Artist: Olivia Irvine

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I make paintings using oil and egg tempera.  Egg tempera is a medieval technique where pigments are ground into egg yolk and then applied to a gessoed board.  It lends itself to crisp detail and allows the colours to glow. Combined with oil, a range of marks and surfaces can be achieved.

I take my subject matter from my house and garden, family holidays and themes of childhood and play.  Recently, I have been inspired by swimming pools in Iceland, campsites in the French Pyrenees and rose gardens in Madrid.  Subjects that have a combination of natural and man made elements attract me and I like complexity.

Drawing is often the starting point of my works and I fill sketchbooks with a passion.  Back in the studio, I use a mixture of drawings, point of reference, imagination and memory.  Sometimes the act of painting itself suggests the subject and memories of places merge, creating a deeper, more anarchic composition that hints at aspects of my life, but has a psychological perspective.

I like to set myself challenges, whereby I mix elements of perspective, vary degrees of detail and play around with combinations of colour and tone to arrive at a complex and intriguing interplay of forms, meanings and ideas that may not have an obvious logic. Thus the finished piece has less to do with observed reality and more to do with the creation of a world of fascination and engagement.

CV

SOLO EXHIBITIONS

2008 Three Harbours Arts Festival, Port Seton, exhibition of Icelandic paintings in a
fisherman’s cottage
2004 Alice and the Infanta, Duff House Country Gallery, Banff
2003 Alice and the Infanta, The Round Room, Talbot Rice, Edinburgh
1999 Harbour Arts Centre, Irvine
1997 Patriothall Gallery, Edinburgh
1996 Park Bench Series, Project Room, Collective Gallery, Edinburgh
1994 Leighton Gallery, Blue Hill, Maine, USA
Artist For a Week, Collective Gallery, Edinburgh
1990 New Paintings, 369 Studio Floor Gallery, Edinburgh
Christopher Boyd Gallery, Galashiels
Eden Court Theatre, Inverness
1989 The Rose Garden, 369 Gallery, Edinburgh
1987 Patriothall Gallery, Edinburgh

SELECTED GROUP EXHIBITIONS

2010   Olivia Irvine & Fiona Jappy duet. Union Gallery, 45 Broughton St Edinburgh

2009 HALLelujah, Glasgow, an exhibition in a tenement flat hall curated by Janie Nicoll
Edinburgh School of Painting, Lemon Street Gallery, Truro
Islington Art Fair, London, with the Compass Gallery
2008 Glasgow Art Fair, with the Compass Gallery
The Aspect Prize, Paisley Museum and Art Gallery
2007 Society of Scottish Artists, Annual Exbibition
2006 Per Annum, City Art Centre, Edinburgh
2005 Society of Scottish Artists, Annual Exbibition
La Cuegera de Amor, Espacio Guides, Madrid
Chicago/ WASPS Exchange, Arc Gallery, Chicago
2003 Persevere, Western General Hospital, Edinburgh
2001 Islington Art Fair, London, with the Compass Gallery
Tidemark, City Art Centre, Edinburgh
University of Kansas, USA, works by tutors of Edinburgh College of Art
Bishop Phillpotts Gallery, Truro, four person exhibition
Royal Scottish Academy Annual Exhibition
2000 Dundee Contemporary Print Open
Leithton Gallery, Blue Hill, Maine, USA
Corporate Connoisseurs, London
Aberdeen Artists Annual Exhibition
1999 In the Summertime, Talbot Rice Gallery Edinburgh, work selected from WASPS studios throughout Scotland
Fifteen Years of Women’s Art, Collective Gallery, Edinburgh
Scotland’s Art, City Art Centre, Edinburgh
Society of Scottish Artists Annual Exhibition
1996 Showroom, Collective Gallery, Edinburgh
Brave Art, Society of Scottish Artists Mayfest Exhibition, Glasgow
1995 Leighton 2, Westford, Massachussetts, USA
Castillo de Souteimar, Pontevedra, Spain, work by tutors of Edinburgh
College of Art
1994 Society of Scottish Artists Centenary Exhibition, Pier Arts Centre, Stromness
Royal Overseas League, London and Edinburgh
Six Scottish Artists, Royal Overseas House, Edinburgh
1993 Progress and Diversity, British Council, Barcelona
Solitude and Isolation, Royal College of Physicians, Edinburgh
1992 Luxters Fine Art, Henley-on-Thames, four person show during Oxford Art Week
1991 Old and New Scottish Colourists, Kirkcaldy Museum and Art Galleries
1990 Fruitmarket Open, Edinburgh
Inverclyde Biennial, Greenock
Painting the Forth Bridge, 369 Gallery and touring Fife
1989 Chicago International Art Exposition, with the 369 Gallery
1988 3 Artistas, 3 Visiones, Madrid Assembly, Madrid
Portrait Biennial, Tuzla, Yugoslavia
Las Balconadas, Betanzos, Spain

