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Frances Law
Barberswells,
Craigton, by Kirriemuir
DD8 5NZ
Telephone: 01575 530248
website: www.franceslaw.co.uk
e-mail: corr_law@btopenworld.com
WORDS ON WORK
Pre-conceived ideas
of how something should look interfere with my ability to see the world
as it is. To see, as opposed to look at, takes time. I have discovered
that what I haven¹t drawn or painted I have never really seen - I have
only barely looked at. The transference of information from eye to hand
allows me to see clearly again. I have also found that the less time I
spend seeing the more distant I become from myself and all things.
My inspiration is drawn
from natural forms found within my own environment and on the beaches
of the Inner Hebrides. I walk a lot. While I walk my mind becomes restful.
I have moments of intense clarity where an idea merges with a leaf, a
stone, the bones of a rabbit, a bird. I often feel reconnected to my childhood
at these points when my awareness of my surroundings was more alive. I
pick up lots of things while I am out walking and take them back to my
studio. Through drawing and painting these objects, I am constantly re-discovering
the world about me and the inner world within me. My intention is to create
an image which evokes the essence of the subject rather than any attempt
to replicate or copy nature. I like the idea of being able to convey the
same feeling of restfulness and calmness that I experience while out walking.
I have come to know nature not as a spectator but as a participant.
In trying to convey
something of the essence of the subject, the external form is simplified.
Each detail observed in depth is subtly modelled and pared down to its
essentials and thus discloses itself to the viewer in its entirety. This
method best describes for me the real meaning of the subject or at least
the experience that makes it significant to me.
I enjoy playing with
composition. I am interested in the idea of my eye being like a camera
lens. I love the careful composition, perfect lighting and precise focus
that a photograph can offer. I often use viewfinders to help me select
an area to home in on. This gives my compositions a cropped and trimmed
feel like a photograph. I zoom in on an area and magnify it, freeing it
from the traditional still life format. My understanding of reality comes
very much from this microscopic perspective.
The influence of Far
Eastern Art and Literature on my work has unconsciously driven me to produce
an uncrowded space, an invitation to meditation. At first I think that
my work seems easily accessible. I hope that through contemplation my
paintings yield up their true meaning, drawing on the unseen, going beyond
initial appearance revealing some of the power and energy of nature.
Today I am no longer
content to simply paint the objects. I find that I am drawn to assembling
the objects in some kind of order which allows me to explore the space
within and around them. This helps me to understand more about the intimate
workings of nature and the universal truth that lies within.
SELECTED SOLO EXHIBITIONS
2003
Circle Gallery, Edinburgh
2002
Scottish Natural Heritage
Battleby, Redgorten
2001
Meffan Museum and Art
Gallery, Forfar
2000
Peter Potter Gallery,
Haddington
1996
Open Eye Gallery, Edinburgh
1994
Atholl Gallery, Dunkeld
1990
Pearce Institute, Glasgow
SELECTED GROUP EXHIBITIONS
2002
Iona House Gallery, Woodstock, Oxford
1999
Dept. for International
Development, East Kilbride
Gallery Forteviot, Perthshire
1998
Frames Gallery, Perth
Open Eye Gallery, Edinburgh
Roger Billcliffe Fine Art, Glasgow
1997
Angus College, Arbroath
McClelland Gallery. Glasgow
SSAC, RSA, Edinburgh
Blackcombe Art Gallery, Cork
N.S. Gallery, Glasgow
Roger Billcliffe Fine Art, Glasgow
Duncan Millar Fine Art, London
1995
Adam Gallery, Bath
Open Eye Gallery, Edinburgh
Compass Gallery, Glasgow
1993
Seagate Gallery, Dundee
1992
Seagate Gallery, Dundee
Compass Gallery, Glasgow
1988
RGI McClelland Gallery, Glasgow
Thumb Gallery, London
1987
Glasgow School of Art
Transmissions Gallery, Glasgow
Main Fine Art, Glasgow
1986
Main Fine Art, Glasgow
1985
Kunsthalle, Nurnburg
Fine Art Society, Glasgow
1981
Johan Marcus Gallery,
Amsterdam
1980
Compass Gallery, Glasgow
AWARDS
2000 Scottish Arts Council
in partnership with Angus Council
1996 Angus Artist Exhibition First Prize
1990 South Square Trust Award
1989 Oppenheim-John Downes Memorial Award
WORK IN PUBLIC AND
PRIVATE COLLECTIONS
Scotus College, Glasgow
Angus Council
Glasgow School of Art
Private Collections in Scotland, England, Holland, France and USA
MEDIA COVERAGE
Eleanor Howie: Heartlands
FM 28 July 1994
Neil Mudie: 'Reporting Scotland' BBC Television, 7 September 1990
Maureen Devitt: 'Flash of Inspiration puts Lighthouse Families in Focus',
Glasgow Herald, 2 October 1990
Clare Henry: 'Review ' Glasgow Herald, 28 September 1990
Clare Flowers: 'Sentimental Journey to the Lighthouse', Scotland on
Sunday, 9 September 1990
Eleanor Ironside: 'Flashbacks to Heydays of Lighthouses', Sunday Times,
23 September 1990
Ian Black: 'A Vanishing Species Captured in Oil', Glasgow Herald,
3 September 1990
Clare Henry: 'Following in the Footsteps of Rembrandt¹, Glasgow Herald,
May 1986
Clare Henry: Imaginative Impact from Graduates', Glasgow Herald, 17
July 1980
PUBLICATIONS AND
LECTURES
Seeing and Drawing¹
LEAD Scotland Conference, Hilton Hotel, Dunkeld April 2002
'The Art of Drawing using the Right Side of the Brain' - Dumfries and
Galloway Arts Society, 1998
'Making Ways for Northern Lights' Artists Newsletter, June 1992
WORKSHOPS AND TEACHING
2002 - Present
Part-time tutor, Duncan of Jordanstone College of Art, Dundee University
Artist in residence, Stroke Unit Stracathro Hospital, Tayside Healthcare
Arts Trust
2002
Environmental art workshops,
Scottish Natural Heritage Battleby, Redgorten
Adult art workshops, Angus Arts, Brechin
2001
Exploring Memory - collaboration
with Brian Macabe, writer in residence at A.K.Bell library,
Perth & Kinross Arts Service
Arts Gym, series of residences working in partnership with Angus Council
Community Learning/ Scottish Arts Council.
2000 - 2002
Part-time lecturer Perth
College
2000
Drawing workshop, Aboyne
Arts Society
Arts Advocacy Project, Seagate Gallery, Dundee
Art and Archaeology, Perth & Kinross Arts Service
Environmental art workshops, SNH Battleby, Perth & Kinross Arts Service
Life drawing workshops, Perth & Kinross Arts Service
1999
A Sense of Belonging - one week family workshop, Isle of Iona
Environmental Art Workshops, Perth & Kinross Arts Service
Life Drawing Workshops, Perth & Kinross Arts Service
Young McManus, Drawing Workshops, McManus Gallery, Dundee
Drawing workshop, Dumfries and Galloway Arts Society, Gracefield Arts
Centre.
1998
Drawing Workshops in five towns, Perth & Kinross Arts Service
1996 present
Developed the Art of
Drawing Courses - self initiated day workshops and evening classes for
adults in various locations across Tayside
1990 1995
Continuing Education Arts Worker
TRAINING
2002
SVQ Units ---- Facilitate
Learning in Groups through Presentation and Activities
Facilitate Learning through Demonstration and Instruction
Artlink Central -- Prison Skills and Mental Health Awareness
1976-80
Glasgow School of Art, BA (Hons) Fine Art
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