J O N AT H A N S H E A R E R Skye and Closer to Home
J O N AT H A N S H E A R E R Skye and Closer to Home There are a few truly committed, authentic, landscape painters working in the Highlands of Scotland today, and Jonathan Shearer is one. He is passionate and professional, with an out-spoken commitment to contemporary landscape painting in the 21st century. In the new age of Covid, a connection to Nature will become even more important for the soul. His passion for the wilderness and the awe-inspiring power of Nature compels him to express his raw emotions in paint. Gathering all his equipment together he walks to his chosen spot. If he is lucky, serendipity provides for that perfect moment, as weather and light collide to impress upon his mind’s eye a vision that he will attempt to re-capture on canvas or board. These ‘on the spot’ studies are essential to maintain the freshness of interpretation for larger canvases, and the best of the studies are valued as works of art in their own right. Without this lived experience of the landscape it is virtually impossible to deliver a credible landscape painting. In recent months Jonathan has adapted to the restrictions on travel movement by getting on his bike and working closer to home in Ross-shire, returning to favourite spots and responding to the changing seasons. He has been preparing a series of paintings of Skye but can no longer justify the 2 ½ hour drive each way and so has come to rely heavily on his sketchbooks and studies, done on site, before the lockdown. Having to work in the studio has been an interesting experience and given him more time to contemplate and develop the work and he now feels his new studio paintings are beginning to show the energy, vibrancy and immediacy of the experienced landscape. He says of working during lockdown: “It has been a strange experience, but the sketchbooks and studies have been even more evocative portals to the experience of place and have become more vivid, precious. It is hard to describe.” The entire exhibition can be viewed on the Castle Gallery’s website: W: www.castlegallery.co.uk T: 01463 729512 E: info@castlegallery.co.uk
Cover: The Way Ahead on the Forcan Ridge, oil on canvas, 71 x 91cm
Morning Light Sgurr nan Gillean, oil on board, 19 x 24cm
Spindrift in the Cuillins, oil on canvas, 60 x 60cm
Balgy Falls Study I, oil on board, 13 x 18cm Balgy Falls Study II, oil on board, 13 x 18cm Balgy Falls Study III, oil on board, 13 x 18cm Balgy Falls Study IV, oil on board, 13 x 18cm
Opposite: Wet and Windy, Balgy Falls, oil on canvas, 76 x 100cm
I
II
III
IV
Winter Shadows, the Saddle, oil on canvas, 40 x 40cm Opposite: Winter on An Teallach, oil on canvas (diptych), 60 x 84cm
End of the Day, Sandwood Bay, oil on canvas, 66 x 70cm Opposite: Atlantic Swell, Sandwood Bay, oil on canvas, 100 x 120cm
Coire nan Arr Study, oil on board, 15 x 21cm
Coire nan Arr, oil on canvas, 51 x 61cm
Winter on the Forcan Ridge, oil on canvas, 30 x 40cm
Winter Summit, oil on canvas, 61 x 51cm
Summit, oil on board, 18 x 13cm
The Approach, oil on canvas, 25 x 36 cm
Blackwater at Blackbridge, oil on board, 20 x 30cm Opposite: Swollen River, Blackwater, oil on canvas, 80 x 120cm
Sgurr an Fheadain, oil on canvas, 25 x 36cm
Sgurr nan Gillean, Skye II, oil on canvas, 30 x 40cm
A Study in the Movement of Water, oil on canvas, 30 x 40cm Opposite: Blackwater near Silverbridge I, oil on canvas, 51 x 61cm
Cromarty Firth I, oil on board, 13 x 18cm
Late Summer Eve, oil on board, 13 x 18cm
Summer Sky, Culcraggie, oil on board, 13 x 18cm
Oldshoremore Study, oil on board, 13 x 18cm
Novar Woods, oil on board, 13 x 18cm Opposite: Long Shadows, oil on canvas, 50 x 50cm
Sgurr an Fheadain Study, oil on board, 13 x 18cm
Sgurr nan Gillean Study, oil on board, 13 x 18cm
Grey Day, Ben Lui, oil on board, 13 x 18cm
Winter Forcan Ridge, oil on board, 13 x 18cm
Sgurr nan Gillean, Skye I, oil on canvas, 50 x 80cm
On the Ridge, oil on canvas, 66 x 42cm
Back Page:
The Way Ahead Study, oil on board, 20 x 26cm
Castle Gallery, 43 Castle St, Inverness, IV2 3DU 01463 729512 info@castlegallery.co.uk
www.castlegallery.co.uk