Claire Gillie-Thompson

Claire Gillie-Thompson is an award-winning contemporary artist living in Midlothian. She is a graduate of Edinburgh College of Art (2001) with a BAHons in Drawing & Painting.

After a successful degree show Claire won the RSA Sir Robin Philipson award for painting (2001) & The Royal Bank of Scotland purchase prize & has exhibited in galleries around Britain.

After taking a few years away from art to travel & start a family more recent work has explored the relationship of colour & light produced in an expressionist manner. Claire is currently working on a series inspired by the ‘illuminated’ late & early day light over the Pentland hills near Edinburgh.

“I have a very emotional connection to the landscape & light around the Pentland hills near to where I live. My aim is to convey those feelings I have in a place by playing with bold colours, layers & texture. I start spontaneously at first, never having an end goal in mind, I work from my memories & feelings to try & offer a sense of place. I begin creating drips & energetic brush strokes which I then build upon through glazes, which can be sanded back & built upon again with thicker paint using my palette knife. Each new layer adds depth, but also shows glimpses of what came before underneath. I like to play with unexpected colours, luminous oranges & pinks & gold leaf to get a real sense of light within a piece”