Cliff Hanger, Yesnaby

Scottish artist Allan MacDonald studied at Edinburgh College of Art and graduated with an honours degree in Drawing and Painting. Continuing to paint, his work changed when he came across the paintings of Canadian artist Tom Thomson, one of the Group of Seven. Thomson’s exhilarating paintings and immersion in the landscape he painted has inspired Allan’s own process and vivid colour and light led pieces.

Since then, Allan has painted in many remote parts of Northern Scotland where he now lives. His paintings capture the experience of being exposed to the elements, as much as the colours and textures of the rugged landscapes that surround him. Always carrying board and canvases with him, Allan likes to work outdoors on full size paintings rather than sketches. The reflective, almost prismatic qualities of settled snow amongst birch trees offer endless inspiration, but it is often towards the wild, elemental waves crashing over cliffs that Allan feels the strongest pull.