Skail - 15th April - 16th July at Rhue Art Gallery.

  ‘Skail’, (an old scots word - to disperse or scatter) the title for my work as a visceral response to the shifting nature of my surrounding environment, Coigach, Assynt and Lochbroom: the place I am from and the place that provides a wealth of artistic opportunity, creative interpretation and expression. This deeply rooted sense of place informs my identity as a visual artist and musician. Combining both art and music,‘Skail’, will be exhibited at Rhueart, opening on the 15th April 2022 and I will play some live music at the gallery on the 14th May (2-4pm). 

Responding instinctively to the ever-changing environment, I mostly work en plein air using acrylic paint on board or canvas. The elemental power of the sky, the land and the sea, as the weather disperses and scatters in an instant, gives a fascinating array of colour, density, turbulence, excitement, and surprise. I endeavour to capture this energy through tone, texture and mark making in my work and also through the recording of five improvised weather pieces to accompany the visual art, each crashing wave, gust of wind or splash of rain as it awakens my senses.  

There will be a range of works on display at Rhue, each as a temporal window on the vast weather patterns of the north west of Scotland. 

I feel very privileged to have the opportunity to share this new work in the stunning setting of Rhueart, which is set on the shores of Loch Broom, just outside the small fishing village of Ullapool, in the far North West coast of Scotland.  Established by Flick and James Hawkins in 1982, it celebrates diverse and contemporary art by both renowned and emerging artists, showing work that encompasses painting, film-making, print-making, photography, textiles and sculpture.  

There could be no better setting for this new body of work, launching on the 15th April with some live music from me on the afternoon of the 14th May, 2-4pm. See you there!