Artist statement
Helen Glassford's paintings are in essence abstractions of the Scottish landscape in which she finds herself immersed. Her painting is in a constant state of flux, a condition perpetuated by her experience of the shifting weather systems that roll inexorably across this landscape, as a counterpoint to the slow creep of geological time. She reacts freely to the immensity of nature before her, attempting both to capture the spirit of place, and humanity's transient experience of it.
Graphite scratched across a primed ground, loose colour washes, determined single brush strokes, and ghostly scumbled glazes are just some of the techniques used to convey a sense of place at a particular moment in time. The marks are chosen with a considered awareness of what is needed to convey a sense of the shifting, fluid elements of the changing patterns in nature, and although the work is undoubtedly informed by the Scottish landscape in terms of its pallet and surface, it is equally concerned with the paint itself, its application, and its role as a visual language that seeks to convey the artists perceptions of being in the landscape.
Qualifications and training
- 2002 Postgraduate Diploma MFA, University of Dundee
- 1998 BA (Hons) Fine Art, Duncan of Jordanstone College of the Arts, Dundee
Solo exhibitions
- 2011 Recent works, Frames Gallery, Perth
- 2009 Into the Wild, Meffan Gallery, Forfar
Group exhibitions
- 2012 Scottish Landscape, Heinzel Gallery, Aberdeen
- 2012 Introducing, Castlegatehouse Gallery., Cockermouth Cumbria
- 2012 Catterline, Wall Projects, Montrose
- 2012 10 year Anniversary, Shirley Crowther Contemporary, Ditchling
- 2005 Gallery 54, Gallery 54, Shepherd Market, London
- 2005 Chelsea Art Fair, Celsea Art Fair, London
- 2005 Dublin Art Fair, Dublin
- 2005 The White Gallery, Dundee
- 2004 Affordable Art Fair, Affordable Art Fair, Battersea, London
- 2004 Dublin Art Fair, Dublin Art Fair with The Hayloft Gallery, Dublin
- 2004 Scotlandart.com, Glasgow
- 2003 3 Artists Exhibition, Gallery Heinzel, Aberdeen (recurring)
- 2003 Frames Gallery, Perth (recurring)
- 2003 Royal Glasgow Institute, Glasgow (annual)
- 2003 Aberdeen Artists Society, Aberdeen (annual)
- 2002 Calvados, The Bellevue Gallery, Edinburgh
- 2001 Battersea Art Fair, London
- 1999 One year on, Frames Contemporary Art Gallery, Perth
- 1998 Energy, ICA Gallery, The Mall, London
- 1998 Energy, Grays School of Art, Aberdeen
Competitions, prizes and awards
- 2007 Jolomo Lloyds TSB Landscape Painting Award, Scotland, Scotland
- 1999 The Armour Award, The Royal Glasgow Institute, Glasgow
- 1998 Cuthbert New Young Artist Award, Royal Glasgow Institute, Glasgow
Personal website
