A graduate of Edinburgh College of Art, her recent work has been inspired by summers spent on the Scottish islands of Lewis and Skye and in Southern Ireland. Her work includes oil paintings, watercolours and mixed media drawings of Scottish and Irish coastlines and her subjects range from Portobello beaches to Donegal bays.
Influenced by Turner’s seas, Constable’s clouds and abstract expressionist Jon Schueler, Jill Ashforth creates images which capture the fleeting, ethereal quality of a sky and the tranquillity of a calm sea before a storm.
Her passion for the seascape is rooted in childhood memories of family holidays spent in Scotland.

Telephone Number: 0131 557 2852

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 sixteen years I have taught children from three to eleven years old.
1987
I was invited to work on the Theatre Workshop Edinburgh Youth Theatre Performance Project, assisting with the construction and design of the set at the Pleasance, Edinburgh.
1987
The National Trust commissioned me as a freelance illustrator to produce illustrations for their ‘Victorians and Edwardians’ project used in schools throughout Lothian Region.

Exhibitions

July 1986 Group exhibition at the R.S.A., Edinburgh.
August 1986 Group exhibition at the English-Speaking Union, Edinburgh
December 1992 Group exhibition at the 369 Gallery, Edinburgh
December 1994 Group exhibition at the Leith library, Edinburgh
September 1997 Solo exhibition at The Engine Shed, Edinburgh
May 2004 Group exhibition, ‘Celebration’ at Patriothall Gallery, Edinburgh
August 2004 Festival Group exhibition at Patriothall Gallery, Edinburgh
September 2004 Solo exhibition, ‘Seascapes’, 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, Fife
July 2005 Group exhibition at Di Rollo Gallery, Edinburgh
September 2005 Group exhibition at ARC Gallery, Chicago, USA
September 2005 Group exhibition at Jerdan Gallery, Crail, Fife
December 2005- Group exhibition at Phoenix 369 Gallery, Edinburgh
Planned exhibitions
July 2006 Solo exhibition at Patriothall Gallery, Edinburgh