NATURE’S
CONTOURS
DAVID MEREDITH & JENNY MCLAREN
NATURE’S
CONTOURS
DAVID MEREDITH & JENNY MCLAREN 3 - 25 SEPTEMBER 2021
Wildlife sculptures in bronze and ceramic by David Meredith accompany paintings inspired by travels to the North West Highlands and the Hebrides featuring bird life and the mapped landscape by Jenny McLaren.
The entire exhibition can be viewed on the Castle Gallery website. castlegallery.co.uk
info@castlegallery.co.uk
Cover Image: Looking North West, Obinan, acrylic & mixed media with map on deep edge wood panel, 30.5 x 40.5cm
DAVID MEREDITH For this exhibition David Meredith will be showing his highly acclaimed wildlife bronze sculptures together with new, unique pieces made from stoneware, which have never before been exhibited. His style is evolving in a more expressive direction as he aims to suggest movement, such as in the bronze sculpture opposite, depicting boxing hares.
Boxing Hares, limited edition bronze, 48 x 38cm
Lying Hare, limited edition bronze, 17.5 x 35 x 15cm
Sitting Hare, limited edition bronze, 27 x 16 x 8.5cm
Xanthus, ceramic with wooden base, 64 x 65 x 22cm
Rocky Mountain Dreaming, limited edition bronze, 44 x 27cm
Laid Back Bear, ceramic, 39 x 48 x 21cm
Sitting Hare, limited edition bronze, 60 x 32 x 18cm
Diving Otter, limited edition bronze, 60 x 28 x 12cm Standing Otter, limited edition bronze, 30 x 20 x 14cm
Little Owl Study, cermaic, 37 x 23 x 16cm
Ochre Owl, ceramic, 63 x 22 x 20cm
Stargazer, limited edition bronze, 33 x 19cm
Peekaboo, limited edition bronze, 35 x 24cm
David Meredith studied illustration at Leicester College of Art and then worked in the pewter giftware industry before turning to bronze nearly twenty years ago. He has lived in Thailand and has a close working relationship with a modern foundry there giving him the opportunity to oversee each step of the casting process to ensure the highest standards of craftsmanship are achieved. This attention to detail ultimately provides the collector with a work of art which they can treasure. He usually works in bronze, sometimes combining this material with stone or granite in editions of between 8 and 250. His most recent sculptures, however, have been handbuilt in stoneware and individually painted with acrylic to create unique pieces.
Long Eared Owl, limited edition bronze, 22 x 8cm
His love of nature and travels throughout Africa, Asia and North America have helped in the development of his work, in both realistic and abstract ways. He is a keen supporter of many wildlife charities.
“For me, the greatest sculptor of all is nature itself. The perfect line and subtle shape entwined with such strength, power and grace will forever fascinate and inspire me.”
Badger, limited edition bronze, 7 x 16.5 x 5cm
JENNY MCLAREN Jenny’s landscapes are often painted on old maps of the area she is depicting, obscuring or revealing the map between subtle washes of paint. The result is an intriguing image which draws the viewer in to look closer at the details, sometimes only then noticing the map camouflaged within the painting. Her most recent studies of Hebridean sea birds are beautifully observed and painted onto maps or old sailing charts.
Hebrides Puffin, acrylic & mixed media with map on deep edge wood panel, 20 x 20cm Opposite: Sunset from the Ferry, acrylic & mixed media with map on deep edge wood panel, 51 x 61.5cm
St Kilda Wren, acrylic & mixed media with map, 21 x 21.5cm
Last Great Auk of St Kilda, acrylic & mixed media with map, 21 x 21.5cm
Storm Between Islands (South Uist and Barra), acrylic & mixed media with map, 35 x 55cm
Coll Snipe, acrylic & mixed media with map on deep edge wood panel, 15 x 15cm
Tyree Corncrake, acrylic & mixed media with map on deep edge wood panel, 15 x 15cm
An Teallach and Gruinard Bay, acrylic & mixed media with map on deep edge wood panel, 30.5 x 40.5cm
Hebrides Gannet, acrylic & mixed media with map on deep edge wood panel, 20 x 20cm
Hebrides Fulmar, acrylic & mixed media with map on deep edge wood panel, 20 x 20cm
Bla Bheinn across Loch Eishort, acrylic & mixed media with map on deep edge wood panel, 40.5 x 40.5cm
Achmelvich Beach, acrylic & mixed media with map, 15 x 15cm
Seilibost, Harris, acrylic & mixed media with map, 15 x 15cm
Barra Beach, acrylic & mixed media with map, 15 x 15cm
Harris Dusk (by Hushinish and Scarp), acrylic & mixed media with map, 15 x 15cm
Leaving Hushinish, West Loch Tarbert, acrylic & mixed media with map on deep edge wood panel, 40.5 x 40.5cm
Opposite: Sound of Mull, acrylic & mixed media with map on deep edge wood panel, 61 x 91.5cm
Jenny McLaren graduated with a BA (Fine Art) from the UHI Millennium Institute, Moray College in 2006 after completing an HND in Art and Design at Aberdeen College in 2002. Although she moved to the Lake District in 2016, she travels north regularly on painting trips in a camper van to spend time in her favourite areas of the West Coast and Scottish Islands. Jenny uses drawing, painting and collage to explore and connect with the landscape and nature. Walking and spending time in the landscape are fundamental to her art making process. She pays attention to the effects of weather and the geology, flora and fauna of a place until she knows it well enough to begin painting. The sketches, photographs and notes she takes on excursions are referred to when working in the studio, and some paintings are completed on location from direct observation. Her work covers landscape, seascape, wildlife and collections of natural objects. She works mostly in acrylic ink and watercolour with other mixed media on watercolour paper, wood panel or collaged surfaces. Her landscapes are often painted on old maps of the area she is depicting, obscuring or revealing the map between subtle washes of paint.
Guillemot, Scalasaig Harbour, acrylic & mixed media with map on deep edge wood panel, 40.5 x 40.5cm
Back Page: Black Guillemot, Tobermory Harbour, acrylic & mixed media with map on deep edge wood panel, 40.5 x 40.5cm
Castle Gallery, 43 Castle St, Inverness, IV2 3DU 01463 729512 info@castlegallery.co.uk
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