Morag Donkin
23 June to 4 August 2018
Open Tuesday - Saturday 11 am - 5pm
Morag Donkin is an artist living and working in Edinburgh. She studied Drawing and Painting at Edinburgh College of Art, graduating in 2013. She was awarded the Keith Prize by the Royal Scottish Academy in 2011 and the Fleming-Wyfold Award in 2012.
‘This exhibition brings together a collection of paintings that explore the woodland landscapes of Scotland. All trees have character and an ethereal beauty. Their seasonality and growth inspire wonder and we have a primal appreciation for their life, which surely is only deepened when we consider how their life supports our own.
I have a deep respect for trees. I am eternally compelled to paint them. As a subject they have so much to give, and their presence creates such atmospheric spaces. I walk the woodlands every day and I always find inspiring imagery. I look to explore that connection with my painting, and feed the aspects of the composition that drew my initial attention.
These paintings may feel familiar to anyone who has taken a woodland walk in Scotland. The forest can be a very personal experience and also of great comfort. I believe this exhibition reflects a positive time in my life and a growing gratitude for the natural world.
The materials I use in my painting are also important to my work. I do like to stay true to the forms and colours of the woodland, but I leave room for the paint to tell its own story and allow loose brushwork to mirror the organic nature of these spaces. Colour is a powerful medium and it can change the feel of everything in a piece.
I admire the work of Caspar David Friedrich, the 19th-century German Romantic landscape painter. His true admiration for the world is palpable in his vast archive of work. I am also influenced by Peter Doig and his fluid, fearless use of paint. Seeing what can be achieved in paint compels me to continue to explore the medium.
I continue to collect a visual database of the trees that I meet. For me, there is no end to their intrigue and unwavering authority. If landscape painting is unfashionable, I will continue to be unfashionable. I sincerely love the woodlands of Scotland.’