2 0 Ye a r s
.
20 Artists
Anniversary Exhibition Celebrating 20 Years of the Castle Gallery 24th APRIL - 29th MAY 2021 Inverness 1999; a town, said by some at the time, to be devoid of cultural aspirations. It was therefore a leap of faith when Denise Collins moved from Cambridge to Inverness to set up the Castle Gallery. After ten months of extensive renovation of the category B listed building, the gallery opened on 20th April 2001. It was unlike any other commercial art gallery in the Highlands because Denise brought with her a group of artists new to exhibiting in the north of Scotland. Paradoxically, many of these artists from her previous gallery, Cambridge Contemporary Art, were from Scotland including Dorothy Stirling, June Carey, Aliisa Hyslop and Michael Ross. As the gallery in Inverness germinated, a select few local artists were added to the stable including Gillian Jones, John McNaught and Jim Neville. The gallery was selected many times to take part in the prestigious Glasgow Art Fair in George Square, exhibiting and competing alongside the best from the Central Belt and further afield.
Over the last twenty years the gallery has adapted, changed, introduced new artists and organised nearly 100 solo and joint exhibitions of work by artists from Scotland and throughout Britain. To celebrate this milestone, twenty artists have been invited to respond to the theme of the number ‘20’ for a special exhibition to celebrate the 20th anniversary of the Castle Gallery. The artists include some of the gallery’s most long-standing exhibitors as well as personal favourites of the gallery owner. The artists are Blandine Anderson, Alan Baillie, Mychael Barratt, David Carter, Joe Davie, Linda Farquharson, Gillian Jones, Angie Lewin, Will Maclean, Shazia Mahmood, Helen Martino, Maureen Minchin, Ian McWhinnie, Trevor Price, Sally Ratcliffe, Will Shakspeare, Jonathan Shearer, Julia Smith, Katy Spong and Gareth Watson. They have responded to the brief in some truly spectacular, ingenious and creative ways.
The Castle Gallery held its opening exhibition preview on Friday the 20th of April 2001 with a range of artworks from several artists.
2001
2021
BLANDINE ANDERSON Blandine Anderson’s stoneware sculptures are based on the old Gaelic vigesimal counting system i.e. counting in twenties. Fichead is the number twenty in English and Dà Fhichead (literally, two twenties) is forty. She will be exhibiting three sculptures.
A pair of golden eagles have been chosen as the term ‘eagle-eyed’ fits well with the theme. Eagles have incredible eyesight which allows them to be such successful hunters in their environment. Blandine has used the same stamp motif for the birds’ eyes, in their feathers. Fichead - 20/20 Vision, stoneware, 34 x 29 x 11cm
Dà Fhichead - Forty Winks, stoneware, 23 x 26 x 8cm
Trì Fichead – Like a Diamond in the Sky, stoneware, 38 x 22 x 9cm
ALAN BAILLIE Alan Baillie, the Inverness-based silversmith and jeweller, enjoys the challenge of translating a shape or texture from nature into a piece of wearable art and has created a diverse range of work in silver on the theme of ‘20’.
Stag Moss Earrings, silver, 3 x 1.5cm
Roman Numeral Stud Earrings, silver, 1 x 1cm
Limpet Necklace, silver, 32 inches long Above: Pine Brooch, silver, 8 x 2.5cm
Below: Caddy Spoon, silver, 6.5 x 4cm
M Y C H A E L B A R R AT T Mychael Barratt P.P.R.E. has created a new etching ‘Life Imitating Art - Jermyn Street’ which is very clever. The artistic references are all by German artists (a pun on Jermyn) and all twenty odd references come from paintings that were made in the nineteen twenties. It’s also twenty past two on the steeple clock.
We challenge you to find the answers to the visual clues and if you fail, don’t worry, as Mychael has provided a key!
Life Imitating Art - Jermyn Street, etching, 52 x 50cm
DAVID CARTER David Carter has created a 20th anniversary mantel clock, marking the passage of time and inscribed with the gallery logo and XX.
He has been creating his exclusive forged candelabra and steel clocks since the early 1990’s and enjoys ‘doing battle’ with the metal in his studio forge in Cambridgeshire.
20th Anniversary Clock, laser cut steel, 34 x 15 x 7.5cm
JOSEPH DAVIE Joseph Davie has combined painting with linocut to create unique, striking images of swimmers, with one, ‘Onslaught’, half concealed by twenty elliptical dots.
