian Eadie Award for Painting DJCA. 1987
- Exposure Gallery Prize Royal Glasgow Institute. 2009
- Turcan Connell Prize RSW, Edinburgh 2015
- Elected Member of the RSW 2018
- J&W Gordon Smith Award SSA. Edinburgh. December 2022
- John Gray Award RSW, Edinburgh January 2023
Selected Exhibitions and Competitions
- Hunting Group Art Awards, Mall Galleries, London Finalist 1988, 1989.1990
- The Chosen Few Contemporary Scottish Painters at The Open Eye Gallery, Edinburgh
- Regular exhibitor at Aberdeen Artists Society, Royal Scottish Academy, Visual Arts Scotland, and Scottish Society of Artists.
- Society of Arts, Royal Society of Artists in Watercolour and Royal Glasgow Institute since 1987
- The First Morrison Portrait Awards, Exhibition, RSA Edinburgh 1988
- Cornerstone Gallery Dunblane Solo exhibition and with Jonathan Hood 1994
- Finalist in the Laing Seascape/Landscape Competition Talbot-Rice Edinburgh and Mall Galleries, London 1995
- Atholl Gallery, Dunkeld mixed exhibitions since 1988 and with Malcolm Cheape 1998
- The Leith Gallery. Solo Exhibitions, group shows. Since 1997
- Finalist, The Noble Grossart Painting Prize, RSA Edinburgh and GSA.
- Scotland team member, Fabriano paper International Watercolour Exhibition, Fabriano Italy.2017
- Aberdeen Artists Society, SSA 130th Exhibition and RSW 2022.
- RSA, RSW and SSA Exhibitions 2023.
- Smithy Gallery Strathblane. Summer and Winter Shows 2023/24.
by Margaret Donald
Margaret studied art and design at Gray’s School of Art in Aberdeen. Keen to promote fellow artists she became president of Gray’s graduates for a time. Her work is influenced by the moods and changing colours of the Scottish landscape and sea. More recently she has turned her attention back to her love of portraiture and increasingly commissions. Recent work shows a return to creating the imaginative work which is her forte.
by Fiona Swapp
Fiona Swapp is a contemporary artist and designer known for investigating the connection between people and plants through her abstract and naturalistic art practice. From an early age, she took an interest in the relationship between plants and the land around the shorelines of her hometown. Fiona works via drawing and painting on paper and linen.
Born in 1965 in Aberdeen, United Kingdom, she studied Art and Design at Ruthrieston College, Aberdeen; a Diploma of Botanical Illustration at the Society of Botanical Artists, St. Albans; and undertook an MA in Fine Art (Painting) at Grays School of Art, Aberdeen.
Her work was recently exhibited at the Trinity Buoy Wharf, London; Glasgow Art Club; Royal Scottish Academy; and the Meffan Museum and Art Gallery, Forfar. The artist currently lives and works in Aberdeen, United Kingdom.
www.fionaswapp.co.uk
@fionaswapp
by Anne Fenton
I enjoy painting in oils and acrylics, predominantly painting Scottish land, sea and mountainscapes. I also create mixed media pieces and fibre art.
My work has been exhibited at various locations in the Grampian area.
Facebook/Instagram pages – ‘Anne Fenton Artworks’
by Janette Kerr
REINVENTING SCOTTISH LANDSCAPE: 18 NOVEMBER 2023 – 2 MARCH 2024 at the Kilmorack Gallery, Inverness-shire
I’m showing a series of paintings in this exhibition – see link here for more information:
https://www.kilmorackgallery.co.uk/exhibitions/377-borrowed-land-exhibition-reinventing-scottish-landscape/overview/
by Jane Glue
Jane Glue has worked as an artist in the Orkney Islands for over 35years. Jane’s earlier work was mainly in watercolour but more recently she has been using mixed media such as collage, acrylic’s, inks and ‘found’ objects from the shoreline. Jane sells her work through her own website www.janeglue.com and has exhibited throughout the UK.
by Bryan Angus
My work looks at landscape and how people have made their mark. I’m interested in our lived environment, how in older buildings we can see how communities have grown and built together, from the very stones that were hefted into place to the way one home embraces and supports its neighbour, and how the bones of the land shape how we move around and live our lives.
My chosen technique is lino print. I will walk the landscape, drawing and photographing. I then create an ink painting of the print to be. This is traced on to a block of lino, drawn up again, I then cut away with small gouges where I don’t want the ink to appear. Then a roller with printing ink lays a layer of ink on the block, a sheet of paper pressed down and the image reverses back to the landscape we recognise. Editions of prints are hand made and in small numbers.
I was born in Aberdeen and studied at Gray’s School of Art in Aberdeen from 1978 to 1982, graduating with a Diploma in Fine Art (Painting). My next 20 years I worked as a community artist, theatre designer, festival director, arts centre manager and an arts officer in Bristol. In 2003 with my wife Carla we established The Creative Retreat, an artist residency centre and art holiday business in Gardenstown. Since then I have been recovering my practice, starting printmaking in 2012. I have been exhibiting across the UK and in other countries – where I had residencies, in Istanbul, Norway and Italy. I am currently working on illustration projects with writers, on commercial projects and making my own work.
by Marion Boddy-Evans
Marion Boddy-Evans is a painter with an interest in line, pattern and colour found in the landscape and coast. After fourteen years on Skye, Marion moved to northeastern Aberdeenshire, where there’s endless miles of seashore, rocky beaches, and a more colourful geological mix. This has led to her spending more time painting on location, exploring patterns and pebbles on the seashore, as well as in her flower garden.
