Saturday 29th February to Sunday 8th March 2020
From 11.00am to 5.00pm daily.

An exciting NEW format show for us, which introduces the BRIDGE ART COLLECTIVE.
This gives us the opportunity to examine the regional art perspective (away from the influence of the larger cities).

Across the 10 (very talented) participating professional (full-time) artists, we have examples that range from beautifully painted traditional landscape form through to non-representational (abstraction and semi-abstraction) in addition to sculpture and photographic expression. We also have the artistic output of three recent graduates (from Gray's, Aberdeen) who have a more conceptual influence.

A very exciting, fresh-view, high quality and vibrant cross-section of (regional) contemporary Scottish art for you to consider.

If you would like to BUY or RESERVE one of the artworks. please call 0141 942 4683 or email kenlemond@msn.com.

We look forward to seeing at the SHOW.

THE BRIDGE ART COLLECTIVE

"We are a group of artists in Lochalsh, Skye and Wester Ross who have formed a collective with the aim of promoting our work, encouraging one another in our careers and reaching out to the community. We are at various stages in our professional careers, ranging from newly graduated to almost retired. The one thing that unites us is our passion to create work which is thoughtful, deeply felt and rooted in this region".

Irene is an abstract painter who has recently moved to Skye after visiting for many years. She comes from a textile background originally starting in Sweden and, on returning to the UK, she ran workshops in weaving, spinning and felting in Fife and Edinburgh. After many years attending courses at Edinburgh College of Art, Irene now exhibits widely, including the RSA open exhibition. the SSA and the VAS. She received the Glasgow Art Club Award (SSA) and the Nancy Cumming Award. Her paintings are influenced by her environment but, also reflect her reactions to some of the events in a changing world. She uses recycled materials and has recently used plastics cleared from a local beach to create a series of paintings.

Rupert is a long established painter living on Skye. He started out as a candlemaker before turning to painting. His work is now collected worldwide. For a number of years he successfully ran his own gallery in Broadford. He now paints in his studio in Torrin, where he lives. In the past Rupert was known for painting bright and colourful figurative work and landscapes. While continuing to explore these styles, when the mood takes him, recently he has leaned more towards the abstract. Sometimes this abstract work will have a reference to the landscape he sees around him; at other times, however, he will paint a picture with no reference to anything but itself, where his intention is for nothing more extravagant than a harmonious balance of colour, texture and form.

Susan is a contemporary landscape artist working in mixed media. She lives and works on the Isle of Skye. Since leaving the Glasgow School of Art in 1988, where she studied Embroidered and Woven Textiles, Susan has portrayed the rich layers of colours and textured surfaces found in the ever-changing Scottish landscape through weave and mixed media. Her past focus on the patterns and textures of the Moorfoots in the Borders has progressed onto more expressionistic land- and sea-scapes inspired by her surroundings on Skye. Susan also teaches at the West Highland College. "I become fascinated by one part of the land or sea, continuously sketchingand painting in one area in different seasons and weathers, abstracting the patterns, colours and textures."

Greg grew up in the Midlands of England and it was a family project that drew him to the Highlands. His training is in Industrial Design along with a degree in Ceramics and Glass. He enjoys blending different disciplines. Greg's work features in local galleries and further afield and he has produced some very striking public commissions. "I take me inspiration from my environmental surroundings and more recently have been working in plasma cut steel. My work is defined by its processes and the minimal surface finish that it requires both for indoor and external use and the shadows and light that the sculpture casts." Greg enjoys working on Community Art projects and teaches at the High School, working creatively with the children.

Tatjana was brought up in Kintail and graduated from Gray's School of Art last year with a degree in painting. She recently returned from Nepal where she helped to build three primary schools for the charity 'All Hands and Hearts', including painting murals in the schools.
"I am naturally drawn towards the elements within the wild lands where we explore, by looking closer or beyond what many would see. From underneath the layers of the ground revealed, to the roots under a tree. From the shape of a lake or loch, to that of the islands ranging in scale, seeking out shapes, reflections and shadows within our natural surroundings, where organic elements meet that of human-kind's intervention; and through the act of walking, drawing, painting and photography, I have begun to observe these spectacular elements more closely."

