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Artists & Art
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Previous Artists: A listing of previous exhibitors at the Flat Cat Gallery, Lauder.
& Click here for Art News: A brief overview of the upcoming art exhibition schedule. |
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Art news: Upcoming events at the Flat Cat Gallery, 2010 - top of
page |
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Art News update: |
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Featured Artists: Alan Richmond, Cat Outram & Sculptor Eoghan Bridge from July to September
Alan Richmond, Cat Outram & Sculptor Eoghan Bridge will be exhibiting from 19th July to 15th September.
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Any artists
interested in having their artworks exhibited at the
Flat Cat Gallery should contact Jacquie Lowden or
Annette Knight on 01578 722808 or email flatcatgallery@btconnect.com. |
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Brief biography of recent artists who've
exhibited at the Flat Cat Gallery, Lauder |
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Catherine
Rayner - top of
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Catherine Rayner lives and works in Edinburgh. She
works from home where her cat Ena sits on her desk all
day and watches her draw. As well as Ena, she has a
guinea pig called Marvin, a dog called Ellie and a horse
called Shannon. "My work is based on creatures. Each
animal I paint is brimming with character. It belongs to
a larger picture which viewers are invited to imagine."
"My experience as a children’s book illustrator and
author help to create these representations of animals,
which are full of their own history and narrative. I try
to add a slight air of mystery so that each viewer can
identify personally with the piece. The animals appear
to live beyond the frames in which they are
exhibited." |
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Andrew Mackenzie - top of page |
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Lithographs by Andrew Mackenzie, Published by
Edinburgh Printmaker’s Workshop
"The very nature of
a bridge dictates its symbolic use. It is a structure
that joins two otherwise separate pieces of land, yet at
the same time enhances their separateness” Pedestrian
footbridges, linking opposite sides of busy carriageways
or railways on the outskirts of urban areas, are highly
suggestive and often beautifully utilitarian structures.
I am interested not only in the fact that the road or
railway has severed a tract of land, making it necessary
to cross a bridge to traverse this land by foot, but in
the realities of the contemporary landscape, where the
constant push and pull between romanticism and modernism
is evident." |
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Andrew Martin - top of page |
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"The works on show are primarily watercolours which is my favourite medium for its transparency and spontaneity.
I trained in the 60s at St Martin's school of art in London.
In coming to the Scottish Borders in the 80s I have worked with the well-known borders artists Simon Blackwood and Rose Hughes.
Most recently I had a successful exhibition in 2009 at Hawick Museum Gallery."
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Maggie
Mowbray - top of page |
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"The frequent contrasts between the delicacy and strength of nature are themes that often crop up in these works. As well as dealing with physical aspects of the world, the pieces also explore the relationship between our understanding of the way the natural world appears and how we imagine it appears. This
exhibition is a collection of works, which are glimpses of my visual memories; the physical forms of shadows that occur unexpectedly in empty spaces, organic growth and movement." Maggie
Mowbray.
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Helen Fay
- top of page |
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"My work combines my two main interests, drawing and
animals. Both the activity of drawing and the subject I
study are a source of never ending fascination and have
been for as long as I can remember. I have focussed on
various aspects of animal life over the years, primates,
birds, curious creatures such as echidnas and tree
kangaroos. Currently I am engaged in an exploration of
the canine world, partly because of the shear beauty of
so many dogs but also because of the presence and
dignity of the animals themselves. My interest lies in
capturing the form and character of the animals I draw."
Helen Fay, April 2009. |
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Moy Mackay - top of page |
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Over the past few years Moy has exhibited widely in
successful solo exhibitions at prestigious venues
throughout the UK and returns to the Flat Cat with this
exhibition.
Moy's passion is for colour and her work
asserts this with a luminous vitality, using merino wool
and traditional felting techniques with embroidery. By
using merino in this way, she has created a very
personal and innovative approach to visual expression.
Work has also been exhibited in the U.S. but this
presents an opportunity for patrons nearer to home to
take in her most recent work.
