Aileen Grant (Portrait by Herninia Bernal)

Aileen's Bio

I love making pictures and experimenting with different media.

I enjoy hillwalking and spend a lot of time out-of-doors, and my favourite subjects are landscapes and seascapes. I am also drawn to individual buildings, walls, piers and townscapes, probably because I have worked as a town planner.

My work is mainly representational with some abstract qualities. I take inspiration from various Western artists including Cezanne, Matisse and Schiele and the Scottish Colourists and the Canadian Group of Seven. Japanese art is another source of inspiration.

Sketching allows me to observe a subject properly. Back in the studio I use different media and play around with compositions and mark-making to see what works as a picture. I work mostly with charcoal, graphite, acrylic, watercolour, gouache, and inks, and occasionally in oils.

I live in Musselburgh, East Lothian and have a studio at Art'sComplex, London Road, Edinburgh. I spend a lot of time in the Lochcarron/Applecross area.

Exhibitions

Selected Exhibitions

RSA Spring Open Exhibition April 2009
Scottish Drawing Competition Biennial Exhibitions 2009 and 2011
RSW Open Exhibition February 2012

Mixed Exhibitions

3 Harbours Arts Festival - Open Houses in Cockenzie ,East Lothian, May 2009
3 Harbours Arts Festival - Cockenzie Power Station 2010 and 2011
Artkist Exhibitions, Morningside, Edinburgh - March and November 2011 and March 2012
Art for Japan Charity Exhibition, Balerno, Edinburgh - June 2011.
'No Woman Is An Island' - An exhibition of work by Aileen Grant and Rona MacLean in Gallery 3 Art's Complex, March 2013.

Solo Exhibitions

Café Montagu, Inverleith Row, Edinburgh, July 2010
Penicuik Arts Centre, September 2010

Background

Born and brought up in Fife. Went to Duncan of Jordanstone College of Art, Dundee.

Worked as a town planner.

Leith School of Art courses in 2008/9/10/11, studying under Jacqueline Watt and Matt Storstein.