exhibitions
A Walk in the Dream Garden
14th April - 26th May 2018
An exhibition of paintings and prints by two emerging women artists, both with an exciting new collection of work. Anupa Gardner and Esther Donaldson share influences but employ different techniques and treatments to explore harmonious subjects. Everyday events, memory, nostalgia, the growing cycle of plants, bold displays of colour and foliage. A beautiful exhibition, stimulating all the senses. Anupa, a designer, artist and printmaker has been a long standing friend, regular contributor and assistant to Doubtfire, helping to curate and hang exhibitions. While her work will be familiar to many gallery patrons, this is her first major exhibition here and we are confident that this will delight many of her admirers. “My work looks at 'the ordinary' to convey events in time that are special or magical. These moments then become accessible to the viewer, inspiring them to find joy in their own day-to-day living.” This collection of work mainly consists of prints made using different techniques such as relief, etching, collagraph and lithograph. Included also are some watercolour studies. Esther has exhibited with us in a wider mixed group previously and we are excited to be showing her new collection of vibrant and bold work which, coincidentally, hits the current trend for big, colourful plant patterns in interiors. “My work is based on trying to reflect the brevity of life, beauty, toil, energy, death and rebirth that is observed in the cycle of life within the garden.” Esther exhibits and sells work regularly in galleries across Britain, including the RSA and the RSW and, most recently, the Royal Society of British Artists, Mall galleries, London.
Exhibition Images
(click on thumbnails to view - please check with gallery on availability of work)
Esther Donaldson SSA
Based in Port Seton, Esther’s recent work is based on gardens, a colourful cultivation of rich and sometimes exotic plant patterns, very much in vogue in contemporary interiors. “My work is based on trying to reflect the brevity of life, beauty, toil, energy, death and rebirth that is observed in the cycle of life within the garden.”
Her painting is becoming increasingly more referential and not entirely realistic, inviting the viewer's participation and hopefully giving glimpses into the life, toil, death and rebirth of the creative journey.
“In practice I enjoy layering paint, building up rich and varied colours, striving to capture the light and character of the familiar and unfamiliar places I visit.”
Esther Donaldson is a Scottish artist who, since graduating from Edinburgh College of Art in 1993, has exhibited and sold work regularly in ga ... Read More
Anupa Gardner
Anupa Gardner is an illustrator and printmaker working in Edinburgh. Born in India in 1980, she is a graduate of Srishti School of Art, Design & Technology.
She obtained a Masters in Illustration at Edinburgh College of Art in 2008, going on to teach printmaking at Winchester College. She is currently the Screenprinting Technician at Edinburgh Printmakers while continuing her own practice as a printmaker, artist and educator.
Anupa’s inspiration comes from the everyday, sometimes blurring with nostalgia for a place or a moment. Her work looks at 'the ordinary' to convey events in time that are special or magical. These moments then become accessible to the viewer, inspiring them to find joy in their own day-to-day living. She enjoys how unexpectedly the present, triggered by smell or conversation, connects people, places, and times shared past. M ... Read More