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Sophie Howard - Sculptor - top of page |
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Sophie makes sculpture in stone, bronze resin, terracotta, driftwood and willow for galleries, companies and private customers.
The terracotta pieces are smoked over a sawdust fire, waxed and then polished to give a rich finish.
Her current subjects include the human body and horses. Tango dancing is also an inspiration, and a hobby. She also makes portraits in terracotta, and for casting in bronze.
Sophie studied sculpture at Winchester Art School, graduating in 1979. She has been making, studying and teaching art ever since. Sophie lives in Bristol with painter Nigel Shipley and is a regular visitor to Scotland.
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Neville Storer - top of page |
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I like to capture moments of time - to create images that gave the viewer a chance to take a few moments of time out of everyday life to see something they might not have had time to see in the world around them.
I love light. I love the drama and subtleness of light, and much of my work contrasts strong silhouette shapes against strong light. I love the way light permeates and changes objects and colours, and especially the way it reacts with and affects water. I see water as liquid light. First and foremost, I see the world around me as light.
I have work in private hands in America, Australia, and Jersey, as well as in hotels on the west coast of Scotland and in Glasgow. Other pieces are spread around the U.K.
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Stephanie Tristam -
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Stephanie Tristam’s current work reflects a number of influences,
her love of textiles and the decorative, and landscape in both the Borders
and Patagonia. She has a dramatic, intuitive, luscious sense of colour which
she brings to all her work. She sees her self as engaged in a process that
involves time and openness to allow paintings to evolve.
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Alexandra Warren -
top of page |
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Alexandra Warren, born in New York, New York in 1963, grew up in Greece and continues to spend time there when not in Scotland. Her childhood and art “education” were influenced by family trips to ancient Greek sites,
Byzantine mosaics, icons in Greek Orthodox churches and collections of Cycladic art. Her grandmother, Jo Jenks, sculptor and textile artist was an important influence. She began painting on the Greek island of Paros at the Aegean Center for the Fine Arts. She studied at Colgate University and studied Italian art history, fresco painting and egg-tempera techniques with Syracuse University in Florence, Italy.
Alexandra has a Bachelor of Fine Arts (Painting) from the Rhode Island School of Design in 1986.
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Eona Murray
Aitken - top of page |
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"My work is influenced by gardens and landscape, in
particular the various styles, surface textures and
meditative atmosphere of Japanese gardens. I tend to
favour simplified forms and muted colours to induce
contemplation.
My recent work is concerned mainly
with the subtleties of light and texture on the earth's
surface. While the images could be considered
landscape-based, there is also an element of exploration
or discovery in the process of painting, as perspective
and details are altered by the effects of light. Some
take on the appearance of views from space, while others
involve close scrutiny of the ground as in geological
study or archaeological excavation. "
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Cat Outram top of page |
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"Since 1990 I have exhibited regularly in and around
Edinburgh. I am drawn to the linear around me. I
love the tracery of winter branches against a clear sky,
or shapes picked out by sunlight. But it is light
especially that moves me; It’s quality either in strong
contrast to shadows or as soft tonal layers, as in a
scene at dusk. My work covers mostly three sorts:
views of the city where I have grown up (Edinburgh), the
parks and the buildinFgs; flowers - either dried and full
of wonderfull scratchy lines, or fresh and full of
colour; and collections of objects - still
lifes.
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Melanie Williamson- top of page |
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"My paintings are inspired by the sometimes dramatic, often beautiful scenery that is found in Scotland - I believe the seasons in north of the border boast a range of colour unrivalled in any natural palette.
I build up colour using oil and pure pigment and enhance the landscapes through the use of pure bees’ wax, which gives the paintings more depth and texture.
Working primarily on land and seascapes that can be found in the East coast and the Cairngorms, my painting is influenced more by the memory of how I felt while I was there than the realistic replication of place." Melanie Williamson, 2009. |
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Lesley Mclaren - top of page |
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Lesley was born in Glasgow in 1959, and attended
Exeter College of Art where she obtained a BA(hons) in
painting. After living in the south for many years, she
returned back to Scotland where she set up home in the
glorious Scottish Borders where she has lived since. For
many years now she has scoured the Borders countryside,
never tiring of recording the sights through sketching.
