Aileen Grant

Based in Wester Ross, artist and printmaker Aileen Grant enjoys hillwalking and spends a lot of time outdoors sketching and painting on location. Her favourite subjects are landscapes and seascapes, as well as being drawn to individual buildings, walls, piers and townscapes. She grew up in Fife and after graduating from Duncan of Jordanstone College of Art worked for a number of years as a town planner before deciding to become a full time artist. Aileen completed a course in advanced Drawing and Painting at Leith School of Art 2008 - 11, studying under Jacqueline Watt and Matt Storstein. 

Her work has been selected and shown in open exhibitions RSA, RSW, Visual Arts Scotland , Scottish Drawing Competition and Edinburgh MacMillan Art Show. 

There is something meditative about sketching in the wilds, and sketching is vital for my work. I like to absorb the atmosphere of a place and recreate this in a painting or drawing.  Here, in Wester Ross, I feel in tune with the landscape, its changing moods, range of colours and dramatic lighting. Uniqueness of place and concern about climate change  are key themes.  I am drawn to scenes that can be interpreted as metaphors for change - the fragile beauty of a wind-battered tree, the glimpse of light on a distant hill, a stormy sea, ponds and tidelines on the shore and dying forests.  I like to explore new ideas and imaginative ways of depicting landscapes.