Aileen draws, paints and makes prints: etchings, aquatints and linocuts.
Her work is inspired by the sea and hills of Wester Ross. She loves to be in the wilds, walking and sketching. Aileen spent her early years in Fife then lived in Edinburgh and now lives in Lochcarron. She graduated from Duncan of Jordanstone College of Art, Dundee. She worked for a number of years as a Town Planner then in 2013 started drawing, painting and printmaking full time. She recently helped to run the Lochcarron gallery. Aileen's work has been selected for, and shown in, exhibitions of the RSA, RSW, VAS and the Scottish Drawing Competition and the Edinburgh Macmillan.

Simon is a Skye-based photographer with over thirty years of photographic experience working in studio advertising, editorial, documentary, medical and forensic photography. He works in full-frame digital as well as traditional film, including medium and large formats. He shoots a broad range of subjects from wildlife, landscape and portraits through to street-life, macro and still-life. Current clients include Marcello Tully and Armadale Castle. He has held numerous solo exhibitions and was short-listed for the inaugural Scottish Portrait Awards (2017). He is currently the recipient of two artists grants from the Richard and Siobhan Coward Foundation. Simon runs a studio and traditional dark room in Sleat where he organises various workshops. He also delivers a number of courses through the West Highland College.

Born and raised in Belfast, Sarah studied Drawing and Painting at the Edinburgh College of Art where she lived and worked for many years before moving to the West Highlands.
She has exhibitedin the RSA, RHA and the RUA and has recently been made an Associate member of the Royal Ulster Academy. Her work is in several public collections including the Arts Council of Northern Ireland. "My recent work has been inspired by my new surroundings and i've been particularly drawn to the salt-marsh close to our home and the mysterious hill behind (Angel Hill) which provides an excellent promontory for sketching. The plein air studies are developed in the studio into oil paintings or very large charcoal drawings, where memory and emotion start to take over.". Her recent paintings feature the Sunken Garden at Balmacara. Sarah runs a popular life-drawing group near her home in Kirkton.

Isabel is a recent graduate in Contemporary Art Practice from Gray's School of Art, Aberdeen, where she was awarded first prize for drawing by the Aberdeen Artists Society and she also received a purchase prize from the Art and Heritage Collections of Robert Gordon University. Isabel is now based in Kyle of Lochalsh. 
She is inspired by wild places and the natural world and her work explores how people can reconnect with the land through art. She chooses to use natural or recycled materials that have a low environmental impact wherever possible.

Her degree show work considered the relationship between the human body and trees, specifically how they breathe. She hopes to encourage the viewer to reflect on their own bodily connection to the land through the creation of physical and tangible artworks and by using natural textures and forms.

Isabel plans to continue her practice in the North West Highlands and explore the beautiful and rural area she grw up in. She is also setting up a business 'Highland Forest Therapy' in order to offer guided nature walks and art workshops in the outdoors for the local community.

Meg grew up in Skye. In 2019, she gained a First Class Honours Degree in Contemporary Art Practice - Sculpture at Gray's School of Art, Aberdeen. Her work traverses a number of fine art disciplines. Through these methods, her intention has been to examine the idea of an inherent intelligence within nature. Research stems from a deep curiosity about such aspects as, the ancient wisdom of both the East and West, gardening, her role an an apiarist and her innate connection to the Western Isles. She extracts from a variety of resources including arvhival materials, travelling and spending time in nature. Comparable to a Honey Bee collecting vital essences from different flora, she gathers ideas from philosophical, mystical and artistic disciplines alongside her life experiences. Her ideas could be described as her pollen. She transforms (her ideas) into something more refined .. her honey !