Artist continues to be inspired by Sutherland
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Artist Ann Davidson, who grew up in Tongue and Helmsdale, is holding a new exhibition in a Lancashire gallery.
The Antarctic Sound opened at the Dukes in Lancaster on November 1 and will run until January 1.
Ann, who studied textile design at Hornsey College of Art in London, and wrote her thesis on life in Sutherland, is a frequent visitor to her home county.
Much of her art work has been inspired by the remoteness of Sutherland and its stunning scenery.
“When I studied art in London, I drew images of Sutherland’s dramatic and pristine landscapes because I wanted to show everyone what they were like,” she said.
“Textile design was my subject and I put renderings of Ben Loyal and Suilven onto fabric.
“My work became abstracted landscapes and for many years the land of Sutherland was my sole inspiration.
“However, much of my subsequent work has been based on places I have visited that are also remote and whose landscapes are elemental in nature, namely Iceland, Greenland, Namibia and Antarctica.”
She gave a talk last month entitled North and South from Sutherland in which she described her development as an artist.
Her new exhibition arose as a result of a visit she made to Antarctica, but it still contains pieces concerned with other places including Sutherland. Featured are collage paintings of landscapes near Tongue and Helmsdale.
“I use collage methods that I have developed,” said Ann. “Some of my artworks are made from watercolour work on paper, some from acrylic stains work on canvas and some from acrylic impasto work on canvas.
“When I work, I think about the places whose spirit I am trying to evoke and use colours that are intended to convey them. The processes I engage in are evolutionary and so the results are invariably something I would not have thought of.”
