Anne Butler (b.1959) is an artist living and working in Scotland. Anne began painting in her forties after studying at Leith School of Art.
STATEMENT
I paint semi-abstract paintings in acrylic on canvas. My paintings are often landscapes or are abstractions of them. Colour and light are more important to me than form. Colour is used to evoke emotion and create a sense of mystery. The finished paintings range from almost totally abstract compositions revealing a sense of place to more easily recognisable landscapes.
I paint in layers, laying paint over paint and scraping back. This scraping back technique to reveal the colours underneath is a process that many other artists (perhaps most famously Turner) have used.
My latest inspiration has come from visits to the West coast of Scotland, the Solway Coast and the landscape around my studio in Dumfries & Galloway. I spent a month in a studio on the Isle of Iona in 2018. I love the ever-changing weather and all the seasons (even winter when my north facing studio is very cold and I can't get outside. I wear a lot of clothes!)
Two of my influences are Joan Eardley, and John Hoyland.
“...you can’t get heavy with a painting. You have to watch it out of the corner of your eye. It has to be allowed to go its own way to some extent. It’s a compromise. Paintings can dry in completely unexpected ways and you have to be ready to meet a new situation every day” - John Hoyland.
PREVIOUS EXHIBITIONS
ART TRAILS/FAIRS
Borders Art Fair, 2019
Spring Fling 2014, 2015, 2016, 2017, 2018, 2019, 2020, 2021, 2022, 2023, 2024
RGI Exhibition, 2016, 2017
Edinburgh Art Fair, Nov 2017
Bristol Arts Trail, 2016
Pittenweem Art Festival, 2015, 2016, 2021, 2022, 2023
West Bristol Arts Trail, 2015
GALLERIES
Atelier Gallery, Edinburgh 2020 - 2023
Scotland Art Gallery, Glasgow 2020 - 2024
The Little Gallery, Pittenweem
Coningsby Gallery, London, Sept 2019
Caerlaverock Wetlands Centre, Dumfriesshire. June - July 2019
Dundas Street Gallery, (Solo Exhibition), 2017, 2018, 2019, 2022
Cheltenham Open Studios, Venue 33
The Yellow Door Gallery, Dumfries
Wey Gallery, Surrey. Autumn Exhibition
Coffee 7, London
Capital Art Gallery, London
White House gallery, Kirkcudbrightshire
Catstrand Gallery, New Galloway
Ardquin Fine Arts, Haslemere
Flat Cat Gallery, Lauder
EDS Gallery, Gt. King St. Edinburgh
Viridian Gallery, Keswick
Mustard Gallery, Langholm.
Hill House Gallery, Broughton