About Catriona

Watercolour artist and ceramist living in Cowal, in the West Coast of Scotland.

I have a lifelong passion and love of Watercolour painting. “They fascinate me, they seem to have a life and mind of their own, like life itself – unpredictable” 

Working wet on wet ripens the temptation to indulge the imagination. The West Coast of Scotland is my inspiration, land and lochs, seas and skies from Cowal to the Highlands and Islands. 

I love my islands and many of my paintings are taken from various visits to and stays on the Isle of Arran, Tiree, Jura, Skye, Islay, Mull, Iona, Colonsay, Bute, Gigha, Harris and Lewis and of course St Kilda. 

All these places hold a mystery about them, that captures the heart.  My immediate surroundings and garden too provide lots of interesting material. 

During lockdown I became fascinated in the many crows, ravens and jackdaws in the garden. Also along my shores are curlew, heron and oystercatcher. 

This gave me a different direction, amalgamating them into the landscape where they almost fused into being.  I am an Artist Member of the Paisley Arts Institute and a member of COWAL OPEN STUDIOS, an annual September event and a fine opportunity to visit many artists in the Cowal area of Argyll during one long weekend. 

www.cowalopenstudios.co.uk 

I  recently had work accepted for the RI in the Mall Galleries in London. Currently exhibiting at; Castle Gallery, Rothesay; Stables Gallery, Inveraray; Seagull Gallery, Gourock; Jetty Gallery, Oban and in the annual PAI exhibition - Paisley.  

CERAMICS I also create hand-built one-off ceramics, which can range from secret boxes to wall hangings or whatever inspires on the day, a song, a poem, some quirky wee happening.  

Working organically which allows the clay to inform me as to what shape and form things will take. Local beaches often gift interesting handles for pots and boxes. 

View work at: www.facebook.com/kelt1a and  www.flickr.com/people/cowalcat/  

I trained as a typographer and for many years ran my own graphic design agency in Edinburgh.

Strong family connections have allowed the Isle of Bute to be part of my life for the past forty plus years, culminating in a permanent move to the island a few years ago.

Creative Glass has been lurking in my background since my great grandfather came to Edinburgh from Bohemia to set up what became a very successful glass blowing workshop.

When looking for a creative process that would ultimately lend itself to island life and the inspirations from my surroundings, glass was an obvious choice.

So began the renovation of our outhouse into a workshop and studio, and the transportation and Installation of a large and heavy kiln - and so the Isle of Bute Fused Glass Art was born!

In a world of sustainability I pride myself in creating almost all my work using up-cycled and repurposed glass. Having built up great relationships with larger glass producers it helps their environmental responsibilities and impact to sell off-cuts to me, and gives me the opportunity to use top quality COE90 glass in my work.

As an abstract fused glass artist my inspiration comes not only from my surroundings, but also from these off-cuts arriving in my workshop.

With numerous visits to the kiln, and using varying temperature controls, I can create sculpted 3D effects as well as flat polished glass.

Every one of my creative glass pieces are unique. I love to experiment with different techniques, different subjects, different colours, but always with a view to creating a piece that you will love for years and hopefully for generations to come. 

Ed was born in Glasgow and studied drawing and painting in evening classes at Glasgow School of Art under Charlie Boyle. He turned professional in 1993 and has since exhibited in the Royal Scottish Academy, the Royal Glasgow Institute and galleries in U.K., U.S.A., Germany, France and Russia.

"When I began painting full time my focus at first, was on making ends meet. I took on commissions and did a lot of portraits. Galleries began asking for work and I suppose I relaxed somewhat, took stock of where I thought I should be going artistically and started moving around a bit and developing. 

Although I do figurative pieces, my sources are mostly hills and coast. I'm out on the hills every week and there is a natural drama there with changing cloud and weather patterns and a wee element of risk. You soak up (sometimes literally) the atmosphere, and the challenge, when you stand looking at the canvas is to intensify the reality of the experience. I know it is essential to seek new experiences to keep the work fresh, avoid repetition and keep myself charged.

While I'm a great admirer of the Glasgow boys and the Colourists and of course they are still relevant to what is going on with many Scottish painters today, it is part of the magic of the business that I can go and see a show with the work of Francis Bacon, Max Ernst or Andy Warhol and come out feeling mesmerised.

At the end of the day it all comes down to communication and you really want to express yourself in the best way you can." 

Lynn Hunter M.E.F.A. B.A. (Hons).

Lynn is a graduate of Glasgow School of Art in Fine Art. She completed her Master's Degree in European Fine Art in Barcelona with Winchester School of Art.

Her work expresses an aesthetic interest in repetition and pattern, examining both the natural and urban landscape through a diversity of media.

She lived in Paris between 2005 and 2016, and is now based in Normandy. 

She continues to work as a fine artist and has exhibited in many venues throughout Scotland, including the Royal Scottish Academy Paisley Art Institute, where she won the Creativity Prize in the Scottish Drawing Competition, and both Glasgow and Edinburgh Print Studios. 

She has also exhibited in Paris, Normandy, Milan, Barcelona, Washington D.C., Munich, and London. She had her first solo show in Normandy at the Centre Culturel Léopold-Sédar-Senghor.