Artists Biography and Statements
Tinsel Edwards
Biography
Tinsel Edwards lives and works in Glasgow. Born in the Midlands in 1979, she completed her Fine Art BA at Goldsmiths College, London in 2001. Tinsel has exhibited widely across the UK and Europe. In 2012 she co-founded A-side B-side Gallery and Studios in Hackney, London, prior to that she was a singer in The Fairies Band, writing and performing with the group for 7 years. Banksy is a collector and invited Tinsel to create artwork for Dismaland in Weston-super-Mare in 2015, other notable artist collectors include Cathie Pilkington RA and Bill Woodrow RA.
Artist Statement
My work is a celebration of the everyday, the overlooked details and rituals that underpin our lives. Through painting I explore ideas of home, sanctuary, motherhood and the systemic pressures on women. Objects associated with the domestic environment are connected to my experience of motherhood, and a conflict of feelings and emotion as both an artist and a mum. With a focus on looking and observation the paintings are inspired by my immediate surroundings and feature recurring motifs such as socks, marigold rubber gloves, washing and laundry airers and nappy bags.
Penny Peoples
Biography
Since training as a teacher with art as one of my subjects, I’ve had a passion for painting and other forms of visual art. On moving to Edinburgh i was delighted to join Leith School of Art and learn from excellent tutors and fellow students in an invigorating and creative space, where I’ve been able to develop my technique and my ‘voice' as an artist.
Recently I’ve experimented with various styles, techniques and ways of expressing myself. I’m gaining confidence in drawing figuratively. My next step is to develop my drawing skills in a year-long drawing course.
Artist Statement
My current subject matter is the depiction of figures set in everyday situations, using a limited colour and tonal palette. Presently I include, Joan Eardley, Barry McGlashan and Cezanne as my
main influences.
Pat Drewitt
Biography
Originally from Lancashire I have lived in Edinburgh for 50 years.
On retirement from a career in Medicine in 2013 I started painting and drawing. Initially I attended a summer school beginners’ class at Leith School of Art and subsequently a variety of further classes at the school.
I have been attending the one day a week yearlong painting course this year at Leith School of Art, most recently concentrating on painting, mainly in oils. I am planning to develop the various painting techniques I have been introduced to during this course.
Artist’s statement
This year, and particularly, this term I have been combining my interest in photography with painting.
Working on phototransfer and transposition I have been using mainly oils to explore the use of colour, applying various colours to similar subjects.
I am drawn to trees, mainly their silhouettes, and have been inspired by Victoria Crowe and Andrew Gifford, admiring their use of colour.
Patz Carlow
Biography
I live in Edinburgh. I love nature and spending time with my dogs and horses. I have a background in drawing and printmaking (a long time ago). I also worked as a paper conservator.
Artist Statement
A quote from a book I recently read gives a good idea of my project.
“All this is in response, Ulysses, it’s not more complicated than that.”
Still Life - Sarah Winman
I chose flowers as my subject matter for their ephemeral fragility and natural beauty. I love materials such as ink and gouache. Working instinctively, the process is both physical and dynamic. I have been inspired by Richard Diebenkorn and Hannah Mooney.
I live in Edinburgh. I love nature and spending time with my dogs and horses. I have a background in drawing and printmaking (a long time ago). I also worked as a paper conservator.
Michael Brown
Biography
After moving to Edinburgh, I took up Munro Bagging in my retirement which with a pursuit of competence in art through the Leith School of Art has resulted in creating a series of paintings from eye watering and picturesque views. Working from photographs locate the subject whilst an attempt is made to overlay some of the emotions experienced which include achievement, wonder, ecstasy, fear, loneliness, influenced by the weather, terrain, remoteness and one’s state of mind. My work fairly representational is moving towards abstraction to convey more experiences felt and therefore less literal art.
Artist Statement
These views I recently enjoyed while Munro Bagging on Beinn Liath Mhor and Sgorr Ruadh are oil paintings on card, the panoramic format 100 x 49 cm is much larger than my usual work. Features of interest are Beinn Liath Bheag, a quartzite covered mountain that glowed while surrounded by mountains with the famous Torridon Giants making up the skyline and the other, a sandstone peak giving a reddish tint. The use of just blue, yellow, red and white pigments creates many more shades of green.
