The 2020 lockdown whilst a strange and unsettling period has proved fruitful creatively. In my role as art lecturer with UHI Argyll College I translated practical art classes into an online programme for art students – both challenging and rewarding and meant students could complete their visual arts studies. In my studio I’ve been loving experimenting with media and materials including printings inks.
In early 2020, I was awarded a VACMA (Creative Scotland Visual Artist & Craft Makers award) to support making a new body of prints inspired by a recent Arctic residency. With no access to a print studio or to a printing press (due to Covid 19) I’ve been making collage monoprints. The visit to Kingait Studios - Cape Dorseton Baffin Island and to the National Gallery in Ottawa inspired fresh input to combining different techniques and imagery. Throughout the summer, on Friday nights I’ve been watching the Essential School of Painting’s series of live artist’s talks on zoom and have also delivered a talk to share insights into my art practice over the last 30 years. A highlight is travelling to the Canadian arctic as 2019 artist in residence with the Friends of Scott Polar Research Institute on board CV Resolute.
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