Diary 2007

The "Open Door" of the exhibition title leads out to freedom. Several paintings have reference to travel while others use the idea of the open door as a metaphor, suggesting opportunities to journey into a different time or state of being. The threshold on which many of the figures stand is not always easy to cross: childhood to adulthood; closeness to distance; innocence to knowledge; life to death. Some of the paintings simply express the joy of having gone through the open door.

Darren Woodhead is one of Britain's leading young artists and watercolourists and is a graduate of the Royal College of Art, London. Originally from West Yorkshire and always a keen naturalist, he now lives and works on the coast of the Firth of Forth in south-east Scotland.

The inspiration for my painting is the Scottish coastline and my local surroundings. I aim to capture the changing light and forms using a mixture of mediums and technique. My work is studio based and derives from a combination of photographs and memories which I simplify and abstract. I build up layers of colour and texture and engineer the consistency of the paint to produce interesting marks and create different effects on the canvas, giving the image depth and interest.

A succession of experiences that depict life's journey and reflect human nature are highlighted in this collection. Each painting is an opportunity for the viewer to tune in to some special feeling, special memory, place, or emotion and smile at the ups and downs of life.

A full time watercolour artist and etcher, Susan graduated from Edinburgh College of Art in 1991. Working from home, she uses her farming background as inspiration for many etchings. Scratching images onto a copper plate with a needle, etching in acid and hand printing in her studio. Susan also enjoys painting original watercolours based on a similar theme.

Jim was born in Glasgow in 1945 and spent much of his youth in Ayrshire. He trained as an Engineering draughtsman and from an early age found great inspiration in Architectural subjects. This led to a Limited Edition Series of Architectural prints taken from a collection of of thirty original watercolours potraying the granduer of the City of Glasgow. Living in Scotland with its diversity of beauty, made it easy for him to expand his love of painting. This can be seen in his collection of Limited Edition prints, capturing the quaint picturesque fishing villages and harbours of the coastal areas around Britain. Jim paints generally in watercolour although he has adapted another technique using acrylics.