The Strathearn Gallery
Helen Glassford, who seeks to capture the unique atmosphere of each landscape, opens a solo exhibition, Every Waking Moment at Crieff’s The Strathearn Gallery
One of Scotland’s most captivating and thought-provoking artists opens a new Solo Exhibition ‘Every Waking Moment’ at the Strathearn Gallery on 27 May.
For Helen Glassford, landscape painting goes far beyond the portrayal of the physical landscape we all see to something much deeper. Having been brought up in the Lake District and exposed to the great outdoors from an early age by her father, Helen has always felt connected to the landscape, whether it be the dramatic weathers she experiences close to her studio in north-east Fife, or the remote wilderness of the northwest of Scotland and its Islands.
Wherever Helen is, she seeks to fully immerse herself in all of the elements, to be able to capture the emotions and feelings of actually being there through her work, so that others can experience it too.
Helen in her paintings will use a number of different techniques to bring together the sensory and visual world. Sometimes the work will take on a more abstract expressionist approach, other times being a finer distilled handling of the paint. Contours of the land may be suggested through a wash of paint representing light rain or mist. Horizon lines coming and going, appearing and disappearing as distance becomes momentarily tangible and land masses float. This is the essence of capturing fleeting moments on a specific day and representing the personality of a place – every brushstroke bringing atmosphere and emotion to the painting.
‘Each landscape has an atmosphere and climate of its own,’ says Helen. ‘As you turn the corner and face the sun, the wind now at your back, the ambience shifts. With you and you within it.
‘This is an exhibition, about these moments, the natural language of nature and the connections we have with it. Noting the shifts in air, light, wind, the fast and fleeting flurries, interspersed with slower, timeless pauses. Light diamonds dance on the lochan, choreographed by the north wind. Disappearing as quickly as they came by the orchestration of passing clouds. Almost imperceptible changes but there all the same.
‘At other times peaty darkness drives through with January squalls leaving a noisy presence that lingers. Later, a silent twilight which has an awareness of its own. Every minute the atmosphere changes we are simply the participants or perhaps custodians of those moments. They are there to be sensed, there to be noticed and to be part of and inspired by.’