Catharine Davison RSW: Paths Taken

Catharine Davison's landscapes develop the 'plein air' tradition into a more contemporary visual language.

This exhibition brings together work that is both rooted in place and open to interpretation; a quiet celebration of time, movement, and the visual poetry of everyday life.

'Paths Taken is about walking, noticing, and the quiet routines that shape a place. I paint from life, often sitting on the ground with my dog Stanley by my side, in the parks and hills of South Edinburgh; Blackford Hill, The Braids, Craiglockhart. These paintings capture fleeting moments: dog walkers crossing paths, light shifting on the ground, colours changing with the weather. I'm interested in the tension between form and space, and how a simple idea, like a particular tree or pathway, can open into something much larger. My paintings are built from quick, idiosyncratic marks, blocks of colour, and the visual shorthand of daily looking. They reflect time spent outside but also the stillness of the studio works, where memories and drawings are reshaped into something more abstract and layered.'

Catharine Davison (b. 1970, Kilkeel, Northern Ireland) is an artist living and working in Edinburgh. She studied Graphic Design (Illustration) at Liverpool John Moores University and an MA in Illustration at Buckinghamshire Chilterns University College. Catharine has exhibited widely across the UK, including at the Royal Academy Summer Exhibition, Bankside Gallery, and City Art Centre. Her awards include the Lynn Painter-Stainers Prize (2014), the W.Gordon Smith Award (2018), and the Anne Redpath Award for Painting (2024).Catharine is an elected member of the Royal Scottish Society of Painters in Watercolour (RSW) and the Painting Course Leader at Leith School of Art.