Morag Muir Scottish artist.

Morag Muir is one of the most well known artists from around here. Every time I go to an exhibition or gallery there is at least one of her paintings on view. Her paintings are very different to other contemporary artists, they are instantly recognizable as hers and they are always full of small interesting objects.  

This work is not to every ones taste, despite the fact she is so popular and successful I have heard many people say they don’t like her work, claiming its too ‘fussy’ and even too ‘girly’’ ( what ever that means). The last time I was at the hospital I was drawn to one of the many paintings that hang on the corridor walls, I casually thought, ‘oh that looks very similar to one of Morags paintings’, and once up close I realized it was one of hers. 

When I say her paintings are every where, they really are. It has taken me a while to come around to her work, I used to go more for the figurative work or the Scottish seascapes but now I am really beginning to appreciate them. 

Maybe that’s because I can see how clever they are and how much work goes into each of her paintings. If you check out her web site, be sure to look at the model of the Bengal tiger she painted to raise funds, it’s quite special. .

This is her web site.

http://moragmuir.com/

More Information from here

http://www.cfag.co.uk/biog.php?artist_id=196

MORAG MUIR

Morag Muir was born in Glasgow in 1960. She studied at Duncan of Jordanstone College of Art in Dundee from 1978-83 under the likes of Alberto Morocco, Peter Collins and Dave McClure, winning the John Milne Purvis Prize and the Major Travelling Scholarship. She has taught at Duncan of Jordanstone, the Seagate Gallery/Printmakers Workshop, Dundee Contemporary Arts and throughout Fife. More recently she has concentrated solely on her own painting career. 

Her new acrylic on board paintings have been painted in her kitchen, which seems entirely appropriate as she takes inspiration from domestic interiors, family memorabilia, photographs, flowers and bric a brac. 

The luxurious veils of colour, flat planes and ambiguous space create something magical from everyday items. She has exhibited at numerous venues thoughout Scotland and the UK and the Castle Gallery is delighted to be able to show her work

More Information from here

http://www.tcweb.co.uk/exhibitions/listings/269.html

Born in Glasgow, Morag was a graduate of Duncan of Jordanstone College, Dundee in 1982. Her still life canvases full of vivid hues echo Eastern iconography & ethnic Bric-a-brac. As much as anything Morag is driven by the sheer joy of painting.

.

Maggie Milne, Scottish Artist.

http://www.maggiemilne.co.uk/

Maggie Milne Fine Artist and Portrait Painter

This is what she says of herself;
 

‘’I am an award-winning artist with more than 32 years of professional experience and I specialize in the study of the human figure and portraiture, although I sometimes work within the field of still-life and abstract composition. I live and work in Dundee where I am a part-time lecturer at Dundee College. I graduated from Duncan of Jordanstone College of Art, University of Dundee in 1979 and since that time I have executed more than 180 commissioned portraits and have exhibited widely in galleries throughout the UK, including the National Portrait Gallery, the Mall galleries, and the County Hall Gallery in London, the Royal Glasgow institute and the Royal Scottish Academy.
My work is held in public and private collections and I have appeared on BBC television in the series ‘Star Portraits’ first shown on BBC1 in 2004.’’

 
This lady  is a painter of portraits and the human figure. In portraiture, she creates a perfect likeness which remains painterly as opposed to photographic. Her paintings are atmospheric and use shape, colour, texture and composition to accentuate the sitters personality and character. 

Her life studies suggest movement and mood by merging anatomical precision with abstract shapes. This is true especially of her more recent life studies which move more toward geometrical abstraction. She was the winner of the television programme “Star Portraits”, hosted by Rolf Harris, with her portrait of Meera Syal, the actress, comedienne and writer.

She is a graduate from Duncan of Jordanstone College of Art, Dundee in and her work is found in galleries and exhibitions all over Scotland. She has had many exhibitions all ove rthe UK and has been commissioned for more than 100 portraits.

Istvan Csok, Hungarian painter.

 István Csók
I spent the entire weekend from Friday through to Sunday helping a friend decorate her living room. I helped her choose the paper months ago and then, just before we were about to start, I had eye surgery and the whole thing was delayed for months. A couple of weeks ago we stripped the walls and half painted the ceiling. 

