Heather Macdonald
Heather Macdonald
Heather Macdonald

I am interested in producing images influenced by nature, using an experimental approach of rearranging and placing living things in alien environments creating odd juxtapositions which are intended to make the viewer reassess preconceived ideas of where things belong. By studying my surroundings and altering them in subtle ways I create dreamlike, mysterious and surreal landscapes with endless possibilities. Everything I do is based on reality and then is twisted or blended with something strange to produce an odd image. The work is often deceptively simple but I use colour and detail symbolically to express a private language. The results are often humorous, playful and whimsical, providing us with new possibilities and alternative ways of viewing the world.
Recently my work has been concerned with death in the natural world - exploring both the beauty and finality of dead animals, skeletons and the curious practice of taxidermy which aims to make the animals as alive as possible.

Education
Edinburgh College of Art  1985-1989
BA (Hons) Drawing & Painting/Printmaking
University of Edinburgh  2005-2006
Post-Graduate  Community Education

Recent Shows
End of Year  Show, Milton Art Gallery, Crathes, Aberdeenshire  2010
Cutouts, Collage & Cave Paintings, Solo Show, Arts Complex, Edinburgh  2010
Reveal 2010, Valley Artists Studios, Rossendale, Lancashire  2010
Collagerie, Stew Gallery, Norwich  2010
Christmas Show, Compass Gallery  2009-2010
Nature Art Pre-Biennale, Alternative Art Space, Gyeonggi-do, Korea  2009
Nature Art Pre-Biennale, Gongju, Korea  2009
Summer Show, Compass Gallery, Glasgow  2009
Group Show, Larks Gallery, Ballater  2009
Glasgow Art Fair  2009
Leith Art Expo, Arts Complex, Edinburgh  2009
Supernature, Solo Show, Bodas, Edinburgh  2009                        
Animal Show, Mansfield Park Gallery, Glasgow  2008
International Year of Planet Earth Exhibition, Opus Gallery, Exeter  2008
3 Person Show, Mansfield Park Gallery, Glasgow  2008
Last Post Exhibition, Corsespace Gallery, Alford, Aberdeenshire 2008
Winter Show, Carby Art, Aberdeen  2007-2008
Annual Show, Compass Gallery, Glasgow  2007-2008
Rich and Strange, University of Wales, Newport  2007
Edinburgh Art Fair  2007
A5 Annual Show, Peacock Visual Arts, Aberdeen   2001-2008
‘New Drawings’, Chigaco Art Fair, USA   2004
‘Myriad’, Bridgeview Gallery, Aberdeen  2003
Group Show, Carby Art, Aberdeen    2003
Aberdeen Artists, Aberdeen Art Gallery, Aberdeen   2002
Solo Show, Montserrat Gallery, New York, USA  2002
Group Show, Bridgeview Gallery, Aberdeen   2002

Previously exhibited
Compass Gallery, Glasgow   1994-1998
Citizens Studios, Edinburgh   1992-2000
Wasps Artists Group Shows, Edinburgh  1994-1998
Contact Gallery, Edinburgh  1992,1995
Patriothall Gallery, Edinburgh  1996,1997,1998
Dignon Gallery, Edinburgh  1997
Larks Gallery, Ballater, Aberdeenshire  2002,2003
Shore Gallery, Edinburgh  1992

Review
‘Macdonald’s deceptively naïve paintings narrate a numinous land of dreams, filled with witty imagistic juxtapositions and happy surprises. Sincerity sustains her visions, yet real pictorial savvy makes her compositions compelling for their formal qualities as well as for her wonderfully upbeat sensibility.’
(Maurice Taplinger, Gallery & Studio, Vol.5, no.3, Feb-March 2003, New York)   

Publication
Pushing Out the Boat Magazine of New Writing 2009

Public Collections
Grampian Hospitals Art Trust

Workshops
Dreamlike Watercolours, Howden Arts Centre, Livingston, West Lothian  2010
Oil Painting for Beginners, Howden Arts Centre, Livingston, West Lothian  2009
Collaborative Sculpture, Outlook Project, Edinburgh  2008
Mural Painting, Inch House Community Centre, Edinburgh  2008
Collaborative Mosaic, Stepping Stones, Edinburgh  2006
Collaborative Mosaic, Outlook Project, Edinburgh  2001