The Scottish Gallery is pleased to present Skinnrin, the first solo exhibition by Shetland-based watercolourist Peter Davis. Since 2013, Davis has worked full time from his studio in Silwick on Shetland’s westside, capturing the shifting interplay of sea, sky, and weather. Davis transforms the fleeting light and luminous compositions that speak of place, presence, and the quiet drama of the natural world.

‘Skinnrin’ is a word from the old Shetland Norn language and means a thin layer or covering and can apply to snow, cloud or water. I, however, apply it to that characteristic of watercolour painting – the thin transparent layer of pigment left after a wash has dried… Its ‘tidemarks’ show the trail and flow of the water and pigment. – Peter Davis

Peter Davis

Photography by Arabelle Bentley

Born: 1953

Peter Davis was born in North Shields and studied art and design at Northumberland College of Education, graduating in 1975. He has spent a large part of his career teaching art and design in the Orkney Islands from 1982-1991 and began teaching in Shetland from 1992. He has been painting full time since 2013 from his studio in Shetland. He has exhibited in the Northern Isles, the UK and internationally.

‘There’s a point at which the act of painting and the inherent action of nature align themselves and that frequently happens in watercolour. I consider it the most natural of all the painting mediums, comprising pigment, a binder which is mainly gum arabic, and water, the drying process leaving the pigment on the surface. The two extremes of stillness and flow and the myriad activity between the two are what make watercolour, for me, the most natural medium with which to depict the extremes of the Northern landscapes. I have painted this subject for over 40 years, and it continues to provide a source of excitement and exploration. I have no wish to simply record what I see. I do not seek sedate topographies often associated with the term ‘watercolour landscapes’. Instead, I prefer the uncertain balance between abstraction and reality.’ – Peter Davis

Skinnrin

Peter Davis

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