Returning to the studio, she translates memories and
drawings into finished works on canvas, often allowing
the more dramatic elements of a scene to develop through
the language of paint; the final painting often feeling
like the end of a little journey. Lesley describes every
painting as “the creation of an exciting new world- one
which journeys on from reality”. Lesley has exhibited
extensively throughout Scotland and abroad, most
recently in Los Angeles where her paintings have enjoyed
much success. |
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Liz Mann - top of page |
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“I began my career began in the sixties as a Designer.
Retirement has given me the time to take up painting again and moving to a beautiful part of Scotland has given me the inspiration.
The light here is great, presenting ever changing scenery, depending on the time of day, the weather or the season. I try to capture the light and shade in my work, as I feel this gives it life. I’ve always been interested in portrait painting, so painting animals seemed a natural progression given the character in their faces.”
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Helen Tabor - top of page |
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Helen Tabor was born in Middlesex, now living in the
Scottish Borders, and travelled extensively in the far
east during the 1980’s and 1990’s. She likes working on
sa broad canvas so that the paint can be applied
expressively, interacting with areas of collage, used as
a base on which to build the painting aiming for strong
simple areas of colour out of which objects emerge
vaguely, endeavouring to create a particular atmosphere.
Touches of gold feature in her work, confessing to a
belief in the slightly magical and exotic feel of the
colour. Helen's still life with simple figures &
small landscapes have been inspired by Scottish
painters. such as John Maxwell and Anne Redpath but has
also been influenced by the enigmatic works of Picasso
and Gauguin. Helen Tabor, 2008 |
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Micheal Ewart - top of page |
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Art moves freely across many borders and nowhere is
this more clearly illustrated than with the
Northumberland based artist, Micheal Ewart. A native of
the mining communities around Felton and Ashington.
Micheal's work is exclusively with oils - a medium in
his words "that allows me to explore the feel of the
subject". A self taught artisit influenced by an array
of English 20th century masters, ex-school teacher
Micheal's first exhibition was to his fellow
Northumbrians in 1980. Nowadays his work is displayed in
galleries north and south of Hadrian's wall and
occasionally in Spain. Everday scenes - a beach, a
harbour, a rainy day, street scenes, people going about
their everyday business - works of amazingly simplicity,
but with an immortality that brings enjoyment to others.
Micheal Ewart, 2008 |
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Rachel Everitt - top of page |
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"I love to create images that capture a moment in time, almost like a taking a snap shot from my animated imagination. I am interested in expressing emotive moods, otherworldly atmospheres and story scenarios to hopefully evoke the onlookers own imagination to tell the story behind the picture - encouraging an interaction and integration between the viewer and image.
I have spent much of my freelance career working as a visual artist in the field of animation, and working as a part time tutor at the Edinburgh College of Art, and also at Duncan of Jordanstone." |
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Alan Richmond - top of page |
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"My style is semi-abstract landscape, being
especially interested in wild and remote areas like the
Highlands and Islands of Scotland, the play of light on
water and moody atmospheric weather conditions. My goal
is to create images that are suggested, to give a
feeling or impression , rather than literal depiction,
giving enough information to be a landscape, whilst
aiming to go beyond the immediately obvious,leaving as
much as possible to the imagination of the individual
viewer." Alan Richmond 2008 |
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John Heywood - top of page |
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John Heywood is interested in the romantic or magical in everyday scenes. Light is very important and he likes to create a mood reflective of a particular time of day. Etching offers a great opportunity for expressing moods and light. "As the artist/printmaker I can choose to ink the etched plate in a way that allows these ideas to be expressed in the way I wipe the plate. I do not simply reproduce each etching in the same way throughout the edition but will explore the way to express the original idea each time I ink up the plate" This makes each etching in a way unique. He studied art at Lancaster before graduating with a B.A. Hons degree and moving to Edinburgh in 1979. |
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Michael Dobbins - top of page |
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"My recent work is inspired by the Scottish islands;
the coastal areas of Wester Ross as well as the coast of
Northumberland." Michael Dobbins.
