Beth Robertson Fiddes
One of the most exciting and unique Scottish landscape painters working today, few who have seen her paintings forget the impact they create. With a growing international reputation, Beth’s solo exhibition ‘Light & Tide’ opens in the Strathearn Gallery, Crieff on 21st March.
A recent move from Ullapool further north to Elphin in Sutherland has brought artist Beth Robertson Fiddes even closer to some of her favourite sources of inspiration.
“With views of Cul Mor and Sula Bheinn now literally on my doorstep and the often wild coast of Assynt only a short distance away, I’ve had the chance to explore lochs, burns and rocky summits that I’ve never seen before. I feel very lucky to have settled in such a special place.”
Since graduating from Edinburgh College of Art in 1995, Beth has focussed on travelling around the West Highlands and Islands of Scotland to collect source material and sketches which are then worked up into far larger pieces in her studio. Bridging between realism and abstract painting, Beth’s unique portrayal of the Scottish landscape uses a mixture of styles to achieve her remarkable effects - paper is added for texture alongside oil paint and inks, parts are washed off and sanded back time and time again until Beth is happy with the result. There are often elements of controlled experiment, and sometimes accident, but each time moving the painting technique forward. The final result is a take on Scottish landscape art like no other and whether painting the stillness, depth and transparency of a rock pool or a moving, frothing, crashing wave, Beth Robertson Fiddes paints water with a skill very few artists possess.
“I’m interested in the passage of time and my perception that in looking at a landscape, certain things seem transient, fleeting and elusive, alive almost. With tides, splashes, breaking waves and angry waters I’m trying to catch a moment - to imagine that moment is all the time I have, a life in a millisecond and to find, save and preserve forms and structures in the movement.”
With paintings based on the seemingly unchanging, immovable rocks and mountains, Beth is looking for evidence of movement and change -“I have a quest to see or feel things as I did before I knew what everything was. To a time when I felt everything had a connection and the world seemed full of possibilities...”
From the wild waves of Oldshoremore and Clachtoll to the tranquil rock pools and shorelines of Iona and Eigg, this latest exhibition is a perfect representation of Beth’s ongoing fascination with the interaction between landscape, water and the elements.
For those unfamiliar with Beth’s work, it is difficult to convey the formidable scale and depth of these paintings. However once viewed in person, art buyers are returning time and time again to see this exceptionally talented artist’s work which makes this latest show a must see exhibition. ‘Light & Tide’ Solo Exhibition by Beth Robertson Fiddes opens 11am 21st March 2020 at The Strathearn Gallery, Crieff and runs until 19th April.
Beth will be visiting the gallery on Saturday 21st March during the afternoon to speak about her work.
In association with