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."

Mary left Yorkshire in 1975 to live in the Borders enabling her to further her nursing career. She quickly fell in love with the Borders landscape her leisure time was spent hill walking. Mary who is self-taught, started painting in 2002 and had work accepted for display in 2003. The majority of her paintings are in pastels but also finds pleasure in acrylics and oils. 

Andrew is a Scottish Borders artist who has exhibited widely both locally (where he is better known as Drew) and throughout Scotland. Most of his work is in oils and the subject matter is predominantly landscape.

His inspiration comes from the ever-changing face of the gently beautiful Scottish Borders. He prefers painting in the open whenever the weather allows. This site shows examples of his recent work.

Carol's passion for animals and love of drawing and painting led to her graduating from Edinburgh Art College and specialising in wildlife art.   Carol exhibits with The Wildlife Art Society International, Marwell International Wildlife Art Society, and The National Exhibition of Wildlife Art, and has enjoyed solo and joint wildlife exhibitions with The Royal Zoological Society of Scotland, the International Primatological Society and the Scottish Ornithologist's Club.   Carol has a particular interest in African Wildlife and makes regular visits to study, sketch and paint it in its natural setting.

Tom Davidson's lino-cuts are produced from a single block of linoleum, using a reduction process, printing each colour on top of the previous colour, working from light to dark. All of Tom's works are hand drawn, or cut and printed by the artist. Prints are produced in limited editions of between twenty and thirty. Tom's work is in private collections all around the world as well as nearer home in the collections of Paintings in Hospitals (Scotland), The Houses of Parliament, Floors Castle and Durham University. Tom graduated in Graphic Design in 1977 and turned to printmaking in 1984. Choosing etching as his preferred media. Tom also paints in various other media.

This series of five paintings was a visual reaction to the spectacular, severe and prolonged winter we experienced earlier this year.   In these works I have tried to show how open, snow covered landscape is broken only by the presence of trees, hedgerows and dykes breaking the surface.   The combination of freezing temperatures, snow and ice also creates a stark, brilliant and almost endless, vast landscape where land and sky appear to merge as one.
  These images have been made by combining acrylics, oil bars and elements of photography to create texture, colour and atmosphere. I also used gold oil colour in some of the pictures to suggest glimpses of some soft, warm winter sunlight.

I seem to have been sketching and painting for as long as I can remember or at least since being given my first paint box at 5 years old. This became immediately a greatly loved and used treasure. Over the years paint box and sketchbook have always accompanied me during my working life in different countries of the world giving me a unique record of great memories.
  Now settled in the beautiful Borders, my love of painting has developed and grown into evermore colourful and exciting work. Using different mediums, meeting fellow artist both at workshops and exhibiting together, as well as having solo exhibitions, have all contributed to inspire and encourage me never to lay my paint box and brush aside.

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."

"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."

"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.

"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.

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.

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.

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.

I am a graduate of Edinburgh College of Art (2002), living and working in Fife. My interest is in the evolving process of painting and the physicality of the materials I use. I experiment with a wide range of materials in order to constantly develop new experiences within each painting so each piece takes on its own developing surface and object quality. Natural spaces and forms provide the basis and inspiration of my work; in particular the textures found within the natural world and created through natural force. I am interested in the impact of time and effects of changing light within a natural space. Subsequently there is a strong element of atmosphere and change through time that I aim to capture within each painting.

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.

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.

"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. "

"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.

"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.

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.

“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.”

Extensive travel has allowed me to experience the paintings, sculpture and architecture of other cultures, which often influence my jewellery.    Inspiration also comes from the simplicity and purity of the ancient Etruscans and the beauty of natural forms. I am passionate about the material I work with and fascinated by the tactile quality of silver and gold. Some of my new contemporary styled pieces are fabricated in oxidised sterling silver with contrasting 22ct. gold details.

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

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

"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."

"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

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.

"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

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.
The 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

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

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.

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

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.

Alice Melvin is an illustrator and designer based in Edinburgh, Scotland. Her work is inspired by her love of paper, print and decorative arts. Animals, birds, pattern and text occur frequently in her work along with the odd teapot as well. Integral to a lot of her work is the making process and she loves working on products with an interactive element such as the ‘cut out and make’ cards and kits she has designed.

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

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

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.

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.

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 2012.

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 2012.

" I believe that painting is as good today as it's always been and just as appreciated. As music is transient, so, visual art is not complete until looked upon and understood, possibly somewhat differently from the artist, but nevertheless as relevant.
My latest body of work has given me opportunity to find freedom in the southern Midlothian and Borders countryside. The sun or the damp air, glistening on a field, reflecting off buildings, or the water of the Tweed, have thrilled my heart." H Fraser Wood

"I have always attempted to capture the harsher elements of landscapes. Scotland can be a moody, windswept, and very wet land which is especially hard to lay down on paper in a way that really captures the mood.
It is my hope that my paintings capture something of the natural beauty of Scotland alongside man-made elements..."
Sam paints using the traditional western techniques of watercolour with a varied and loose style often employing the use of washing out and texturing the image with staining. Sam Austrin-Miner 2012.

"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.""

"I was born and brought up in Dundee. I went to Edinburgh College of Art, graduating with a degree in sculpture. My work has been shown in various group and solo shows. More recently I have worked projects with Liberton Nursery School, Edinburgh to create story telling chair and a primary school in Strathaven, South Lanarkshire to create 3 oak totems for the school entrance. Past public commissions have included work for Scottish Natural Heritage, Dundee Botanic Gardens and Edinburgh Green Belt Trust. I have also completed a large bronze piece for Hamilton and made sculptural seating for Sustrans Pennine cycleway in Northumberland. A few years ago I worked in Newcastle on a wide variety of public art projects associated with the city parks. I prefer to work hand carving in stone or wood on a large scale and continue to make work for sale to private customers UK wide." Susheila Jamieson, 2012.

Lindean Mill Glass is the partnership of Annica Sandström (Sweden) and David Kaplan (USA). Established since 1978 in the Scottish Borders, they are pioneers of the studio glass movement in Scotland. This thriving glass studio has an international reputation and is renowned for both beautifully-designed contemporary tableware and an ever-changing collection of individual vessels, plates and panels. Lindean Mill Glass 2012.