Matthew Draper
“Small Works”
20 May to 18 June
Opening with refreshments on Saturday 20 May 12-5pm
The volcanic plug that is Bass Rock, sits a few miles off the coast at North Berwick. Its presence to people who live in East Lothian has provided a timeless, reassuring permanence. To artists such as Matthew Draper the rock is the perfect stage that plays host to the perpetual drama of the ever-changing Scottish weather. The haar, so familiar to residents of this coastline, is one of the star performers. Descending in layers of varying depth, diffusing the light onto the rock creating an heir of romance and mystery – it is as much the subject of Matthew’s work as the landscape itself.
The current show featuring new and recent, smaller works explores not only Bass Rock and the East Lothian coastline but also Edinburgh, where Matthew has his studio as well as the dramatic Scottish landscape from the Trossachs to Rannoch Moor and beyond.
In his Edinburgh cityscapes, the weather is again a key player. It provides infinite possibilities for the artist to change the mood of a landscape. Blizzards closing in over Arthur’s Seat or the passing of squalls swept in from the Firth of Forth have been studied at length from his top floor flat, overlooking the city. The haar, again a natural filter on the landscape, rolls in over the Old Town, softening the light source whether that be the sun or moon, streetlights or lights from events at the Castle esplanade.
His Highland pieces follow in the tradition of the Romantic landscape painting of Caspar David Friedrich, De Breanski and the Scottish artists Alexander Nasmyth and Horatio McCulloch. Clouds creeping in across a glen, light chasing along a hillside or dark, ominous fronts closing in, all perfectly evoked through the manual build up of numerous layers of pastel, his chosen medium.
We are extremely proud to be exhibiting in North Berwick, the work of one of Scotland’s most accomplished landscape artists. Matthew has won many awards including, most recently, the prestigious Charles Pears Award at the Royal Society of Marine Artists at the Mall Galleries in London. He has had numerous solo shows across the UK including; Open Eye Gallery in Edinburgh, Lemon Street in Truro, Beaux Arts in Bath and last year, at the Scottish Gallery in Edinburgh.
