Borders Art Fair has teamed up with the Society of Scottish Artists to showcase four of its diverse and richly-talented members at this month’s event in Kelso.
Artists and makers from across Scotland will also be bringing a digital dimension to BAF with online talks and workshops exploring everything from composition and lino printing to working with watercolour and creative projects for children.
The art fair will feature over 70 exhibitors, artists, makers, galleries, studios and collectives and takes place at the Borders Event Centre in Kelso from the 25-27 March.
Exhibitors include painters, sculptors, original print-makers, digital artists, illustrators and others – presenting work at prices to suit all tastes and pockets.
Among the artists in BAF’s special Spotlight area, which this year is being guest curated by the SSA, will be Mary Morrison, who is originally from the Isle of Harris but is now based south of Edinburgh.
The sea is a constant theme in her work and relates to the theory of geopoetics – the relationship between an individual and the landscape that has shaped them, something you carry with you, ‘a geography of the mind’.
She evokes a sense of place through fluid paint effects which often combine with graphic elements from maps and music.
Frances Fergusson, BAF director, said: ‘The SSA is Scotland’s oldest and largest artist-led organisation in Scotland, and they have come up with a fantastic selection of four very exciting artists who we are delighted to put in the spotlight.
‘This year will be very special for us as it marks our comeback after COVID, and so many people are looking forward to being able to come together in person and enjoy a really colourful and vibrant celebration of creativity.
‘However, we are also making the best of digital technology and are giving people the chance to hear artists speak about their work, or take part in workshops, wherever they are in the world.’
The other SSA exhibitors will be:
Ade Adesina: Born in Nigeria 1980, Ade is a full time artist based in Aberdeen. His work is a visual commentary around the ideas of ecology and our ever-changing world. He is a traditional printmaker, painter and sculptor. Ade combines cultures, producing work that makes people reflect on the past, present and the future.
Hetty Haxworth: A printmaker for the last 25 years since leaving The Glasgow School of Art, she has exhibited widely in the UK and abroad. She lives and works from a studio in rural Aberdeenshire. Her prints document the movement of light over the local landscape, capturing a moment in colour. Regular furrows and pylon lines provide stripes, ploughed fields provide a colourful patchwork and framing this scene are the man-made structures, the rigid lines of fences and the cattle barns, turning the landscape into a geometric study.
Michelle Bianco: A ceramicist, the starting point for Michelle’s work is always walking and sketching. She is inspired by forms, patterns and textures in the world around her – the mesh of branches on wintry trees, the geometric patterns in eroded rock faces or the intricate structures of pods, leaves and petals. In the studio she works with a range of stoneware. All pieces are hand built using a range of techniques; pinching, coiling and slab building.
Oil paints on aluminium foil painter Gill Walton, who is taking part in the Borders Art Fair (Photo: Colin Hattersley)
Jamie McAteer, President of SSA, said: ‘We are delighted to be working with Borders Art Fair to showcase a selection of our members and what the society has to offer to artists. Our four pre-selected artists have very diverse practices from large scale lino cuts, screen printing, painting and ceramics.
‘We look forward to bringing the essence of the society to the Borders.’
Gill Walton SSA, who is also exhibiting at the event, will be presenting a talk about The Wonders of Composition.
Her paintings are contemporary and figurative using pigment-rich oil paints on aluminium.
They merge influences as diverse as historical portraiture, Jungian psychology and dream worlds to create a unique visual language deep in metaphor which can sometimes pose more questions than answers.
The BAF online talks and workshops, produced in collaboration with Allanbank Arts,
include:
- The Wonders of Composition: Gill Walton SSA. Gill will take you through the basics of the classical composition techniques that she uses in her own stunning work.
- Lino Printing Workshop: Emma Jones. Emma will take you through the process of creating your own linocut. No press required.
- Artist’s Talk: Frippy Jameson. Sculptor Frippy Jameson talks from her studio in the Scottish Borders, takes about her working practice as a sculptor.
- Working in Watercolour: Linda Foster. Linda discusses the processes she uses to create her distinctive, beautiful paintings.
- How to Master the Head: George Donald RSA RSW. George, art tutor and Visiting Professor of Drawing and Anatomy at the University of Central Florida and the Royal Drawing School, explores the anatomy of the head, and how to master the drawing of it.
- Experimenting with Mixed Media Part 1: Nicky Beckett. Nicky will demonstrate techniques for you to experiment with, using a variety of exciting and different mediums.
- Experimenting with Mixed Media Part 2: Nicky Beckett. Nicky will show you more techniques and encourage you to break all the rules.
- Art Projects for 8-12 year olds with Allanbank Arts: Liz Hardy and Justine Miller. Liz and Justine demonstrate two projects that any budding young artist will learn from.
- Encourage your children to get creative and have some fun! Craft Ideas for 3 to 8-year-olds with Allanbank Arts: Liz Hardy and Justine Miller. Liz and Justine present four fun projects, that any child (or adult) will enjoy, using materials readily available in the home.
In addition to the event itself there will be tours of the stunning art collection at Marchmont House, Greenlaw, on 26 and 27 March.
For the full line-up of exhibitors, details of the talks and further information about BAF see https://www.bordersartfair.com.
TAGS
FOLLOW US
