Country: Scotland
About me
I have lived and worked as a full time artist on the West Coast of Scotland in the UK since 1988.
I live in a small hamlet near the Isle of Skye, famous for it's incredible mountains and landscape.
The light is what drives and inspires me to paint. THe liquid light of a glassy wave or reflected in the wet sand on a beach, juxtaposed with the deep shadows cast agaisnt it, excites and challenges me to capture those fleeting moments in paint.
I walk, climb and sometimes camp to get to know the landscape. I often return to a few favourite places over and over again, which although feel familiar, are always a challenge depending on the weather and the light that day.
The more I draw them, the closer I feel to those places and I try to convey those emotions to the viewer. I work plein air with a limited palette in sketchbooks or on larger pieces of paper. This can be challenging in Highland weather, battling with the wind and rain. There is something essential though about being out in the elements and looking intensely at the landscape, all senses being used. I work on my biggest paintings back in my studio, from the sketches I have made on location.
I like to work loosely letting the watercolours and inks collide and mix, to " do their own thing", not trying to be in total control all of the time, as that is when the magic can happen.
The painting in this exhibition, "Wild Waves" was made plein air on the East Coast of Scotland.
I was awarded the Sir William Gillies Award at the 142nd Royal Scottish Society of Painters in Watercolours Annual Open Exhibition in January 2023.
I graduated from Edinburgh College of Art in Edinburgh in 1987 and spent the following year at the Royal College of Art in London.
My work is sold in galleries throughout Scotland and online, selling to private collectors worldwide.
Admirer's of my work often say how the paintings make them feel tran
