We Have a Huge amount of talented artists within the Scottish Borders producing excellent art work in many mediums and in an infinate range of styles and subjects.
To Find out about some of our artists please read below
Lynn Rodgie-
Lynn grew up in a very artistic environment. Her father, also an artist, has inspired and encouraged her greatly throughout her life.
Lynn Rodgie studied Art and Design at Gray’s School of Art in Aberdeen. Her BA Hons degree was in graphic design. She worked as a Graphic Designer in Glasgow for a number of years before deciding to paint full time. Lynn Rodgie’s design background shows in her paintings. Many of her paintings are stylised rather than fully representational.
Rodgie is constantly inspired by her environment; the Scottish countryside around her gives endless ideas for paintings. As she says; ‘The soft rolling hills of the borders is perhaps not as spectacular as the rugged north or as picturesque as the Lake District, but it has a gentle pull that grows on you over time.The geometric shapes and colours of the ploughed fields, rows of hay bales in a golden field are visions that will get me itching to pick up a paintbrush’.
Artists who have influenced Lynn Rodgie include James Fullerton, John Bellany and Lin Pattulo to name but a few.
Ian Oliver-
IAN OLIVER BSc CEng LRPS
Ian Oliver was born and brought up in the Jedburgh area. He went to school in Jedburgh and then Hawick High School, before going to Heriot Watt University to study Civil Engineering.
He has always had an interest in photography, but this interest only became more serious in 2001, when he had a number of trips to Lakeland Photographic Holidays where his enthusiasm was re-kindled. He then joined Galashiels Camera Club, and the Royal Photographic Society.
He is current Chairman of the camera club, and holds a Licentiateship with the RPS. He has also had a number of acceptances in National and International Photographic Exhibitions.
After 27 years in the Water Industry, the opportunity arose to take voluntary redundancy in 2006, and he took the bold step of changing career completely, and took a course in picture framing.
He has now set up a photography and picture framing business from his home in Newtown St Boswells, where he frames his own images for sale, as well as framing almost anything for anybody.
His images are mainly landscapes, and often taken in less than ideal weather conditions. The images are all hand printed on quality art paper, and then framed to a high standard, predominantly in solid ash and oak.
John.F.Martin -
David Hay -
Shona Lenaghan -
Shona Lenaghan was trained at Edinburgh College of Art from 1987-91. She was awarded the Andrew Grant Bequest Scholarship which funded her Postgraduate Diploma from 1991-92. During her Postgraduate year she illustrated 'The Edinburgh Festival Fringe' programme cover and on leaving college she worked freelance illustrating for 'The Scotsman', design agencies, and continued to exhibit her work in galleries. In 1994-95 she trained as an Art teacher at Moray House. At present she divides her time between her family, painting and working as an Art teacher at Kelso High School.
Her present work is influenced by the countryside that surrounds her. Walking out of her front door she ventures into farmland. She is inspired by the quaint nature of the farm buildings, bright coloured fields, the weather and the way it affects the colours that are reflected onto the landscape.
Marie.C.Keay-
HISTORY AND BACKGROUND
I was brought up on a Midlothian farm and have had an interest in horses from a very young age. The first pony arrived at the age of ten and just after that my passion for sketching and painting began.
As a teeenager my favourite subjects were always galloping and rushing horses, and at that time I was also keen to attend Art College. That did not prove possible, and Secretarial College was subsituted instead, with an interesting post at The Royal (Dick) Veterinary College to follow.
At the College I was regularly enlisted to illustrate undergraduate teaching material,and I also took a number of commissions and exhibited at various Edinburgh exhibitions of the 1970's.
Whilst bringing up a family in the 80's and 90's I concentrated on painting Border landscapes and Highland Cattle. For a number of years these were exhibited in Border Galleries, Country Fairs and Agricultural Shows, where a number of commissions were also gained.
As a result, I have work hanging in the collections of clients in UK, Ireland, Netherlands, Switzerland, Saudi Arabia, Canada and USA.
Recently I have returned to my earlier painting passion and have been working on a series of oil paintings " The Horse In Sport". Some of these new paintings were successfully exhibited in Kelso, Peebles & Selkirk Galleries during the 5th & 6th Borders Festival of The Horse - May 2006 & 2007.
IDEAS AND INSPIRATIONS
I now paint mainly in oils with a combination of palette knives, broad flat brushes and a selection of finer brushes to help realise the effects I am trying to create.
The inspirations for my paintings are the marvellous Borders countryside around me and the farm animals, particularly horses and cattle with which I grew up and were part of everyday life.
My landscape painting style was originally inspired by Scottish artist James McIntosh Patrick (1907-1988) whose work I admired greatly.
This contrasts with the style I have gradually developed over the years to convey mood and movement in the equine works. Sometimes I paint with only two or three main colours and begin with blending a background. The spectacle of high speed movement or dramatic action then emerges from this background. In many of my paintings the horses appear almost transparent, and this allows the fluidity of movement to be more fully appreciated.
Dmitry Guskov -
Dmitry's main subject are animals but he does not limit himself to one narrow field and his art vary from realistic landscapes to surreal creatures. In his animal painting Dmitry shows individual, almost humanlike, character of his subject and often adds some unusual colourful elements to highlight that personality.
Educated to a computer degree in Moscow, Russia, Dmitry was always interested in visual art. He began to draw with pen and pencil at school and paint with gouache at University and later switched to oil as his main medium.