Since then she has finished all the painting and last weekend, finally, I hung the wallpaper. I was looking for paintings in a blue/ grey tone to get inspiration for a painting for her new walls, and I came across this artist. I didn’t find the inspiration I was looking for but I did find this weeks subject for the art blog

From Wikipedia,
 
István Csók (February 13, 1865, Sáregres – February 1, 1961) was a Hungarian Impressionist painter. Csok lived and exhibited in Paris for a portion of his life. He became most famous in Hungary for his nudes, portraits, and landscapes of the Lake Balaton. Csok exhibited in Rome, San Francisco, Pittsburgh, and London. He won the Kossuth Prize twice.
A couple of weeks ago I mentioned to my art tutor that I would like to do more still life, he replied that it would suit my style but be careful not to do the ‘usual flowers and fruit stuff’.

I agreed at the time but after seeing these, I think flowers and fruit make good subject. I love the colours and shapes he has here and the fluid way in which he paints them. 

He carried these colours and fluid movements on from his still lifes in to the backgrounds of his portraits.  The subject often sits in a garden or beside a floral arrangement.


 

 

His more formal portraits tend to be bold paintings with bright contrasting colours.
 

He is little known these days but during his life time he was a popular and much respected European painter,. An example of Csók's work can be glimpsed behind the opening credits of the 1971 film Countess Dracula. This is an 1896 painting showing serial murderess Countess Elizabeth Bathory enjoying the torture of some young women: in an inner courtyard of one of her castles, naked girls are being drenched with water and allowed to freeze to death in the snow. The original painting was destroyed in World War II and so far, I’ve been unable to find a picture of it.

John Johnstone Scottish Artist.

JOHN JOHNSTONE (born 1941 Scotland)

I’m sure I’ve mentioned this man before; a couple of his works (including the Dylan one) were on display at the gallery I visited yesterday. I rather like his work, mostly because his is an excellent draughtsman. 

His observation and drawing of the human form is spot on. I suppose it’s because I enjoy life drawing and portrait painting that I understand how difficult it is to get it right. But John Johnstone manages every time; he is one of Scotland's leading contemporary artists working in the figurative style. The Dylan painting and the Check out painting are both quite old works. 

I like them. Someone has already pointed out that the Dylan painting shows Dylan with a bass guitar (which his didn’t play) and with Alan Ginsburg playing the piano, I have no idea why this is but it does make for an interesting painting. I also saw the ‘Checkout’ painting yesterday. The amount of detail in this painting is amazing, you can get lost in it. I wouldn’t particularly want to hang it on my wall, but it is fascinating to stand and look at, there is such meticulous attention to detail. The packets are all painstakingly accurate and the dress and mannerisms of the people are brilliantly well observed. 

He is a professional Dundee based artist. John Johnstone was born in Forfar in 1941 and studied at Duncan of Jordanstone College of Art, Dundee  between 1959 and 64 where he was highly commended. 

After receiving a major travelling scholarship and using it to visit a number of European cities, he returned to the same college and taught there for many years.

 
He is a regular exhibitor at the Royal Scottish Academy and the Scottish Society of Artists and is a professional member of the Scottish Society of Artists and Scottish Visual Arts. John Johnstone is a unique artist - in the special sense that he has no problem in being original. 

 
He combines his technical skill at drawing people and capturing their essence with the sort of wild imagination we see in children’s book illustrations or fantasy/ surrealist paintings.    

He is one of Scotland's leading contemporary artists working in the figurative style. The Dundee based painter has exhibited widely in Scotland as well as galleries in London and Kingston Jamaica. In other words, he is a professional artist, working within the Scottish Art world and practicing his art with a high degree of technical expertise.



He writes ; "My paintings seem to be expressing something either serious or amusing about life. They depict people acting out minor dramas. Gesture, composition, characterisation and setting are important. There is an element of gravity in them, but the humorous side probably eclipses that aspect." In recent years, he has explored etching. There is much detail in his work which rewards close viewing. John has exhibited widely and has work in numerous public and private collections including those of HRH the Duke of Edinburgh and The McManus Gallery.