Highlights from the 2024 Edinburgh Art Fair
I find art fairs to be extremely overwhelming and usually avoid them, but with the EAF’s promise of a chill-out zone, where attendees could go and sit quality, away from the bustle of the fair, I thought I would give it a try.
And I’m glad I did. The fair itself was a manageable size, with an interesting mix of exhibitors. Both galleries and artists were hosting their own stands, which I prefer to gallery only events.
Given how neurodivergent the art world is, I hope that more art fairs will start offering a chill out or quiet space.
Here are some of the works/artists that caught my eye, one of these pieces came home with me and has been added to the WMA collection…
Catherine trained as an illustrator and studied oil painting at the Norfolk Painting School. From her studio in Kelso, she paints landscapes and people.
There is something very special in the moment where a lifetime of living and learning takes flight. This can be seen when a musician plays their chosen instrument, or when a parent cradles their newborn child. As with million year old landscapes and passing clouds, this moment is both fleeting and eternal. I live for those moments in my life as in my painting, and I am happy to report I find them more often than I perhaps deserve.
The Violin Lesson sums up the meaning of community to Catherine. Inspired by the Venezuelan initiative El Sistema, which helps children out of poverty through music education. Sistema Scotland was established in 2010 and through the venture Big Noise brings music education to areas of Scotland where children in particular suffer from under privilege. Find out more at: makeabignoise.org.uk
Oil painter of land and sea. Inspired by the beauty in wild nature, Dawn captures evocative memories of unique moments; the light shining through waves, dancing on water or shining through trees. The adventure of life and journeying along the shorelines result in unforgettable paintings embodying peace, freedom and light.
By simplifying the forms of the landscapes through the use of a limited and muted palette, I aim to extract the detritus to focus more on a spiritual serenity. The application of light and dark in my work serves not only to bring depth and perspective but also to emphasise the force and power of creation.
Louise was the artist selected to represent UK in the G7 of Art, Italy, 2017. She won the Lorenzo Il Magnifico Gold, 1st place for Sculpture at the Florence Biennale, October 2017. In April 2018, she received an ATIM International Award for Contemporary Art at the Museum of Art and Design New York. She has been a Member of the Royal Society of Sculptors since 2010
A body cast sculptor, Louise is predominantly known for life casting - covering famous people (such as Michael Portillo, Heather Mills, Eddie the Eagle Edwards), models and private clients with plaster. She then makes a copy of her model covered with biographical and other imagery which is cast into bronze. She works a lot with high achieving sportsman and her most widely reported show, ‘Body Casting Olympians’ at the Mall Galleries London 2012, featured collaborative work produced with Team GB models including Dame Kelly Holmes and Kriss Akabusi MBE.
Louise also produces smaller or larger than life sized figures and heads for interior and exterior display. Her latest body of work focuses on the regenerative and healing nature of gardens, with figures woven through with flowers and other growing forms.
She exhibits, and is collected internationally, both as a sculptor and draughtsman. Her drawings are usually from observation, comparatively small, complex and overlap like the surface design on her sculptures.
Laura Beaumont is an Emmy Award winning animation writer who studied Time Based Media at The Cass London. She has created hundred of hours of television, written and illustrated lots of books and is a pointless answer on Pointless.
Through her work in the tradition of book art, Laura uses the pre-existing media of antiquarian books to explore the subtext of human interaction. By simultaneously deconstructing and reconstructing, she creates small vignettes with the pages of old books.
I feel that the process I use is somewhat ‘Frankenstinian’ as, by means of sharp instrument, I bring to life my own creation by ruthlessly slicing and combining it with the working parts of someone else’s.
Although I am exploring the words and images that unfold in my hand and in my mind during my journey through the pages of the book - the final piece will always allow the audience a degree of interpretation.
Diane’s style of painting blends a contemporary approach with traditional subjects. Using a variety of media and working methods, inspired by places visited and loved she creates beautiful, vibrant and dynamic paintings from a truly original perspective. As a colourist, Diane’s love of bright, dramatic and contrasting hues finds vivid expression in her work.
The eyes, expression and the elegance of the line are integral to Krysia’s art. This is followed by an orchestration of colour. The pensive mood invites the spectator into the painting to contemplate the symbolism and given title.
A professional artist since the age of 15, Krysia was born in England to Polish parents and as such, her art has been influenced by Polish culture, fairy tales, theatre, circus and the fashion world.
Nancy aims to capture an essence rather than a literal interpretation of each subject. She enjoys not just the colour but the textural quality of paint and works with both to achieve the finished painting. The common thread in the subject matter of her paintings is her love of nature; inspired by trips around the coast of south west England and time spent growing plants in her small city garden.
As both a visual artist and professional performer/dancer, Natacha is often torn between a longing to move and an urge to observe the moments in time captured by a still image. This fascination with the human body and the connection between the physical form and spiritual being is conveyed throughout her abstract paintings.
Natacha’s collection of works stem from an emotive starting point, capturing a feeling upon the canvas. This focus on emotion creates dynamic pieces of work that are dramatic in feeling and theatrical in both form and colour.
I really enjoyed meeting Nikki on her stand and talking to her about her artwork. The colours and textures in her painting create a wonderful feeling of atmosphere.
Scottish landscapes, cities and villages are my main source of inspiration and are created with a mix of acrylic paints, inks, pastels, and charcoal, which is applied in colourful layers creating paintings that connect people to a place.
I studied Printed Textiles at the Scottish College of Textiles, where I graduated in 1994. For as long as I can remember I have been creating.
