We welcome back landscape painter Charles Simpson this February with his latest body of work, Home & Away. His subjects are divided between scenes from the northwest of Scotland – the Away, and the rolling hills of the Scottish Borders, the Home. At the heart of the exhibition is a series of snowy landscapes painted during the winter months of 2020-21, which makes for a sublime contrast to his enduring passion for the northwest painted during over the course of the late spring and summer. These scenes from around Clovenfords are essays into the interplay between warm and cool tones and demonstrate Simpson’s skill and subtlety as a colourist.
‘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
