Lorna Mackay

Lorna Mackay is a landscape-inspired painter based in central Scotland. It is this location, alongside her emotional connection with the environment that drives her work.

Being outdoors is essential to Lorna’s process and she uses her sketchbook to record observations of landscape, lochs, and coastlines that she experience. Mackay repeatedly draws and paints the same scene, looking to capture how the different elements: trees, water, and sky, alter depending on time, her mood, perspective, or weather. It is this repetition that gradually reveals a hidden structure to a landscape that she might not see on initial observation. The further she explores this subject the more she appreciates how the experience of living in a rural setting during childhood, then in a city, and back to the countryside has exacted a strong influence on her practice.

She says “A move to Scotland in 2017 signified a return to living in the countryside and a renewed focus on painting. A childhood in the rural Midlands, living in various cities, travel, and a steady migration back to green surroundings have all been key influences. Initially, ceramics was a natural choice as I always enjoyed making. I took the hand-building route and became focused on incorporating painting onto sculptural forms taking colour and shapes from the urban surroundings I was living in.”

”The fact that there are so many potential outcomes to one creative challenge is what drives my own practice. Moving to Scotland has offered me the opportunity to focus on my own painting alongside work as an Artist Teacher. This role, and the time that I spend in my own studio, continually confirms that creating art is vital to our wellbeing.”

Learn more from Lorna Mackay at http://lornamackaystudiuo.co.uk