Working under Liz
Tate and Virginia Bodman, I completed a BA (Hons) Fine
Art (Painting) in 1995, at Sunderland University. Later
(2004) I graduated with an MA Art & Design in
Context under Gary Powers, at the same University. As
well as 2D work, I also construct steel sculpture, for
private, corporate and public commision." Michael
Dobbins, 2008 |
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Linda Kent - top of page |
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Linda Kent has for many years had the sea as a
central theme in her paintings. Now thought mainly an
abstract painter, she is often drawn back to the sea for
its vastness, many moods and energizing forces.
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works are some of the results of her connection with the
inspiring elements. Theyt include framed works on
plywood and paper (behind glass) and canvasses in oil
and acrylic. Linda Kent
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Leslie Birch - top of page |
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Lesley's inspiration comes from her roots in the
Scottish landscape, but also from Yorkshire,
Northumberland and Wordsworth's Lake District. She is
concerned with the landscape, the forms and shapes which
change through the seasons and the weather. Sweeping,
dramatic skies, the power of Nature in wind and rain
reappear in her work. Lesley uses oils, watercolours and
mostly acrylic. She may use collage to add depth to the
image.
Her images are often from memory, but she
also uses a sketchbook. Her aim is to convey the sense
and feeling of a place, rather than an exact
representation. She loves fluid, expressive mark-making,
working intuitively, enjoying the process of paint on
the canvas. Leslie Birch |
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Martin Devine - top of page |
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Martine Devine originally discovered an artistic
ability in portraiture and wildlife, moving onto
landscapes which have now become my recognized field in
a distinctive style.
Employing colour theory, varied
use of tone and differing brushstrokes to present a
contemporary image of the landscape, aiming to change
the perception of the landscape seen by the viewer :
inspired by minimalism, spare with detail, encouraging a
regard for simplicity. Colour, abstraction, and line
give distance in sky and land, sometimes altering tonal
values and other times verging towards flat blocks of
colour to emphasise basic shapes.
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Fiona Millar - top of page |
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Fiona Millar only seriously started painting around
seven years ago and is self taught. Her talent as a
picture framer had up until then been her main focus.
Combining her family life with the demands and
disciplines of her art is no mean task, but her
upbringing among sisters who eventually attended art
college and a father who was an art dealer no doubt
provides her with inspiration.
The rolling hills of
Galloway are nurtured in her landscapes, while her still
life offerings recall works of the 1930's which are
prevalent in her father's business.
Fiona has
exhibited across the UK and her recent initial solo
exhibition was a sell-out. Fiona Millar 2009 |
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David Hay - top of page |
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David Hay lives in the Scottish Borders village of
Yetholm. His paintings relate to the local landscape,
travel and places remembered. Sources are
environmental....natural or built....often beautiful but
sometimes disturbing and threatening.
Atmosphere and
the effect of changing light on the mood of his
subjectsare of great interest to me.
I use waterbased
underpainting then work and rework the painting with
glazes of colour until the image becomes established. In
2006 David Hay became a Professional Member of Visual
Arts Scotland with recent exhibitions in Bamburgh,
Cumbria and Kranenburg. |
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Andrew Walker - top of page |
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Andrew Walker lives in the Scottish Borders where
much of his work is made "en plein air" in the hills and
fields around his home at Smailholm. He also spends a
lot of time working in the Languedoc region of Southern
France, where as with many artisits before him he is
attracted to the light and colour of the Mediterranean.
He has won several awards including the "Ruth Davidson
Memorial Scholarship" and is represented in several
important museum collections. Andrew Walker |
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Astrid Trügg- top of page |
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Astrid Trügg has a deep interest in architecture,
shapes and contours of the city and it’s past. She is
inspired by the textures of weathered walls, piers and
facades of historic buildings, and the changes of colour
and character created by this natural influence. By
working in media like collage, pigments and gesso, she
is able to work back into layers of paint which create
fascinating textures that reflect these
interests.
