60° North

4 September 2025 - 27 September 2025

We are delighted to present 60° North, the first solo exhibition by Shetland-based artist Ruth Brownlee at The Scottish Gallery.

 

Working in close rhythm with her environment, Ruth Brownlee paints the Shetland seascape with an instinctive sensitivity to its elemental drama. Her work is shaped by Shetland’s ever-changing skies, tidal moods, and raw light, offering not a literal depiction but an immersive emotional response to the northernmost edge of the British Isles. Brownlee’s practice has become synonymous with the Shetland landscape. With each brushstroke, she communicates the subtle power and magnetism of life at 60° north.

Photography by Susan Molloy
Born: 1972

Born near Edinburgh in 1972, Ruth Brownlee graduated from Edinburgh College of Art in 1994. In 1998, she moved to Shetland. Her work is included in the public collections of The Fleming-Wyfold Collection, London, and Shetland Museum.

Having lived by the sea since visiting Shetland to teach a painting workshop 24 years ago, my work continues to be inspired by this archipelago in the North Sea. Shetland is a rugged environment with an intense visual drama of constant changing elements. As I love walking and walk whenever I can; I watch the weather, and read the mood of the sea which filters into my studio practice. Capturing the intense atmosphere of this wild place is more important to me than trying to include the details of the coastal landscape.  Ruth Brownlee

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