Amongst the Trees

It’s a beautiful June morning on the edge of Summer: My Art life is busy but as the bees hum and the grasses grow long around Birchtree Studio this morning  its hard to see what the rush is!

I’m delighted to invite you to ‘Amongst the Trees’ at the Scottish Gallery where I will be launching a new suite of tree mono-prints amongst a veritable forest of excellent artists’ works exploring this infinitely fascinating  subject. I am especially excited to be exhibiting with my friend Andrea Geile whose magnificent corton steel sculptures will feature centre stage. This show is on all the way until July 27th

I will also be showing a two works in London  in ‘Beyond the Clouds’

Kate Downie Interactive Invitation

Here is one of my  new mono-prints, ‘The Glow Tree’ created on my Hawthorn Press at Birchtree Studio, featuring an ash, a maple and a Cherry tree. Thats a lot of trees in one sentence!

 

ArtMovesFife

What can I say about ArtMovesFife but that (so far) its a wonderful pilot project covering 6 months, funded by Creative Scotland which is pulling together an amazing number of diverse Fife-based artists  in conversation about our climate crisis through  slow journeys and art actions/workshops along the way.. Want to join in, go on the mailing list, be a community participant ? Please explore the website and sign up! Or just enjoy the journeys by reading our blog.

Yesterday we completed ArtMove journey 2A with ten artists, – a combination  of train journey ( the maiden voyage from Kirkcaldy to Leven re-opened branch line – direct line Edinburgh to Levenmouth Bay!) and walking/paddling the coastal path to Lower Largo.

Here we are picnicking in the sublime walled garden of Silverburn Park, soon to be adjacent to a community  artists & makers community by 2026, already a hub of community activity in nature.

 

 

Dead or Alive (Conversations with Joan)

This painting was co-created with  the input of 11 local children, was inspired by/ is a follow on from  my earlier painting project Four Children 1962-2022, after Joan Eardley.

It can currently be seen in the Royal Scottish Academy in Edinburgh until June 16th, along  with 10 galleries full of great work by living artists from Scotland.

However, if you miss it, you’ll be able to catch it as the centrepiece of my forthcoming show at Glasgow Woman’s Library from September 2024-January 2025-

Much more about this in my next newsletter.

Have a wonderful summer!

Kate

It’s hard to believe it’s been a full five years since moving to Fife, and 4 years since the completion of Birchtree Studio.  It has become a joyful place of creative contemplation, play and production which we love to share with our visitors. As I contemplate the changing colours in the garden this early Autumn, I’m excited to share my art news for the coming calendar year.

 

Studio Visit weekend

On November 4th-5th 2023 we are hosting a Birchtree Studio Visit Weekend. Click to reserve a visit via Eventbrite..

I’ll be showing an archive of previously unseen notebook  drawings and watercolours, having learnt new conservation techniques to extract them from 25 years of journals. Work in progress paintings, new drawings  and a 2023  collaborative print for sale. We look forward to seeing you!

 

 

 

Tracers – a collaboration

TRACERS :  I am delighted to  been invited to collaborate with Glasgow-based performance artist Stephanie Black-Daniels, in this new cross-generation project  between October 23- February ’24.  It will be based on Stephanie’s research  into the history & experiences of women ‘Tracers’ in the Glasgow Shipbuilding Industry in the early/mid 20^th Century.  I am excited about working with Stephanie, returning in a new form the industrial maritime genre that I explored back in the ’80s & 90’s. The project concerns the nature of movement in drawing and the lives of women.  Tracers will culminate in a performance of drawing and dance at the Gallery of Modern Art in Glasgow in February, and is supported by Creative Scotland.

TRACERS   R&D @stephanieblackdaniels      @creativescots collaborator @katedownie56 and producer @jojo.maffyews

Scottish Women Artists – 250 years of Challenging Perceptions

I recommend a visit to the Dovecot if you haven’t been already to see Scottish Women Artists – 250 years of Challenging Perceptions. Its a beautifully curated exhibition, and my work from the City Arts Centre Collection  ‘Study for Three Bridge Evening’ is is represented adjacent to a magnificent Catherine seascape by Joan Eardley.   Here I am at the preview with co-curator James Knox, director of the Fleming Collection, and Charlotte Rostek who wrote the excellent accompanying publication.  until January 8th 2024

 

A painting for the Paris Olympics ! – Dialogue 

This exhibition was sadly cancelled due to Brexit issues

We went to Paris by train instead on holiday and had a much needed holiday, but I was so sad for this event not to take place. No longer being a part of Europe is a tragedy for Artists and for everyone, we are intellectually and creatively  the poorer for it.

 

 

 

 

 

‘Conversations with Joan’

a forthcoming Solo Exhibition 2024

‘Siblings’ will open next September 2024 at the award winning Glasgow Women’s Library, and will feature the body of work created during my 2021-22 research and ‘completion’ of the unfinished painting by Joan Eardley ‘Two Children’, as well as my final work ‘Four Children 1962-2022′. I am currently working on a series of  painted banners for this exhibition which involve collaborative work with siblings of all ages.

More news to follow on this as the project develops. This exhibition with an associated program of workshops and talks and a publication launch.