Clear and Still, Autumn

Scottish artist Beth Robertson-Fiddes was born on Tiree and grew up in the Highlands of Scotland. She studied at Edinburgh College of Art and, after graduating, continued to travel around the Highlands and Islands of Scotland. She sought inspiration from the dramatic landscape of the Northwest Coast where she now resides. Beth’s work is collected the world over and she is exhibited widely throughout the UK.

The passage of time and its effect on the natural world is one of Beth’s main inspirations. In pieces based around seemingly immovable and unchanging formations, she looks to the elements surrounding them for signs of life. Changing tides, breaking waves and rushing water depict the transient nature of water and its interaction with the landscape, capturing a moment that is both timeless and ephemeral. Beth’s paintings have an almost ‘other world’ quality. They convey perfectly the magnitude and mystery of the landscapes she paints and the sense and scale of being a person standing within them.

Beth’s interest in how time and the elements impact upon the landscape feeds directly into her painting process. She adds paper and paint to her surfaces allowing them to dry before washing them off or sanding them away. This practices a form of controlled, artistic erosion in order to recapture the sense of seeing and feeling something with a depth that is vast, unknowable and awe inspiring.