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artportfolio: Fiona McIntyre


"Crocodile Rock" , Lynn of Lorne

Acrylic and charcoal on canvas
51cm x 40cm

Introduction

Statement

'What matters is not what you see but the way you see it'- William Turner


I am interested in the rhythm and poetry inherent in nature but I don't seek to be literal. By removing myself from observational sketches made in the landscape I seek to find something original and transformative. For the past eight years I was focused on developing techniques using modern acrylics but have recently begun working in oils again with the aim of applying what has been learned to create fluid paintings with my recognizable broad brushmarks and layered mark making. I have been greatly influenced by my years abroad living in Sweden where I traveled regularly to Iceland then Barcelona. I would describe my work as evolving out of Nordic Expressionism and Spontaneous Abstraction particularly the work of Svavar Gudnason but also the Canadian Group of Seven who made spontaneous, colourist paintings of the Canadian outback. Above all I believe in sound drawing skills coupled with the ability to trust in the intuitive creative process.

Biography

1992-93MA Winchester School of Art in Barcelona
1989-92Grafikskolan Forum under Professor Bertil Lundberg, Sweden
1982-85Edinburgh College of Art - under David Michie, and Elizabeth Blackadder
1981-82West Surrey College of Art and Design

Born Fiona Mary Elspeth McIntyre in Nairobi 1963.

Fiona McIntyre was brought up in Dublin in the late 60's in a musical and artistic family, her Great Grandfather was the Camden Town Group painter Malcolm Drummond. After training at Edinburgh College of Art Fiona moved to Sweden where she lived with her Icelandic first husband. After learning to speak Swedish and a smattering of Icelandic Fiona set about finding herself an art studio at the much publicised Lӓderfabriken in Malmӧ, the first art collective of it's kind in Skåne. While at the Lӓderfabriken studios Fiona won a regional competition to make public art for Malmӧ General Hospital. She exhibited regularly in Sweden and Norway including taking part in art performances at Museums in Lund and Malmӧ. In 1988 Fiona was one of only four students to be accepted into the innovative printworkshop of Surrealist Bertil Lundberg (who had worked at the famous Atelier 17 under William Stanley Hayter in the 1930's). Lundberg was impressed with Fiona's drawing skills and guided her in developing a surrealist/expressionist series of paintings and prints inspired by her Scandinavian environment. Fiona went on to develop a more experimental style of printmaking at studios in Barcelona where she  improvised with new materials to develop a powerful and personal language around the human body as self expression. While living in Barcelona Fiona worked as assistant to Master Printmaker Masafumi Yamamoto where she editioned etchings using a variety of Catalan and Japanese printmaking techniques including the 'viscosity technique'. In 1993 Fiona moved to London where she taught and lectured at several schools including Post Graduate Painting at Central School of Speech & Drama. Later moving to Exeter and then Bath Fiona continued to develop her painting and prints at Widcombe Studios (now Bath Artists Studios) and Spike Island, Bristol. Since 2004 Fiona's studio has been based in Gloucestershire from where she is developing painting by exploring different landscapes as far afield as the West Coast of Scotland and Cornwall, she also teaches at Cirencester New Brewery Arts. Fiona is married with one daughter.