Morag Muir British, b. 1960

Born in Glasgow in 1960, Morag Muir studied Fine Art at Duncan of Jordanstone College of Art in Dundee under the auspices of renowned Scottish artists Alberto Morocco, Will Maclean and David McClure. She graduated in 1982 and was subsequently awarded a further year of post-graduate study. During these formative years of scholarship she was awarded the John Milne Purvis Prize, the Scottish Education Department Major Travelling Scholarship and the Scottish Arts Council Bursary for Printmaking. Following her graduation, the SED scholarship afforded Morag an extended period of study in Italy where she spent a good deal of time in Tuscany, with the added incentive of a first solo exhibition upon her return. "I spent much of that time sketching and painting in the landscape surrounding Siena and San Gimignano. In the town of Volterra I encountered first-hand the ancient Etruscan art which had so inspired me in the college library. This period also exposed me to the wonders of medieval art in Italy where I was mesmerised by the work of artists such as Simone Martini and Amorogio Lorenzetti. I was also profoundly affected by Fra Angelico's frescoes in the Convento San Marco at that time." Some 40 years later these formative influences continue to resonate and resurface in Morag's work. 

Artist's Statement

My studio is located in the upper part of our Victorian house in the village of Newport-on-Tay on the North Fife coast. The bay windows offer a stunning view across the River Tay, which is approximately a mile-wide at this part of the estuary, where it very soon exits to the North Sea. Directly across the river is the city of Dundee, framed in the west by the ill-fated Tay Rail Bridge and in the east by the Tay Road Bridge with its impossible perspective disappearing to a pin-prick in the heart of the city. The scene is in a constant state of flux with all manner of river traffic going somewhere and nowhere. The sunsets here can be truly staggering - at night the city lights-up like a jewel case and the river dances with reflected light. This is my working environment, a place that I share with objects and bric-a-brac collected over a lifetime of practice.

My usual starting point is a 'still life' construct in which selected objects populate the stage like characters in a play. These 'actors' inform the painting's composition and the unfolding narrative which invariably echoes everyday situations and happenings in my life. These events are played-out in whispered conversations within the canvas. Of course whispered conversations can often be mysterious, obscure or even misrepresented, thereby giving the observer licence to place their own interpretation on the scene, unearthing stories and shared experiences of heartache, pain, parenthood, loss, love and friendship. The view from the studio often acts as the backdrop to these conversations, although you may notice that my personal interpretation of the city across the river often sees this one-time haven for Arctic whaling ships dreamily masquerading as an imaginary hill town in Tuscany.

Painting Style
As a young artist I trained and worked exclusively with oil paint, a medium which is infinitely malleable and offers much time and contemplation in the execution of work. Later in life I felt the need to adapt to a less toxic medium, particularly when as a young mother I started to work from home. I found the transition to acrylic paint challenging and was initially sceptical about its potential in comparison to oil paint. I was frustrated by the speed at which it dried on the palette and on the surface substrate - I later however found this to be one of its endearing qualities and I love the variety that it offers in terms of opacity, translucence and colour. It can be manipulated as a chalky medium whilst in the next moment offering wonderfully transparent and fluid washes. I especially like its capacity for application to different substrates and I use it variously on board, paper, linen, jute and canvas.

In terms of compositional form I am less interested in the depiction of reality and true perspective than I am in colour, tone and texture, and the part they play in describing an atmosphere; or the essence of 'place'; or illuminating a story. When you dispense with reality everything becomes possible. An eminent Scottish arts journalist once described my work as 'knowingly naive'. That is perhaps fair, but I would hope that I am not as overtly prescriptive as that. I would like to be understood as someone who paints what they feel and not necessarily what they see. I have always admired and been inspired by artists who do that.

Awards
John Milne Purvis Prize
Scottish Education Department Major Travelling Scholarship
Scottish Arts Council Bursary for Printmaking
Royal Society of Painters in Watercolour (RSW) Small Painting Prize
William and Mary Armour Award (PAI):
Adam Award, (PAI)
Art Hire Award (PAI)
The Scottish Arts Club Award (RSW)