Statement:

Seascapes and Skies by Edinburgh artist Jill Ashforth
Her work includes mixed media works on paper and canvases inspired by a summer spent on Orkney and Shetland, visits to Skipness on the west coast of Scotland and walks around Edinburgh in the early morning. Her passion for capturing the ethereal nature of skyscapes is rooted in childhood memories of summer days spent on the Scottish coastline, gazing upwards at an ever changing sky.  The paintings portray fleeting moments of beauty.

Jill Ashforth’s influences include abstract expressionists Jon Schueler, Richard Diebenkorn and Mark Rothko.
Her work is often begun in situ and completed back at her studio in Stockbridge, Edinburgh
She has admired Scheuler’s work for many years.  An American who came to Scotland in the 1950s and fell in love with its landscape, Scheuler spent time in Mallaig on the West coast. There is a meditative feel to many of his pieces and Jill Ashforth
evokes this in her own, ethereal work.

To view her work and read more about the artist visit:
www.flickr.com/photos/jillashforth
www.myspace.com/jillashforth


Jill Ashforth
Nationality: Scottish

Education and Qualifications
Postgraduate
Qualifications:            Postgraduate Diploma in Advanced Professional Studies at Edinburgh University.
Postgraduate Certificate in Primary Art and Design, Moray House, Edinburgh.
Postgraduate Certificate in Primary Education at the Northern College of Education, Aberdeen.
Qualifications:            BA HONS in Drawing and Painting at Edinburgh College of Art.

Career History
1988 – present      As a teacher at Corstorphine Primary School, Edinburgh for twenty years I have taught children from three to eleven years old.

Exhibitions
May 2004            Group exhibition Patriothall Gallery, Edinburgh
August 2004      Festival Group exhibition at Patriothall Gallery, Edinburgh
September 2004      Solo exhibition at Patriothall Gallery, Edinburgh
December 2004      Group Christmas exhibition at Di Rollo Gallery, Edinburgh
December 2004      Group Christmas exhibition at Mercat Gallery, Culross
July 2005            Group exhibition at Mercat Gallery, Culross
July 2005            Group exhibition at Di Rollo Gallery, Edinburgh
September 2005      Group exhibition at ARC Gallery, Chicago
September 2005      Group exhibition at Jerdan Gallery, Crail
December 2005      Group exhibition at Phoenix 369 Gallery, Edinburgh
July 2006            Solo exhibition at Patriothall Gallery, Edinburgh
September      2006      Group exhibition at Phoenix Gallery, Edinburgh
September 2006      Group exhibition at Imagination Art Gallery, Edinburgh
September 2006       Group exhibition at Artisanat Gallery, Perth
December 2006      Group exhibition at Art at the Airport, Edinburgh
January 2007      Group exhibition at Fisher Studio Gallery, Pittenweem
March 2007      Group exhibition at the R.S.A., Edinburgh
August 2007      Group exhibition at Jerdan Gallery, Crail
August 2007      Group festival exhibition at Phoenix Gallery, Edinburgh
October 2007        Joint exhibition at Phoenix Gallery
January 2008            Solo exhibition at the Meffan Gallery, Forfar, Angus
January 2008            Group exhibition at Falle Fine Art gallery, Jersey
April 2008            Solo exhibition at Bonhoga Gallery, Weismill, Shetland
May 2008            Solo exhibition at the Loft Gallery, St Margaret’s Hope, Orkney
October 2008            Solo exhibition at Patriothall Gallery, Edinburgh