Continuing with the water-related theme, Joe has also created a small image, ‘Avocet, Sunset’ which is 20 x 20 cm in size.
Avocet Sunset - Blue, unique hand-painted linocut, 20 x 20cm
Geometric Swimmer No. 20, unique hand-painted linocut, 39 x 30cm
Onslaught, unique hand-painted linocut, 30 x 30cm
L I N DA FA R Q U H A R S O N Linda Farquharson’s small reduction linocut ‘Homebird’ encourages the viewer to count the feathers, leaves and marks on the chest plumage to check that there are indeed twenty! Framed for the show will be edition number 20, from the edition of 30.
Opposite Page: Homebird, linocut, 8.5 x 14cm
The Nine Maidens, linocut with gold leaf, 61.5 x 41cm
The Fairy Cattle, linocut with gold leaf, 61.5 x 39cm
GILLIAN JONES Gillian Jones’ wood engraving ‘Trish’s Astrantia’, reflects on simple pleasures and life in her garden during 2020.
She says “The work for this show reflects the past year of home-based living during Covid restrictions. It seemed fitting to produce work of modest scale inspired by my own back garden and requiring nothing but items already to hand - cutting tools and woodblocks and a home printing press. Wood engravings also reflect a common thread of personal meaning in my work, which hopefully connects with others.” Trish’s Astrantia, wood engraving, 4 x 4cm
ANGIE LEWIN Angie Lewin R.E., R.W.S., S.W.E has created a new linocut in her studio in the Cairngorms during lockdown which reflects the surrounding countryside and depicts twenty feathers from her extensive collection.
‘February Snow’ is exclusive to the Castle Gallery for our 20th anniversary show. February Snow, linocut, 35.5 x 34cm
Drawing No 2 from ‘20 Variations’, gesso & mixed media on handmade paper, 15 x 20cm
WILL MACLEAN Will Maclean M.B.E., R.S.A., R.G.I., R.S.W. has created ‘20 Variations’, twenty signed and numbered gesso paste and mixed media works on handmade paper which make repeated use of whisky barrel stencils.
Drawing No 13 from ‘20 Variations’, gesso & mixed media on handmade paper, 15 x 20cm
SHAZIA MAHMOOD Shazia Mahmood first visited Knoydart twenty years ago and this had a profound impact on her development as a landscape artist.
She says: “I got in the car and drove to Mallaig and it was my first visit to Scotland. Driving through Glencoe in the middle of the night I knew I was somewhere special. I got out of the car and walked around in the pitch black and saw the most spectacular stars. The morning light in Knoydart was incredible, I was almost emotional - I had never witnessed such beautiful landscape. My first visit to Scotland was Knoydart, my first introduction to becoming a landscape painter was Knoydart. I was completely transfixed and from that point on dedicated my life to being a painter. The painting ‘Sunset Knoydart’ is about the sun setting and how it comes up again, and that this in itself is a reassuring thing.” Sunset, Knoydart, acrylic on paper, 29 x 41cm
Opposite Page: Knoydart, Sparkly Sea, oil & mixed media on canvas, 77 x 102cm
HELEN MARTINO Helen Martino has made clever use of the Roman numeral XX (for twenty) in her ceramic designs, with the added bonus that these x’s can also be read as kisses on her marvellously whimsical quaich, vase and dishes featuring loving couples, all embellished with celebratory platinum and gold lustres.
From left to right: Flowery Dishy Lady, ceramic, 29 x 23.5 x 9cm, Dishy Couple Holding Hands (above), ceramic, 20.5 x 20 x 9cm, Dishy Couple (below), ceramic, 23.5 x 17 x 9cm, Anniversary Quaich, ceramic, 21 x 23 x 7cm
IAN MCWHINNIE Ian McWhinnie’s oil paintings are inspired by a trip to the Moray Coast in 2020.
Harbourside, oil on board, 20 x 20cm
The Sea Cave, oil on board, 33 x 33cm
Cliffside, oil on board, 20 x 20cm
Teapot with Tree, Deer, Swallows and Geese, earthenware, 19 x 25cm
MAUREEN MINCHIN Maureen Minchin’s ‘Spouted Tree Vessel’ and ‘Teapot’ in earthenware were made more than twenty years ago when the artist was living in Norfolk. These collectors’ pieces are from her own personal collection and it is in recognition of the longevity of the connections between Maureen and Denise Collins.
