Four artists from Tayside and Fife have won awards at the 131st annual exhibition of the Royal Scottish Society of Painters in Watercolour (RSW) at the Royal Scottish Academy in Edinburgh.
Jim Dunbar from Carnoustie has won the £1000 RSW Council Award for the painting Consecration Stone, St Vigeans, which also appears on the cover of the exhibition catalogue and poster.
Jim, who trained at Duncan of Jordanstone College of Art and Design in Dundee, taught in schools for 20 years before painting full-time, and in 2006 won the RSA Scottish Arts Club Award.
Talking about the winning painting, he said, “I’ve known this stone since 1973 when it was in the garden of our house, Kirkstile Cottage, in the village of St Vigeans, near Arbroath.
“The house was originally the village school and the stone was said to have been consecrated to mark the opening of the school in the late 18th-century.
“I have always been interested in its history and fascinated by its decoration.”
Dunfermline artist Stephen Ratomski won the £500 John Gray Award.
He graduated from Edinburgh College of Art in 1971 and has exhibited widely throughout Scotland in solo and group shows.Polish artIn 2005, he founded the Fife Polish Arts Group and is currently chairman of Fife Dunfermline Printmakers Workshop.
Derek Robertson, who lives in Balmerino, won the Glasgow Art Club Fellowship and will receive a two year membership of the club.
He trained at Duncan of Jordanstone College of Art and Design and has been a professional artist for 21 years.
He exhibits work in galleries around the world, with his paintings held in private collections in more than 40 countries as well as numerous public collections including the Scotland Office in London.
George Gilbert, who lives in Crail, won the Scottish Arts Club Award and will receive a two year membership of the club and a solo exhibition.
A graduate of Glasgow School of Art, George lives and works in the East Neuk where he paints the harbours and landscapes of the area.
He has held many solo exhibitions since 1967 and exhibited widely throughout the UK and USA, including the Cleveland International Drawing Biennale, The Sunday Times Watercolour competition and the Royal Watercolour Society Summer Open.
He won the Sir William Gillies Award in 1997 and the RSW Council Award in 2007.
The exhibition, which is open until March 3, features more than 180 new paintings by 130 established and emerging artists from across Scotland, including Stephanie Dees, Simon Laurie, Marian Leven, Ian McKenzie Smith, Philip Reeves as well as invited works from the Royal Watercolour Society and the Australian Watercolour Institute.
Photo used under Creative Commons licence courtesy of Flickr user Magic Madzik.