The project Scotland at Dusk is a series of large-scale monochromatic impressions of an iconic landscape, made possible with financial assistance from the Visual Artists Award, Aberdeen City & Aberdeenshire 2012. The body of themed work consists of drawings on wooden panels using traditional media such as charcoal, chalk and pencil and prints using the techniques of etching, dry-point and aquatint. The work has been exhibited at VISUAL ARTS SCOTLAND and the RSA in Edinburgh and one piece was on display at the DERWENT ART PRIZE exhibition in the Mall Galleries in London.
The quintessence of the Scottish landscape is not restricted to the boundaries of national parks or nature reserves, but one that can be seen from any doorstep in the country. This is a landscape that deserves rediscovery. Having lived and worked in Scotland for the last six years, I explore the landscape not only from an outsider’s point of view, but also in a different light. I show Scotland at dusk through the integration of traditional influences and modern ideas. The Visual Artists Award enabled me to create a body of themed work, consisting of drawings on wooden panels using traditional media such as charcoal, chalk and pencil and prints using the techniques of etching, dry-point and aquatint.
Inspired by The Hague School, whose emphasis lay on painting nature as they saw it, I create scenes at dusk, that time of day when tone takes precedence over colour, aiming to convey the mood within a limited palette of colours. The Scottish landscape lends itself greatly to interpretation in black, grey and white. Muted tones can dramatise so much better the degree of ruggedness, vastness or stillness surprisingly found so close to our civilisation.
Initially defined by dramatic outlines on the horizon, the scene evolves as the viewer becomes accustomed, as when you are entering a darkened room. Subtle nuances reveal themselves, unveiling increasing layers of detail. The impression conceals and reveals, aiming to draw the viewer in, to uncover what is often forgotten or taken for granted. As the landscape has a significant impact on the consciousness of people, the manner of execution allows the audience to see their relationship with the land in a different way.