Painter is inspired by forestry plantations and ‘industrial’ nature

JAN PATIENCE

how I see things I want to paint!’ she laughs. “When I close my eyes, I can see the shape.”

King, who graduated from Duncan of Jordantsone College of Art in Dundee in 2005, is now in her mid-thirties and having taken a year off from painting seems to have returned with more vigour and focus.

“Taking the time out when my daughter was born has been useful,” she says. “I’ve come back more focused with the knowledge that time is precious. I’ve become more focused on the area local to us here in the Borders. We live on the edge of a community woodland and I find myself constantly looking at shapes, which I can see when my eyes close.

“I’ve never been one for a big splash. I just chip away at the next painting and things change gradually. We have big skies here and lots of light. There’s so much to see.”

There is so much to enjoy and admire in Anna King’s work. It’s mature and assured without being shouty or trying too hard to own its place in the world. She looks beyond the obvious to make subtle marks which speak about our place in the world – and in nature.

With just a few months to put its whole annual exhibition online, Paisley Art Institute (PAI) has gone all Star Trek, and launched its annual open exhibition in a virtual gallery, complete with nine separate themed viewing rooms.

The virtual viewing rooms have been created by Berlin-based web designer, Andrew Hopkins, originally from Paisley.

Reflecting the times in which we live, the rooms are; Lockdown, Dealbhan beaga – Wee Paintings, The Digital Moving Image, Outdoors, Headspace, Face to Face, The Sculpture Salon, Paisley Connections and Flowers – Still Life.

Viewing art online is an altogether different experience from seeing it in an actual room, but needs must and PAI has done well to make the experience as clear and user-friendly as it can be.

It’s easy to click on to art works once you are in the room with its serviceable white panels set against a concrete backdrop. There’s even spot lights to guide you. Clickable information on the artist is also available, as is an option to buy the artwork and even a wee heart shape to add the work to your “favourites”. I discovered by chance that if you hop over to PAI’s online shop, all the work which is for sale is posted in tiles and provides another less jazzy but more functional viewing platform.

Boo Paterson’s graphic mixed media take on the Stars ’n’ Stripes, Covid Old Glory, is the poster image for the exhibition. I related to Alexander Ramsay’s Lockdown Fever sculpture, pictured, featuring a glassy-eyed figure swaddled in old fashioned diving kit, complete with a wee bird on his head.

132nd Paisley Art Institute Annual Exhibition, https://paisleyartinstitute.org/ exhibition/132nd-annual-online/ Until September 6