Details

First Name	Stephen
Last Name	Ratomski
Username	stephenratomski
Website	http://www.stephenratomski.com
Region	Fife
Disciplines	Painting, Printmaking
Themes	Abstract, Landscape, Environment

Statement

I begin my artworks with ideas based on a feeling or connection with something I have observed. These observations can arise anywhere – on a walk, while travelling or visiting a beach or a city. Almost daily, I walk through the Scottish countryside local to my studio and home. I record the visual information I gather on these walks with photographs, sketches, collaged images and notes.

Back in my studio I shape these observations into colour relationships and compositions. I use brushstrokes, scratches and scrapes spontaneously in both my paintings and monotypes. I enjoy using geometry and a strong sense of design to balance colour, texture and shape in my work.

Biography

Stephen Ratomski was born in Dunfermline with a Scottish mother and a Polish father. He studied at Edinburgh College of Art and taught art and design for over 30 years at Queen Anne High School, Dunfermline and Inverkeithing High School. He is a member of Fife Dunfermline Print Workshop, Paisley Art Institute and the Society of Scottish Artists.

He has exhibited in group shows with the RSW, RSA and SSA. In 2011 he received The John Gray Award from the RSW and in 2019 The House for an Art Lover Award from Paisley Art Institute. In 2012 he completed a four-week residency at Hospitalfield funded by a Visual Artists and Crafts Maker Award from Creative Scotland.He founded Fife Polish Arts Group in 2005 to explore the cultural links between Scotland and Poland which resulted in three multi-media group exhibitions and an associated cultural programme.