Inspired by Edinburgh and the Scottish
Highlands Astrid moved to Scotland in 2003 where she
continued her art studies and successfully completed a
post-graduate painting course at Leith School of Art.
She currently works from her studio in Leith, Edinburgh
. Astrid Trügg 2009 |
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Rachel Phillimore- top of page |
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Rachel Phillimore: Hooky & Proggy
Textiles.
Using the traditional skills of hooky and
proggy matting Rachel makes rugs and wall hangings. The
rugs are made from woollen fabrics which make them both
warm and durable. Velvets, silks and sparkles are worked
into the designs for wall hangings.
She uses the
materials like a palette, having gathered and cut them,
the colours are carefully selected for the
design.
Current pieces exhibited are from the
Shorelines: The artists work tried to reflect the larger
sand lines and the smaller collections of sea treasures,
like fossils, soft coloured weed and dull shined sea
worn glass. In her work Rachel uses subtle textiles and
materials as diverses as very old wall paper, faded
silks or fabric with a history. |
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Gill Tyson - top of page |
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Gill Tyson studied at Edinburgh College of Art and
The University of Edinburgh, for an MA(Hons) in Fine
Art. Gill's work is mainly lithography. She works
directly on to the stone, without too much preliminary
drawing, with one stone leading on to the next,
interacting and responding to each layer of colour,
rather than having a rigid preset idea of the final
image.
"I am drawn to harsh and bare landscapes,
often severe and remote, and more often than not about
the point where land meets sea meets sky, the human
presence is humbled but there. A romantic tradition. In
a tumultuous Orcadian sea/land/cloud, it's in a sliver
of wind turbine; in the desert it's staked out in
kilometre posts; in the Lofotens it's a telegraph post
with a poster for the circus against the arctic ice
blink". Gill Tyson 2009. |
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Lindsay Turk - top of page |
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A graduate of Edinburgh College of Art, Lindsay Turk
lives and works in Fife. Whether it is her vast seas and
skies, ancient forest scenes or plants and flowers of
intricate design, her work is underpinned by a
consistent attraction to capturing the light and
atmosphere of a single moment or a particular
place
Through her work attention is drawn to the
subtle changes, repetitions, rhythms and cycles within
the natural world: a world defined and sustained by
light which emphasises the passing of time and
highlights fleeting moments. Lindsay Turk
2009.
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Tom Fitzsimmons - Sculptor - top of page |
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Tom Fitzsimmons, born in Edinburgh, trained as a
stone mason and then as a lecturer at Edinburgh's
Telford College for 20 years. Over the years his
interest in artisitic stone carving grew and his
interest in the wildlife of Scotland and carving merged.
Tom finds inspiration from his time sea kayaking in the
Forth, on the west coast watching birds from his kayak
and hill walking with his wife and dogs in the beautiful
Scottish Borders. Tom has exhibited a number of pieces
in galleries across the Borders and continues to create
carvings and private commisions from his Lauder home.
Tom would not have started out on his creative carving
journey without the assistance and encouragement of the
Flat Cat Gallery for which he is most grateful. Tom
Fitzsimmons 2009. |
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Rob Sutherland top of page |
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"All of my ceramics are hand-built and utilise the
technique of coiling. This involves building a pot layer
by layer. Each coil is melded into the coil below and is
pinched, squeezed, moulded and scraped into shape. I
enjoy the slow pace of this method which allows a
considered response to the form as it grows. Pieces,
once leatherhard are carved by hand to introduce a
tactile surface decoration. I use clay slip with
additions of oxides and carbonates of copper, chrome,
manganese and iron to introduce surface colour.
Burnishing, to give a soft sheen, is the final stage of
production. Pots are fired in an electric kiln to
earthenware temperatures. My influences are grounded in
nature, from lichens growing on rock to beach smoothed
pebbles. I'm interested in the linear edges created by
water meeting land, Zen Buddhist dry gardens, mineral
seams in rock, the stone-like nature of lichens
and Neolithic cup and ring marks."" |
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