AWARDS

2000 International Research and Development Grant, SAC
1999 Scottish Arts Council Small Assistance Grant
1994 Scottish Arts Council Small Assistance Grant
Edinburgh District Arts Council Funding
1992 Hope Scott Trust
1990 Shell Expo Award, Aberdeen Artists’ Annual Exhibition
1989 Scottish Arts Council Small Assistance Grant
1987 Christie’s Prize, Scottish Print Open
Spanish Government Scholarship

COLLECTIONS

Edinburgh College of Art
City of Edinburgh
BBC Scotland, Glasgow
Eastern General Hospital and Western General Hospital, Edinburgh
        Glasgow Museums Collection
University of Stirling, Scottish Arts Council Bequest
Lancome, Madrid
Royal Infirmary, Edinburgh
Royal College of Physicians, Edinburgh

FILMOGRAPHY

1990 Experimental Film Workshop led by Cristoph Janetzko, Glasgow Film and Video
Workshop.  ‘Scream in Grey Blue’, 16mm film made in collaboration
‘Scream in Grey Blue’, Edinburgh Fringe Film Festival
1991 ‘Scream in Grey Blue’, Glasgow Film Theatre
1995 Wrote, directed and produced ‘Peony’, 16mm film
1996 ‘Peony’, 26th International Short Film Festival, Tampere, Finland
‘Peony’, ‘Message to Man’, International Film Festival, Saint Petersburg, Russia
‘Peony’, Drambuie Edinburgh Film Festival
‘Peony’, British Short Film Festival, London
MACBA, Barcelona Film Fair, Spain
‘Peony’, Philadelphia Festival of World Cinema, USA

TEACHING

2003-09 Continuing Education tutor, Edinburgh College of Art
2009 Egg tempera workshops, Edinburgh and Livingston, adults
1994-08 Teaching Privately in Edinburgh
1989-2008 Demonsrations, talks and crits at various Art Clubs in Edinburgh
2000,06-08 Visiting Lecturer, Galway and Mayo Institute of Technology, Eire
2007 Contemporary Painting Week, Partry House, Co.Mayo, Eire
2004-07 School Workshops, Historic Scotland, at Edinburgh Castle, secondary
2003 Children’s Art Day, Talbot Rice Gallery, Edinburgh, primary
1994-02 Evening Class tutor, Edinburgh College of Art
2001 Visiting Lecturer, Queen Margaret University College, Stage Management
1995-0 Drawing and Painting tutor, Edinburgh College of Art
1995,98 Organised painting holidays to the south of France
1995-96 Drawing and Painting tutor, Gray’s School of Art, Aberdeen
1994-95 First Year Studies tutor, Edinburgh College of Art
1994 Visiting lecturer, Winchester School of Art
1988-92 Education Programme, 369 Gallery, Edinburgh, adults
1990 Art workshops, Old Gala House, Galasheils, adults and children
1989,90 Workshop leader, Artlink, Edinburgh, special needs

BIOGRAPHY

1960 Born in Kilwinning, Scotland
1978-80 Studied Medicine, University of Aberdeen
1981 Lived in Cannes, France
1981-85 Edinburgh College of Art, BA Honours in Drawing and Painting
1984 Student Exchange, Les Beaux Arts de Montpelier, France
1985-86 Edinburgh College of Art, Diploma in Postgraduate Studies in Painting
1986-87 Worked at WASPS Studios, Edinburgh
1987-88 Awarded Spanish Government Scholarship for one year’s study in Madrid
1988-92 Worked at 369 Gallery Studios, Edinburgh
1991 Artist exchange to Seville, Spain
1992-93 MA in European Fine Art, Winchester School of Art in Barcelona
1993- Working in WASPS Studios, Edinburgh
1998-01 Council Member, Society of Scottish Artists