Kate Downie
July 18th, 2018

Three Season News 2018 – Travels North

In June 2018 we moved house after 33 years living in Edinburgh. Leaving the capital city of Scotland to live and work in a village in rural Fife is a bit daunting but very exciting and feels like positive change.

Plans are afoot for a large custom designed studio built in the garden but until then art activities will happen between the Edinburgh studio and our garage in Fife!  As you can imagine I have been somewhat distracted by all this activity and so apologise for the lack of communication via my website.

 

 

 

 

 

Site for the new studio

Moving Mountain Monoprints

Inspired by last year’s trip on the Norwegian Hurtigruten ship sailing through the Lofoten islands I created a series of ‘Moving Mountain’ monoprints, a part of the live printmaking event during the ‘Ages of Wonder’ exhibition at the end of 2017, which were subsequently exhibited in the Academicians Gallery of the Royal Scottish Academy in February/ March this year.  Two of the best of this series have entered the permanent collection of the RSA and are currently on tour with editioned etchings by other printmaking members of the RSA: Delia Baillie, Stuart Duffin, Paul Furneaux, Jessica Harrison, Marion Smith and Frances Walker.

When this exhibition comes to Gracefield Arts Centre in November I will be running a one-day monoprinting workshop – please contact arts@dumgal.gov.ukfor booking information.

From the Concrete to the Sublime

 

 

Those of you who know of my interest in drawing the Forth Estuary Bridges may have caught sight of my new pictures of the Queensferry Crossing in From the Concrete to the Sublime – a fascinating group show curated by Derrick Guild at the Scottish Gallery in June this year.

 

 

New Day Crossing, study II 2018

 

Depth of Field – until August 18th 2018

During the stormy months of February and March this year I visited the island of Iona and the  Ardnamurchan Peninsula to make initial studies towards the completion of large watercolours  currently being exhibited in Depth of Field at the beautifully sited Tatha Gallery in Newport on Tay until August 18th alongside the work of Helen Glassford and Paul Furneaux

We will be giving a talk there about our work in the gallery, in conversation with fellow artist and gallery director Helen Glassford, on August 5th 11am -12noon

 

 

 

 

 

 

‘Three Calm Pink Stones, Iona’

Watercolour on yuan paper on silk 2018

 

PPSSA at Wall Projects, Montrose

As one of the 10 past presidents of the SSA (Society of Scottish Artists) I will be exhibiting work in PPSSA at Wall Projects in Montrose which will see the launch of a brand new annual Presidents Prize for the SSA  from August 10th to September 1st

Planes,Trains and Automobiles

Perhaps my Anatomy of Haste Festival Exhibition at the Scottish Gallery last year has inspired the curatorship of this photography show Planes, Trains & Automobiles at the Scottish National Portrait Gallery; I have been invited to give a lecture about my work in the context of this excellent collection at the Hawthornden Lecture Theatre at lunchtime on August 21st and look forward to seeing many of you there during the Edinburgh Festival

‘Pudong Pacific’ oil on Canvas, 2017

 

The publication Anatomy of Haste which accompanied last years Festival exhibition at the Scottish Gallery is now at last available to buy via this website, and those of you with an Estuary Catalogue from 2015- hold on to it- now entirely out of print and so getting more valuable daily!

2019

.. And finally  to announce representation of my work  in London by the gallery  Panter and Hall where I will be having my first London solo exhibition in 20 years, opening on April 30th2019. More about the progress of that work and the new studio-to-be in the next update…

November 14th, 2016

Autumn to Winter News 2016-7

 

Academicians IV

Fall Light, All Trains Lead to Glasgow. Screen print 2016

 

Academicians IV at Glasgow Print Studio at Trongate 103, Glasgow opens on Friday 18th November. The show features four new prints  are a part of my new series ‘Train Eyes and the Scotrail Philosopher’ co-published with Glasgow Print Studio last month, and example of which can be seen here.

The four artists represented in this show are Christopher Le Brun RAAnnie Cattrell RSA and Stephen Chambers RA and myself. The exhibition will run over the holiday season until January 22nd 2017.

 

 

Span – A Tale of Three Bridges

 

From my Favourite Car Park. pastel 2016

SPAN – A Tale of Three Bridges comes to Kirkcaldy Galleries in Fife. This   exhibition celebrates the three great bridges across the Forth estuary. The Forth Rail Bridge and Road Bridge were engineering marvels of their age, and with the Queensferry Crossing nearing completion it is the perfect time to explore their stories in a two part exhibition at the Galleries.

The first part of the show features a range of amazing historic images of the bridges. Learn about the brave and ingenious Victorian briggers who built the Rail Bridge, and the ‘spider-men’ who scaled the dizzying heights of the Road Bridge.

These  bridges have also inspired me as an artist, & the 2nd part of the display features over 20 works dating from 1999 right up to the present day, and feature a range of original drawings and prints, including works recently completed of the Queensferry Crossing. SPAN is the major winter exhibition at Kirkcaldy Galleries, and runs until the      26th February 2017.