Artist Statement
My work explores the interaction between the sky, sea and land in the West Coast of Scotland.
I am drawn to observing the diversity of my surroundings at contrasting times of the day, the imminence of nightfall and the enormity of the sky in relation to the land. How the light filters through cloud cover, rain, smur and salt winds. How the ancient coastline alters where it meets the dark hill rivers, often colliding with the ocean in a storm, sculpting sand banks, dragging algae, throwing the pungent smells of the sea into the air. When a sketch at night is half perceived, relying more on the rhythmic, repetitive buffering sounds as the images and light disappear. All are aspects which inform my work as well as contentment from the simplicity of a grey atmospheric damp day where the colours of the wild flora gain prominence.
Laura Finlayson is a Scottish landscape painter working in Kintyre, Argyll and her studio at Leith Docks, Edinburgh. Her work, using oil paint, seeks to express the vastness of scale found in the skies and shores around Scotland.
Education
2022-2024 Leith School of Art. Painting.
Residencies
2021 – Ballinglen Arts Foundation, Ireland.
Short Study
2023 – Hester Berry, BA MA, Painting Workshop, Highland, Scotland
2022 – New School of Art, Expressive Landscape, Louise Balaam, NEAC, RWA. East Sussex
2021 – Advanced Oil and Wax, Paula Dunn, West Yorkshire
2017 – Edinburgh College of Art Summer Term; Impasto Oil Painting
Exhibitions
2024 – Society of Scottish Artists 126th Annual Exhibition, Royal Scottish Academy, Edin (30 X 30 Open call)
2024 – Visual Art Scotland Centenary Exhibition Dalkeith Palace (Selected by Jury)
2024 – Leith School of Art Annual Exhibition
2023 – Leith School of Art Annual Exhibition
Awards
2024 - TATHA Gallery Solo Show Award 2025.
Selected works used in Leith School of Art promotional material
Annual Exhibition Brochure 2023: Offshore, Oil, 120cm x 90cm
Summer School Brochure 2024: Pink Path, Oil, 30cm x 26cm
Summer School Brochure 2024: Orange Docks, Oil 40cm x 40cm