Frances Macdonald and Ross Ryan, mother and son, are original painters who share much beyond their genes. Both look at the landscape and like to work directly in front of the subject. Both use oil paint and other media, drawing with the brush or palette knife to make urgent, swift marks that capture the fleeting effects and drama of changing weather. They also share Crinan where the Ryan family have run The Crinan Hotel since the mid-seventies, from where Ryan left for school, then art school and extensive travel. But the beauty of Argyll drew him back, as well as the responsibility of Sgarbh, a wooden boat and sometimes floating studio, tourist boat, or star of screen!
Earlier this year, Ryan held his second solo exhibition with The Gallery but, due to lockdown sweeping the country, not a single person was able to attend. Macdonald has been a regular exhibitor with The Gallery for years with her distinctive Hebridean seascapes and landscapes showing the repeated motifs of Iona, The Mull of Kintyre, the bays around Crinan, and the view across to Jura and the Corryvreckan. Like a good modernist Macdonald is reluctant to give any commentary on her works but Ryan, on the other hand, makes extensive notes on his journeys allowing us to understand how hard-won the paintings are, particularly in winter when the harsh conditions create privations and huge physical problems. Each painting becomes a manifestation and record of time and place. His affinity with the natural world is reflected in his long-term project of setting messages in bottles on the ocean which brings him encounters as he journeys to meet the people who find them and make new works at the location of the find. We are delighted to present this joint exhibition, the first time both artists have exhibited together.