Spouted Tree Vessel, earthenware, 25.5 x 27cm
Swallowtail Butterfly Bowl, earthenware, 5.5 x 20cm
Hare Creamer Jug, earthenware, 10 x 12cm
TREVOR PRICE Trevor Price R.E., a proud Cornishman and experimental printmaker, has made a suite of twenty drypoint and engraved relief prints to commemorate twenty years of the Castle Gallery. They are presented in a handmade box with a special dedication sheet bearing an embossed Castle Gallery motif, signed and dated by the artist.
Commemorative Box Suite of 20 Artist’s Proofs & Embossed Frontispiece, drypoint & engraved relief prints, each 35.5 x 35.5cm Opposite Page: Detail of Woodland III, drypoint & engraved relief print, 35.5 x 35.5cm
S A L LY R A T C L I F F E Sally Ratcliffe’s ‘Waterfall Necklace’ incorporates twenty silver rings and is adorned with topaz gems and gold detailing. To accompany this spectacular piece of jewellery there are matching earrings and a bracelet.
Botanical Drop Earrings, silver, gold & topaz, 3.5 x 1cm
Waterfall Necklace, silver, gold & topaz, 11 x 4cm, 16inch chain Waterfall Bracelet, silver, gold & topaz, 2.5 x 6.5cm
WILL SHAKSPEARE Will Shakspeare has hand-blown twenty celebratory glass goblets as colourful and wacky as the artist himself.
He says: “I’m fortunate to be able to make practical art and maybe, in this world we live in at the moment, practical art is important. I appreciate I’m spoilt but having the right glass for the right drink ranks among life’s little pleasures.”
Gin Glass, hand blown glass, 17.5 x 8cm
Cider/Ale Glass, hand blown glass, 19 x 9.5cm
Cider/Ale Glass, hand blown glass, 22.5 x 8.5cm
J O N AT H A N S H E A R E R Jonathan Shearer first visited Glen Nevis and Assynt twenty years ago whilst working out of his studio in Edinburgh. His first exhibition at the Castle Gallery in 2003 featured a painting of Stac Polly on the preview invitation and so by way of commemoration he has painted ‘Cùl Mòr, Cùl Beag and Stac Polly, Assynt 10-02-20’, oil on canvas.
Cul Mor, Cul Beag and Stac Polly, Assynt, 10-02-2020, oil on board, 30 x 90cm
Stob Ban, Mamores, 2020, oil on board, 20 x 39.5cm
JULIA SMITH Julia Smith, the potter from Ardersier with a growing international reputation, has used the theme of ‘20’ to slabbuild and carve two special twenty-sided bowls, one of which featuring walkers, a dog and an OS map. The other features 20 geese with a lustre glaze.
20 Sided Bowl - Walkers, Dog & Trees, ceramic, 8 x 33cm
20 Sided Bowl, details
20 Sided Bowl - Gaggle, ceramic, 9.5 x 33cm
K AT Y S P O N G Katy Spong has found her work changing direction during lockdown and has drawn a large study in charcoal and biro of twenty swans - a mixture of mute and whoopers - inspired by a visit to the swan sanctuary in Ayrshire a few years ago. Also in the mix are some Canada geese, pigeons and ducks.
Twenty Swans, biro and charcoal on paper, 43 x 61cm
Twenty Ponies, ink on paper, 38 x 34cm
G A R E T H W AT S O N Gareth Watson now lives on the Isle of Lewis but has been exhibiting with Denise in her various galleries since the late 1980’s. ‘Bla Bheinn’ and ‘Loch Fionna Choire’ are abstracted watercolour landscapes created from studies painted twenty years ago.
Gareth says of his work: “Painting space in landscapes where the boundaries between air, earth and water are so elusive is a curious business. What you see is reluctant to be pinned down and is, in many ways, already abstract, devoid of signposts that enable you to label what you are looking at. Preliminary drawings and sketches do little other than define the skyline and you begin to rely on memories that are elusive as the landscape itself. However, spend time in such an environment and a sense of the place is acquired in spite of yourself; imperfectly known but somehow understood, and it is this understanding that to my mind works best on paper. The paintings that emerge are about feelings, not rationality; about enchantment, not common-sense. They are the result of thinking in paint and drawing a line somewhere.” Above: Bla Bheinn, watercolour, 11.2 x 24cm
Below: Loch Fionna Choire, watercolour, 6.8 x 17.3cm
HERE’S TO THE NEXT 20! Castle Gallery, 43 Castle St, Inverness, IV2 3DU 01463 729512 info@castlegallery.co.uk
castlegallery.co.uk