Four Women Artists by The Scottish Gallery

ADDITIONAL WORKS

In her home on the south side of Edinburgh, Elizabeth Blackadder works quietly away, taking no heed of the awards and accolades with which she has been bestowed. For her the studio life, a life she shared with her husband and fellow painter John Houston, has been all consuming. The challenges of each artwork whether oil, watercolour or print are the sole focus of her attention. This modest collection of works on paper does not attempt to tell her story, or highlight any particular aspect of her oeuvre. Rather each work, from early still lifes to recent etchings, allows us to see a master in full command of her craft. Her favourite subjects are the things that surround her everyday life; souvenirs of foreign travels, flowers from the garden, the quirks of the boisterous Toby, Fred or Amalia or fresh fish from the market. Born in Falkirk in 1931, Blackadder studied at The University of Edinburgh and Edinburgh College of Art. In 1954 she was awarded a Carnegie Travelling Scholarship and travelled throughout southern Europe with fellow painter and her future husband John Houston. She travelled widely with Houston throughout her career, including several trips to Japan.

Blackadder first exhibited with The Scottish Gallery in 1961 and it is a relationship which continues to this day. She was elected a Member of the Royal Scottish Academy in 1972, and was made a Royal Academician in 1976 (she was the first woman ever to be elected to both institutions). She has four honorary doctorates. In 2001 she became the first woman in the 300 year history of the office to be made Her Majestyâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s painter and limner in Scotland, and was later awarded a Damehood in 2003. Public and private collections include Tate Britain, The Scottish National Gallery ofModern Art in Edinburgh, Glasgow Museums and The Museum of Modern Art, New York. She was the subject of a major retrospe tive at the National Galleries of Scotland in 2011 to celebrate her 80th birthday. She lives and works in Edinburgh. Elizabeth Blackadder will be the subject of a major exhibition at The Scottish Gallery in August 2016.

Crabs and Lobsters watercolour, 72 x 59 cms signed lower right

Fish Market, Venice, 2012 etching, 20 x 29 cms, edition of 50

Four Fish, 2013 screenprint, 30 x 39.5 cms, edition of 80

Venice Dog, 2013 etching, 37 x 34 cms, edition of 40

Venice Cats, 2003 coloured etching, 30 x 36 cms, edition of 80

Amalia Sleeping, 2003 etching, 30 x 36 cms, edition of 80

Fred, 2003 coloured etching, 30 x 36 cms, edition of 80

Duomo, San Petronio, Bologna, 2000 etching, 10 x 15 cms, edition of 50

Achiltibuie, 1970 pastel, 40 x 49 cms signed and dated lower right Provenance: Private Collection, Channel Islands

Lilies and Poppies, 2003 screenprint, 63.5 x 93 cms, edition of 45

Laeliocattleya Chinco ‘La Tuilerie,’ 2009 etching, 60 x 52 cms, edition of 50

Irises, 2012 etching, 48 x 69 cms, edition of 50

Wild Flowers, 2013 screenprint, 72.5 x 89.5, edition 65

Irises, Lilies, Tulips, 2013 etching, 37 x 41.5 cms, edition of 40

Vista is Alison’s sixth exhibition at The Scottish Gallery and is a dramatic return with a freshly invigorated palette and new inspiration. Her love of the landscape shines through in both new pastels and her encaustic painting, and she captures the rich colours of the earth and the contours of the land from both a conventional and an aerial perspective. In 1995, whilst studying at the Edinburgh College of Art under the tuition of Victoria Crowe, Alison first experimented in mixing wax and paint to create heavily impastoed textures and painterly surfaces. The mastery of technique in allowing the wax to flow and evolve has been honed and developed in these recent works; excavating and melting the layers of the painting to reveal multiple layers of melded colours, to capture earth contours, rock strata and impressions of the land in its elemental state. Inspiration for this new show comes from a variety of sources and viewpoints. East Lothian’s coastline, at John Muir Country Park and Tyninghame beach, are favourite haunts for Alison to sketch the shore; providing ever changing inspiration. A trip in a four seater plane over the Lothians with her camera in hand, provided her with the bird’s eye view she incorporates into her work. The rolling hills of the Pentlands, the Lammermuirs and the estuaries flowing into the Firth of Forth are given a dramatic new twist when viewed from above, have led to many sketches and are inspiration for future oil paintings. The picturesque landscape of the Scottish Borders and Highlands also appear in this collection of work, bringing a full range of seasons and elements.

She considers herself fortunate to live in Scotland with its beautiful scenic landscape and shores but is always keen to explore other subjects with a more diverse and contrasting terrain. She has travelled in Arizona and painted the Grand Canyon and the lush Hawaiian Islands after being awarded the Alexander Graham Munro Travel Award from the Royal Scottish Watercolour Society in 2004. A recent trip to the Canary Islands introduced her to a barren and hostile volcanic landscape which is recreated in her pastel drawings depicting the black volcanic rock contrasting against the stunning blue ocean and dramatic sunsets she experienced during her visit. Alison prefers to leave the interpretation of her paintings up to the individual, saying ‘my subjects are only occasionally topographical as they are more about stimulating the eye through colours and textures and creating an impression of the landscape than they are about a particular location’. Alison lives in Edinburgh and has been working in WASPS studios since graduating from Edinburgh College of Art after completing a Masters Degree in Painting in 1998. She has work in public collections including Anglo American, Bank of Scotland, the NHS Art Collection, Standard Life Insurance, Edinburgh College of Art and the University of Stirling. Works are in private collections throughout Britain, Europe and the USA.

First Light, 2015 oil & wax on board, 61 x 61 cms signed verso and inscribed with initials lower right

Early Spring, 2015 oil & wax on board, 30.5 x 30.5 cms signed verso and inscribed with initials lower right

Land at Dusk, 2015 oil & wax on board, 30.5 x 30.5 cms signed verso and inscribed with initials lower right

Across the Land, Summer, 2015 oil & wax on board, 30.5 x 30.5 cms signed verso and inscribed with initials lower right

Change of Season, 2015 oil & wax on board, 30.5 x 30.5 cms signed verso and inscribed with initials lower right