All my artwork is produced from my home studio, in Falkirk.
Sarah uses still life to explore the beauty and diversity in simple objects, natural forms, flowers, and water. Her eye is drawn to the play of light through glass or petals, upon fabric or glossy surfaces. She is intrigued by texture and the contrasts that can be created by placing different objects and materials next to each other.
She enjoys taking realism to the edge of achieving photorealism, but also likes to explore the abstract potential of objects, for example in the form of scrunched up paper, or in the way water distorts colours. Occasionally there’ll be a hint of surrealism within her pieces. Her intention is to capture the viewers imagination and engage both and emotional and intellectual response.
An artist and writer, Tara creates images with the desire to tell stories, expressing the power of life changing moments, the spirit within a living creature - creating a response and affinity within the viewer.
Inspired by a life-long love affair with nature and concerned with a growing disconnection to the environment and each other, Tara paints animals and birds, speaking through their eyes; trees of life formed by the bodies of humanity - a reminder that we are all, in the end, connected.
Basia Roszak left her roots in Poland and emigrated to Canada, before permanently moving to Glasgow in 1998. Driven by her multicultural experiences, she captures ordinary, everyday moments in highly expressive ways.
Basia`s distinctive work is highly emotive, tactile and often introspective and dream-like. She attempts to bring this multicultural experience to life in her work. Basia is a full-time artist, working in both traditional media (oils, watercolours/ink) and new media (computer animation, computer graphic design).
Flowers have been a recurring subject in Louisa's paintings and she takes great pleasure in skilfully incorporating natural forms in her work; she strives to capture a sense of stillness, tranquillity and calm in each piece.
Direct observation from nature is often combined with an imaginative and personal interpretations. Louisa's recent paintings are completed with professional quality acrylic paints and mediums and she employs a range of representational and abstract techniques. To ensure longevity, Louisa's finished work is given a final protective coating using a high-quality acrylic varnish.
Louisa was selected as a wildcard artist on the Sky Arts TV Landscape Artist of The Year in which she painted Waddesdon Manor.
I’ve been painting strong, stylised individual trees for well over a decade, but drawing the human figure, trying to capture moments in time and changing light is an interest that has always run parallel to my tree paintings.
All my figure paintings are from life, and I work in mixed media, using multi-layered combinations of collage, ink, paint and resin. I now also uses this technique for floral paintings, collaging torn paper to create lively bouquets of flowers against bright backgrounds and recycling old drawings and scrap papers into something new, working more sustainably.
Clare studied Fine Art Painting at Wimbledon School of Art in the late 1980s, continued with post-graduate studies at Goldsmiths University and more recently completed the Curwen Printmaking Diploma. She exhibits in galleries around the UK as well as at art fairs.
Clare’s abstract landscapes and seascapes are her expression of ‘place’, which range from journeys around the craggy Cornish coast, rugged North Yorkshire Moors – where she was brought up – and more recently the wide-open Sussex coastline. She recently moved to Knaresborough in North Yorkshire where she works from her home studio. Her finished pieces evoke the energy of a living, breathing landscape.
I am attracted to places with a strong sense of history. It is impossible to visit these places without imagining what has happened there. Immersing oneself in the landscape and feeling the weight of what has gone before can be a very powerful and emotional experience. It is this that I try to convey in my paintings, rather than a literal depiction of the landscape.
The Glencoe works were made in response to walking in The Hidden Valley, Glencoe.
June Studied for a BA(HONS) Drawing & Painting at Duncan of Jordanstone College of Art and graduated in 2001, she then won a British Council Scholarship to spend a Postgraduate year at The Academy of Fine Art, Budapest. Following this she completed an MA In Barcelona and Winchester at Winchester School of Art, this was followed by an Arts Management Certificate from Sussex University
Kirsty Mackay
With a degree in Fine Art/Printmaking, Kirsty views herself primarily as a maker. She uses the process of painting to build shape and form but also allowing for the calculated element of chance, spontaneity and flux. This results in a wealth of colour and pattern which although chaotic and consuming offers a new quiet discourse.
Although the work involves an understanding of the materials and it’s properties, the combination of controlled manipulation juxtaposed with the uncontrollable reveals an abstracted by often recognisable colour field.
The paintings allow me to lose myself and I hope to offer the viewer this opportunity also.
Award winning artist and published author, Moy’s ‘felt paintings’ are a pioneering development in the ancient craft of felting. Using merino fibres in the same way a painter uses brushstrokes, each vibrant, vivid piece achieves a depth of warmth and texture that paint alone cannot replicate.
In 2016 Moy was shortlisted the final three of her heat of Sky Arts ‘Landscape Artist of the Year’.
My work explores the relationship between landscape and memory, horizons and emotion. I love the creative exploration of dramatic weather and scenery, capturing the beauty of a glimpse of sunlight through a dark cloud, or a golden reflection on a deep distant water.
I paint where I love being: the Scottish outdoors with its mountains, lochs, beaches and thunderous skies. I paint instinctively and loosely, predominately using acrylic paint on canvas, often with the addition of gold leaf.
Addy’s current body of work is based on a journey of discovery led by her thoughts and feelings about ‘wild’ places. It is primarily prompted by readings based on both the biodiversity and climate crisis which have contributed to the lack of wild places in Britain. The work is part of a documentation of feeling towards both our separation and connection to nature. Her work explores nature, and rewilding specifically, as a magical entity; one that is seen in childhood fairy tales.
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