exhibitions & events 2018

Gregor Smith

"Most of the work on display is the result of several recent visits to parts of Scotland during winter months, a season which is of most interest to me because of changes in weather, light and atmosphere.

A working trip to the Orkney Isles in November 2017 included the mainland, South Ronaldsay and a stay on Eday, a small island last sketched in the summer of 1975 from the deck of the 'Orcadia'. The weather in November was quite different of course and provided much greater scope for response.
 
Part of the previous November was spent on Berneray, a small island at the top of North Uist offering remarkable visual information before a dawn sea crossing to Oban from Lochboisdale.
 
Other visual material may be glimpsed too as ships alter course or cruise past coastlines about to be enveloped in black rain or sleet as off Hoy or Kirkwall or the coast of Norway.
 
All information is gathered on-site using sketchbooks and using drawing materials suitable for working outside occasionally in difficult conditions due to the weather. Information is subsequently explored further and developed into a final work or left for future reference. Sourced material is derived from natural phenomena important to me, for example, changes in weather patterns, the resultant effects of light on colours shapes and textures creating a more clearly defined atmospheric composition."
 
Gregor Smith studied drawing and painting at Edinburgh College of Art under Sir Robin Philipson and James Cumming 1962-66. A post -graduate scholarship with a highly-commended endorsement was followed by a travelling scholarship to Florence and Rome 1966-7.
 

Image: Gregor Smith, 'Stephen's Arch, Eday, Orkney', 2018, 32 x 39 cm.