About Frances Macdonald

From her studio overlooking the Corryvreckan, Frances Macdonald has a clear view across the Sound of Jura to the north end of the island; to Scarba, the mountains of Mull before the great expanse of the North Atlantic. Having lived at Crinan for 40 years.

Macdonald's painting is based on her intimate understanding of fhe landscape around her. Her knowledge of sailing informs her of approaching weather patterns, and she captures fleeting Hebridean sunshine alongside the winter squalls with equal immediacy. Peploe and Cadell's paintings of Iona cast a long shadow in Scottish art history, yet Macdonald has established herself as a worthy heir to the tradition started at the end of the 19th century.

Like Peploe and Cadell she finds delight in the juxtaposition of angular rock and white sand. Her use of the palette knife creates a dynamism and animation in each painting, She works her paint across the canvas in angular lines; her assured marks arrived at through careful elimination of aesthetic non-essentials. It is bravura painting, her means perfectly suited to capture the broken skies and raging seas in full force, with rocks transformed into cubistic patterns.

In her third exhibition at The Scottish Gallery during February 2013, Frances Macdonald looked at new subject matter: sketching the flora and fauna of the Galapagos where she visited in November, and the South of France where she often visits. In April 2013 Frances was awarded the Charles Rennie Mackintosh residency at Collioure and visited France in May 2013.

Elected Council Member, SSWA~1983-1986
Elected Council Member, RGI~2004-2006