Neil Macdonald PAI RGI RSW: Stories and Old Stones
The third joint exhibition for the husband and wife duo, Stories and Old Stones presents new and recent works showcasing the individual themes for which each artist is celebrated for.
Alice continues her exploration of past and present experiences, observations and concerns, these works reflecting her pursuit of understanding self and our world through a narrative form.
Neil's paintings show his growing interest in Scottish history and archaeology, underpinned by familial links to the Gaelic culture.
'Although we both studied around the same time at Glasgow School of Art we did not know each other until we graduated. Skip forward 45 years, through various teaching experiences and raising two sons, we have maintained a constant interest in our own and each other's practice. We do not share the same working space but always appreciate that there is honest objective advice available if needed.
Our interests often echo each other's. We share enjoyment of travel, music, history and politics and are enthused and influenced by many of the same artists. We both appreciate strong draughtsmanship and considered composition and often an element of the narrative. The resulting works, however are quite dissimilar.'
Neil Macdonald PAI RGI RSW is drawn to locations which exert historic and mythic presence. Macdonald is particularly engaged with Scottish history and the evidence of its previous peoples.
Macdonald's works explores the lyrical narrative of natural sites and strong bold shapes offered by castles, churches, old townships and harbours. This is done through the distortion of perspective, invention and editing, aiming to capture an essence of the structure or place. In some pieces topographic accuracy is replaced by an imaginative response to the subject. Macdonald enjoys applying each layer of paint, striving for a coherent statement as the image emerges. This reveals the subject's unique sense and poetry of place.
Neil Macdonald trained at Glasgow School of Art from 1975 to 1980. In 2012 he was elected a member of the Paisley Art Institute and in 2013 a member of the Royal Scottish Society of Painters in Watercolour and the Royal Glasgow Institute of the Fine Arts. Macdonald has exhibited widely in Edinburgh, Glasgow and London.