Dmitry is a self taught artist however his mother being an artist herself gave him some tips and, most important, the inspiration. In Moscow Dmitry exhibited artwork in a number of venues (joint and solo) and received awards including the First Prize from the Festival of New Visual Culture 1997. Later he found a compromise between art and computer in web design and computer graphics and worked in this area for many years. This career brought him to Scotland in 2000 where Dmitry decided to take art more seriously and returned to oil painting after 8 years break.
In 2006 Dmitry became a full time artist and has his paintings regularly exhibited in art galleries across Scottish Borders, online and occasionally in other venues nationwide.
John Nelson -
John Nelson's paintings are bright, colourful and abstract with figurative elements.
About My Work
"I produce paintings which I hope encapsulate my natural joie de vivre and love of colour.
Always suspicious of the archetypical, I work directly onto the canvas - no preparatory drawing and as something emerges, I follow and shape intuitively.
Ideas for my paintings come from a variety of sources although I am particularly drawn to landscape motifs."
John was born in Edinburgh, and studied at Edinburgh College of Art from 1962-1967 where he was awarded a number of painting and drawing prizes which included the Andrew Grant Scholarship. Ending his studies, a Post Graduate Travelling Scholarship took him to France, Holland and Belgium, creating opportunities for exhibitions in the countries concerned.
From 1971 to 1996 he was an Art Lecturer at Stevenson College, Edinburgh.
As an Edinburgh man he is proud to have been a member of 'The Glasgow League of Artists' and to have been elected chairman in 1975-76.
At various times he has been chairman of Livingston Art Foundation and the Craigmillar Festival Society.
Now living in the Scottish Borders he continues to develop his painting to his own exacting standards.
He has work in many private and public collections in United Kingdom; USA; Canada; Europe and Africa.
WORKS IN COLLECTIONS
Kirkcaldy Art Gallery & Museum; Scottish Hospitals Board; Strathclyde University; Lothian Regional Council; Borders Regional Council; Fife Education Authority; Lothian Education Authority; Scottish Arts Council. Many private collections in United Kingdom; USA; Canada; Europe; Africa.
COMMISSIONS
1978
Scottish Arts Council - Gable Ends, Glasgow
1979
City of Edinburgh - Mural for Herdmanflat Hospital, Haddington
FILMS
1975
"We're All Big Boys Now" - Sidartha Films
1982
"3 Artists" (Nelson, Shaw, Forbes) - R Forbes
Colin Brian Wesson -
Colin the second youngest of six children, was born in Cape Town, South Africa on the 3rd June, 1938 to parents of Irish and German descent. Although as a child he had many interests, he was at his most fulfilled when sketching and painting and his parents took delight in encouraging his obvious talent. On leaving school Colin attended the Michaelis School of Art at the University of Cape Town. He then continued to be involved with the Arts whilst at the same time taking on various jobs to supply his bread and butter.
When marriage appeared on the horizon Colin decided to obtain a more income dependable qualification to ensure that he was able if necessary to keep the wolf from the door. This he did and in later years ran his own business in building and design whilst bringing up a family of two daughters and three sons, and continuing to paint in his spare time.
During his forties Colin had been suffering with a heart complaint which culminated in heart failure at the age of 54. After a risky bypass and poor prognosis from the surgeons, he was advised that he should think about quality of life over quantity. One of his daughters was married to a Scot and living in Scotland and it was at this crossroads in her parents lives that she asked them to join her family there. Not an easy decision to leave his beloved Africa, but within a year, in 1993, they had done so.
Although Colin’s health has continued to be a source of frustration for him, he has outlived his doctors prognosis and is determined to utilise this window without work constraints, to experience the joy of driving his talent and creativity ever more forward.
Colin has exhibited in both South Africa and New Zealand and his paintings hang in South Africa, Europe, Canada, Eire, Australia, New Zealand and the United Kingdom.
William Highet -
William Highet was born and educated in Glasgow, graduating from the Glasgow School of Architecture (now the Mackintosh School of Architecture) in 1958.
He has worked in private practice in various parts of the UK including Glasgow, London, Belfast and Inverness. Whilst with James Munce Partnership, later Consarc, he worked on projects in Egypt and Libya.
In 1973, William set up his own architectural practice in Inverness where he worked on industrial and domestic commissions for the next twenty years. Since his retirement, he has had more time to devote to painting. His subjects vary from the countryside surrounding his home in the Scottish Borders to scenes from holidays in France and Italy.
In 1999, William Highet produced a series of successful streetscapes of Melrose.
Tom Davidson -
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.
He opened "The Tom Davidson Gallery" at Earlston in the heart of the Scottish Borders in 1995. 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.
Sarah Hargreaves -
I trained in fine art at Falmouth College of Art, followed by a 2 year Commonwealth Scholarship to India.
After a year at Goldsmiths College, I taught in primary, secondary and adult education.
I have now returned to painting, and one of my favourite mediums is egg tempera.
This ancient painting tecnique originated about 600 years ago and pre-dates oil painting. The painting surface is generally wood which is first prepared with several thin layers of gesso, following a traditional recipe.
The yolks of free range eggs are mixed with powered pigments, and the resulting colours applied in thin layers. This layering process creates the glowing qualities of egg tempera painting.
I like to paint on re-claimed wood which I obtain from Harestanes near Jedburgh.
Mary Goulden -
Animal portraits by Artist Hazel Middlemas
Visit Hazel's website by clicking on the link below-