ROGER DALE BROWN & BEVERLY FORD EVANS
Up in the Highlands
In 2017 Beverly Ford Evans and Roger Dale Brown found themselves in Scotland, a side trip on a larger adventure into Italy. Their time in the country was brief, but they vowed to come back. And go back they did.
During a recent six-week trip to the Scottish Highlands, the married couple—both plein air and studio painters hailing from Franklin, Tennessee—painted much of the landscape, capturing its rapturous beauty, the magnificent greenery, the gray days and the charm.
“It was an amazing six weeks. It’s really raw where we were. We were in the Highlands, where it’s sparsely populated. The whole ambience and atmosphere was just wonderful. It’s known for its rain and wind, but none of that mattered because it’s just such a special place because the clouds and the rain made for some great lighting situations. Light would peek out and spotlight just the mountains,” says Brown. “It’s also just a different kind of culture there. Every village has a pub where you can get a beer and some food. And in every one the whole town
would congregate and we could watch the little intricacies of everyday life, and all the social interactions. It was special all around.”
The artists, who have been together for 13 years, will be showing their paintings from Scotland at a new show, Inspirations from the Highlands, at Berkley Gallery in Warrenton, Virginia, beginning November 16. Many of the works began as plein air studies on location and were expanded upon or used as reference later in the studio.
“It was fun to stop at every place we wanted to paint, and at every place turn around and see 20 potential paintings right there in front of you. It’s such a beautiful country,” Evans says. “We were mostly drawn to light and shadow, which because it’s so gray doesn’t happen often, but we were also painting more intimate scenes, including some with animals.”
Back home in Tennessee, the couple share a studio that essentially has them back-to-back in the same room. They can bounce ideas off each other, show their new works and offer gentle guidance on unfinished paintings. “It’s a great situation, and there is no competition at all. I don’t have a competitive bone in my body, and Roger is only competitive with himself,” Evans says. “We have a perfect studio together.”