Link to Instagram page
Sara Craig
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Biography
Originally from Banffshire, I have lived on four continents and studied History (Aberdeen), Painting (Glasgow) and Philosophy (St Andrews). I live in Edinburgh and have a studio in Easter Howgate.
Artist Statement
As a painter I am interested in perception. I try to explore how we imagine what we sense, and how the conventions of how we are taught to see, influence the building blocks of realities.
My process can be quite complex: images, often starting from my own photographs, can be painted, then printed, explored, taken apart, developed and painted again to understand what I am seeing and what interested me.
At this moment influences include Peter Doig and Pipilotti Risk.
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David Short
Biography
I discovered my love of painting after retirement where I went on to study at the LSA. It was there where I gained the knowledge, skills and inspiration to develop my own working style. I sight Matisse and Jonas Wood as being influences on my work and enjoy thinking about how fixed pieces of art can complement interior spaces. You can see more of my work on Instagram @DavidShortArtist
Artist Statement
I am an artist who tries not to overthink my process. When I have found my inspiration, I start applying paint, each mark helps me intuitively move on to the next step until my work is formed. I enjoy exploring bold colours, interesting shapes and the interplay of pattern. I draw inspiration from what I enjoy in life. I consider my work to be naive, simple and fun, where I attempt to communicate a sense of untroubled joy. I feel most accomplished when my work puts a smile on the observer’s face.
Abigail Robertson
Biography
I’m now living in Edinburgh, my home city, having studied languages and lived and worked abroad. In 2009 I completed an art foundation course where I specialised in textiles. Last year I enjoyed the Introduction to Printmaking course at Leith School of Art and was delighted to follow this up with the one day painting course. I am looking forward to further developing my studio practice in the coming year.
Artist Statement
My paintings are inspired by photographs I have taken while living abroad and of nature, as well as pages from my sketchbooks. In my sketchbooks I use mixed media and collage which I then develop into series, often working in oils.
Rooted in real imagery, I have moved towards more abstract paintings. My artwork is about a love of colour and creating a particular feeling through the brush marks and my choice of colours. I use various processes including monoprinting and playing with scale. My recent influences are Elisabeth Cummings, Cy Twombly and Nicolas de Stael.
Ellen Colingsworth
Artist Statement
Since training as a teacher with art as one of my subjects, I’ve had a passion for painting and other forms of visual art. On moving to Edinburgh i was delighted to join Leith School of Art and learn from excellent tutors and fellow students in an invigorating and creative space, where I’ve been able to develop my technique and my ‘voice' as an artist.
Recently I’ve experimented with various styles, techniques and ways of expressing myself. I’m gaining confidence in drawing figuratively. My next step is to develop my drawing skills in a year-long drawing course.
Michele Gunn
Biography
My first degree (1970) was in the History of Art, and I have always been interested in the beginnings and history of art. I trained as an art therapist (1982-3 and still practice; I'm interested in unconscious processes, especially as they emerge through making art. In the last six years, attending Leith School of Art has helped me explore and develop my own creative process, which I hope to continue.
Artist Statement
This sequence of paintings are based on a carved stone from the Neolithic chambered cairn of Barclodiad y Gawres, in Anglesey. The cairn is over 5.000 years old, and the style of carving comes from the Boyne Valley in Ireland. This style of carving is considered to be abstract but, in the patterns, I discern the stylised form of woman's body. Do the marks evoke a goddess? The images explore a process of transformation, from stone to flesh to painting, through the process of mark-making. Carved or painted, marks can suggest softness or hardness, surface or depth. For thousands of years, humans have used marks to explore our deepest meanings.
The “Warrior” is a doodle in collage and paint, who emerged when I let one thing lead to another. Collage is a process that helps me distil an image to its essentials and can act as an intermediate stage from drawing to painting.
Fiona Marynicz
Biography
I live in the Scottish Borders which provides unlimited inspiration for observing landscapes and changes in the natural world. Painting, drawing, observing (and thinking time!) are welcome intrusions.
Artist's statement
For me, inspiration comes from our natural environment which changes from season to season, with light and shade, colour and with the marks made upon it.
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