Charles Simpson

Charles Simpson was born in 1952 and after attending Glasgow School of Art in the early 1970s worked as a graphic designer in Edinburgh. In 1990 he left full-time employment to combine freelance design work with the development of his painting. He moved to just outside the village of Clovenfords in the Scottish Borders in 1991 and has lived there since. He became a full-time painter in 1999.

As a landscape painter, the rough hill farm countryside immediately around his small cottage provides a regular supply of material, particularly when snow covers the winter landscape. Every year trips are taken to north-west coast and islands of Scotland – with particularly favourite locations being Iona & Mull, Durness, Achiltibuie, Wester Ross and Arisaig. He has also produced work from trips to the Uists, Harris, Colonsay and Islay. The combination of stunning beaches, changing seas, distant islands and mountains, and large dramatic skies provides unique subject matter.

'It is always difficult, if not impossible, to predict how the light and weather will evolve as the day progresses. On what appears to be a beautiful day, full of expectant potential, the sun might simply disappear over the horizon with barely a flicker. Grey, dark days can sometimes end unexpectedly in a blaze of glory, however brief.
My paintings seem to be ever-more concerned with the effects of light on the sky, sea and land.'
- Charles Simpson

He has held regular solo exhibitions in Edinburgh and London. Charles Simpson's exhibition Scale took place at The Scottish Gallery in February 2020. His next major exhibition will be held in February 2022.