Recent exhibitions include Life Lines with Fife Contemporary, Colours at Aberdeen Arts Society (2023); Words and Fish at Skyeworks Gallery, Isle of Skye (2018 and 2019); and solo exhibitions Colours of Spring at Inchmore Gallery, Inverness (2017); and Interlude at Skyeworks Gallery, (2016).
Website: www.marion.scot
Studio blog: https://marion.scot/blog/
Social media: Mastodon, Instagram
by Melanie Guatelli
Melanie Guatelli is a painter currently based in the North East of Scotland. Following a career in ecology and environmental management, and alongside motherhood, she studied painting at Gray’s School of Art, Aberdeen.
Her art practice considers our relationships with other organisms. She questions our perceptions of what is wild or natural. She considers human exceptionalism, environmental degradation, the impact of capitalism and how we value nature. Recently she has been influenced by the work of women such as Donna Haraway, Anna Lowenhaupt Tsing, Ursula K. Le Guin, Naomi Klein and Robin Wall Kimmerer.
Although predominantly an oil painter, an important part of Melanie’s process is walking, photography, collage and model-making. She uses these methods as a way of deeply contemplating ideas of nature and the ‘other’. These lead to paintings that are familiar yet unsettling – works that invite the viewer to take a moment to ponder their own entanglement with the environment.
www.melanie-guatelli-art.com
@melguatelli
by Bruce Swanson
Bruce is an artist and maker who lives and works in Aberdeen. His practice centres on jewellery-making but also encompasses drawing, painting, silversmithing, printmaking and digital making techniques. His work is project based and is informed by research gained from explorations on foot; experiments in the workshop and studio, and by delving into archives.
He is currently engaged in a multi-year project to explore prehistoric art from North West Europe to produce art work including re-imagined ancient jewellery and re-interpretations of the ancient mythologies shown in the prehistoric images remaining on rock outcrops in the field and exhibited in museums across Europe.
More Information can be found at: http://www.cairndouna.co.uk
by Amanda Hirst
Amanda is a resident of Aberdeen, almost a local, having lived there for 30+ years, born in Manchester and lived in Glasgow for several years. After retiring from work, she enrolled at Gray’s school of Art to complete a lifelong ambition to be accredited as a ‘proper’ artist. The story continues as she develops her style and narrative.
by Douglas Cameron
I recently moved to Banff in North East Scotland having lived for a long time in London and have been using lockdown to catch up with the many art projects that I have thought of over the years but have not had spare time to work on. I’ve always drawn and painted and lately have been exploring digital media to create images , and decided to post an image a day on facebook intending to do it for a month , but as I got into it I just kept on posting and by the time I got to number 30 I had begun to draw more images so I kept on going. I’m at 180+ just now and still drawing.
During long walks along Banffshore I was drawn to the constant recycling of its components and started to draw and paint this evolution of the very nature of our existence on earth.
by Kathryn McFarlane
I’m a Scottish abstract artist who uses colour as a means of self-expression.
I am continually exploring new ways to express myself through paint application, texture, and colour layering. I predominantly work with mixed media, giving me the freedom to experiment with various techniques and materials, emphasising colour, shapes, layers, and textural effects within my work.
I’m drawn to the medium of collage due to its ability to convey complex ideas and emotions through the combination of seemingly disparate elements. I find that the process of selecting and arranging different materials helps me to explore the tension between harmony and disharmony. While I am always striving to create a cohesive and balanced composition, I also enjoy experimenting with ways to disrupt that balance in order to create a sense of visual tension.
I find inspiration in the twists and turns of life’s journey and through my work I explore the complexities of memory, nostalgia, and the interconnectivity of our daily lives. I am intrigued by how our past experiences and memories shape us into the individuals we are today. While each person’s history is unique, shared experiences such as travel and the significance of colour create a sense of belonging and shared identity.
I weave these themes intricately into my multi-layered pieces, allowing me to express myself in a way that feels personal and authentic.
by Fenneke Wolters-Sinke
Originally from The Netherlands, Fenneke changed her career as financial planner after emigrating to Scotland. She did several short courses and workshops at Grays School of Art in Aberdeen, Edinburgh Printmakers and with established artists. She now works from her home studio in Aberdeenshire. She investigates the versatility of paper through printmaking, paper sculpture and artists’ books, inspired by natural and geometrical patterns found while sea kayaking, mountaineering or travelling.
Her prints and artists’ books have been shown in national and international exhibitions such as North East Open Studios, Aberdeen Art Gallery, University Aberdeen, Bankside Gallery in London, the Royal Scottish Academy in Edinburgh, various libraries in Denver and at Salmon Falls gallery in Massachusetts, USA.
Fenneke received the Visual Artist and Craft Maker Award by Creative Scotland in 2018 for a 2-week non-toxic printmaking residency in the USA. In 2023, one of her artists’ book collections was shortlisted for the Scottish Landscape Awards and exhibited at City Art Centre in Edinburgh. Various works are held in private and public collections.
Website: fenfolio.com
Instagram: @fenfolio
Facebook: Fenfolio
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