Former Pupil Anne Skinner (1987)

COLOURS, TEXTURES AND WONDER: THE ALLURE OF SCOTTISH SEASCAPES

DUNDAS STREET GALLERY, EDINBURGH  12 - 16 JUNE 2024

Anne began her artistic career with an Honours Degree in Painting from Edinburgh College of Art, Heriot-Watt University in 1992. She then gained a Masters’ Degree in European Fine Art from Winchester School of Art, University of Southampton in 1993; and was awarded a Hope Scott Trust Award to fund a trip to Harris in August 2019.

Passionate about the Scottish coastline, Anne focuses on native seascapes. She visits and immerses herself in the seascape; then works in her studio, building the painting in carefully observed layers. This method takes time and consideration, capturing the sublime beauty of the scene through intense colour and the careful abstraction of form, light and weather.

The result is a beautiful, jewel-like portrayal of the scene, a unity of painting and experience. The effect is reminiscent of Mondrian’s seascapes of the early 1900s in the use of a universal pictorial language representing the dynamic, evolutionary forces that govern nature and  human experience.

There is contrast and unease - where sky meets land, light meets dark, the sun is overcast by clouds and shadow. The depth and distance achieved by Anne in her compositions show the elusive quality of the coastlines, demonstrating that beauty is often out of reach and         unattainable.

We feel the desolate beauty, vast skies and expansive sandscapes of the East Lothian coastline, where shimmers of sun break through a threatening sky. The ethereal quality of the Islands of Barra and Harris, with saturated colours and a cool, almost dazzling brightness.

Recently, Anne has following in the footsteps of artists such as Peploe, painting at Mossyard Beach near the artists’ colony of Kirkcudbright, Dumfries & Galloway. She conveys the exceptional quality of light and wild beauty of Mossyard Beach, with a compelling elegance and expertly achieved simplicity.