Calendar An icon of a desk calendar. Cancel An icon of a circle with a diagonal line across. Caret An icon of a block arrow pointing to the right. Email An icon of a paper envelope. Facebook An icon of the Facebook "f" mark. Google An icon of the Google "G" mark. Linked In An icon of the Linked In "in" mark. Logout An icon representing logout. Profile An icon that resembles human head and shoulders. Telephone An icon of a traditional telephone receiver. Tick An icon of a tick mark. Is Public An icon of a human eye and eyelashes. Is Not Public An icon of a human eye and eyelashes with a diagonal line through it. Pause Icon A two-lined pause icon for stopping interactions. Quote Mark A opening quote mark. Quote Mark A closing quote mark. Arrow An icon of an arrow. Folder An icon of a paper folder. Breaking An icon of an exclamation mark on a circular background. Camera An icon of a digital camera. Caret An icon of a caret arrow. Clock An icon of a clock face. Close An icon of the an X shape. Close Icon An icon used to represent where to interact to collapse or dismiss a component Comment An icon of a speech bubble. Comments An icon of a speech bubble, denoting user comments. Comments An icon of a speech bubble, denoting user comments. Ellipsis An icon of 3 horizontal dots. Envelope An icon of a paper envelope. Facebook An icon of a facebook f logo. Camera An icon of a digital camera. Home An icon of a house. Instagram An icon of the Instagram logo. LinkedIn An icon of the LinkedIn logo. Magnifying Glass An icon of a magnifying glass. Search Icon A magnifying glass icon that is used to represent the function of searching. Menu An icon of 3 horizontal lines. Hamburger Menu Icon An icon used to represent a collapsed menu. Next An icon of an arrow pointing to the right. Notice An explanation mark centred inside a circle. Previous An icon of an arrow pointing to the left. Rating An icon of a star. Tag An icon of a tag. Twitter An icon of the Twitter logo. Video Camera An icon of a video camera shape. Speech Bubble Icon A icon displaying a speech bubble WhatsApp An icon of the WhatsApp logo. Information An icon of an information logo. Plus A mathematical 'plus' symbol. Duration An icon indicating Time. Success Tick An icon of a green tick. Success Tick Timeout An icon of a greyed out success tick. Loading Spinner An icon of a loading spinner. Facebook Messenger An icon of the facebook messenger app logo. Facebook An icon of a facebook f logo. Facebook Messenger An icon of the Twitter app logo. LinkedIn An icon of the LinkedIn logo. WhatsApp Messenger An icon of the Whatsapp messenger app logo. Email An icon of an mail envelope. Copy link A decentered black square over a white square.

Artist Barbara Rae on land, culture and her display at St Andrews University

Sea Fence, Barbara Rae, University of St Andrews
Sea Fence, Barbara Rae, University of St Andrews

The work of one of Scotland’s most revered contemporary artists, Barbara Rae, is currently on display in St Andrews. Caroline Lindsay finds out more.

Barbara Rae is an internationally renowned artist and St Andrews University’s extensive collection of her work, alongside paintings loaned to the university for the purpose of the exhibition, are testimony to her extraordinary talent and versatility.

The exhibition Barbara Rae RA: Place and Process focuses on her recent work and is a vibrant showcase of colourful and abstract acrylic paintings and collages, prints and etchings and a special tapestry designed by the artist. Curated by Museum Collections, it’s open to the public until December 13, in both the Gateway Galleries and the School of Art History.

Barbara, whose contributions to art were recognised in the form of a CBE in 1999, is an honorary graduate of the university, having been made a Doctor of Letters in 2008. She was elected to the Royal Academy of Arts in London in 1996 and is also a member of the Royal Fine Art Commission and the Royal Scottish Academy.

Born in Falkirk in 1943, Barbara grew up in Crieff and was encouraged by her art teachers at school. She studied at Edinburgh College of Art from 1961 to 1965. “A lot of it was very hard work some people are born with the facility to draw but others have to work at it, and I learned and matured over the years, experimenting with painting and developing ideas,” she recalls. At college she was awarded a travel scholarship, which took her to France and Spain in 1966.

“That trip to the Basque area of Spain was quite a revelation,” she says. “The change of culture and light from what I was used to in Scotland was breathtaking and was the beginning of my relationship with Spain I go there as often as I can. I don’t like being called a landscape painter I’m not interested in a bunch of rocks or a field. It’s the culture and history of a place that fascinate and inspire me. People say: ‘Why don’t you go to India?’ but it would take me 10 years to absorb the culture of India, so that doesn’t tempt me at all.”

After she graduated she attended Moray House College of Education and taught in Edinburgh, before going on to lecture in drawing, painting and printmaking at Aberdeen College of Education and then in drawing and painting at Glasgow School of Art from until 1996. Her first solo show was held in 1967 in Edinburgh and her work has been included in many solo and group exhibitions both nationally and internationally.

Barbara, who lives in Edinburgh, said: “I am delighted to be associated again with the University St Andrews. It was just fantastic to receive my honorary degree, a wonderful honour. This exhibition was an irresistible invitation although I refused others for this year. The exhibition gives a reasonably comprehensive overview of my prints these last two years, and I hope students and visitors can gain pleasure from my work and images.

“We are living in exciting political times with Scotland asserting its international credentials and any good artist naturally feels their work of international interest.

“I hope people will begin to understand my love of culture. In the last 10 to 12 years I’ve explored the history of Ireland and in particular County Mayo, as well as France and Spain. I don’t go to paint pretty pictures I want to know about the history of the region.

“The exhibition is mostly prints but there are one or two originals too. I’d like visitors to be inspired to try printmaking themselves and be excited by the process you don’t have to be an artist to do it, it’s a working practice that everyone can do from age two upwards!”

Barbara finds it hard to pick a favourite. “I’d probably go along the paintings, saying: ‘That’s my favourite, no, that’s my favourite!’” she laughs. “The fact is, they’re all related to each other, part of a family that relates to my history.”

So what’s next for Barbara? “I’m just finishing a series of pictures to do with a specific area of County Mayo, where a prehistoric farm that was under a bog has been uncovered. When I went there in February I decided that I was going to concentrate on that small square mile. That’s nearly finished and then I’ll be exhibiting some large-scale carborundum prints with three other artists at the Glasgow Print Studio in November.”

www.barbararae.com