Living on an orchard in the Clyde Valley, the ‘Fruit Basket of Scotland’, offers an endless source of inspiration and subject matter. Known for their mosaic habitats, orchards are rich in biodiversity and the fruit-growing heritage here reaches back over 900 years.
My work begins with the experience. When the morning opens, I’m drawn outside, mug of tea in hand, to soak up the light, inhale turquoise air, sink my feet into lime green moss and absorb this living palette. I’m captivated by transitory moments such as when a shift of light highlights the contrast of fresh wildflowers against ageing trees. Shapes of standing deadwood, tall grasses, berry-rich hedgerows and dense undergrowth all in a restless cycle of renewal and decay are all here on my doorstep.
I make observational sketches in pen, charcoal or ink and many studies capturing the movement and essence of my subject, then return to the studio to distil, reinterpret and reimagine.
I enjoy making collage and colour palettes from my orchard studies to build up layers of thought, shape, mark and colour - the hinterland of my work. I let my intuitive and emotional response to the relationships of colour, tone and shape lead my work – an ongoing process of discovery and learning.
2024 Gairloch Museum – Selected work in SSA exhibition ‘Treasures’
2024 Highgate Contemporary Art Gallery – Selection in open call ‘Little Picture Show’
2024 Dundas Street Gallery, Edinburgh – ‘Rhythm’ group of 6 artists exhibition
2024 The Old Lock up Gallery Compton, selected work in the Open 2024 exhibition
2024 SSA 125th Anniversary Exhibition. Selected work in the Maclaurin Gallery, Ayr
2023 Explorers Garden, Pitlochry Festival Theatre, Botanical sketch collection of key species.
Professional Development 2022-23, Paintbox School of Art, Cockenzie, East Lothian
2023 Dovecot Studios, Edinburgh: ‘Elements’ - group exhibition
2023 Caversham Picture Framer, Caversham: selected work
2022 The Tolbooth, Lanark: ‘The Flourish – Seasons in Flow’, solo exhibition
2020 The Tolbooth, Lanark: ‘Coasts and Rivers’ group exhibition
Dec 2019 to Dec 2020 Year of daily sketches of all plant species growing in the orchard.
2019 The Tolbooth, Lanark: ‘Streets of Lanark’ solo exhibition
2018 ‘Street of Angels’- Blossom Street Gallery, York, solo exhibition
2017 ‘Drawing the Street – Together’ – Gallery at 12 Eccleshall, solo exhibition
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