This exhibition, from Stirling – born artist Peter Yates, is part retrospective and part new work. Some of the works have been inspired by wind farms. Although wind farms are Scotland’s fastest growing renewable energy technology and are prominent on the landscape in many parts of Scotland, few artists have found them to be a source of inspiration. Many people consider them to be a blot on the landscape and a disadvantage to tourism.
Perhaps this has something to do with the newness of the technology. The Dutch Masters, from Brueghel the Elder to Frans Hals, Rembrandt and Van Gogh had no issues with the windmills which graced the landscape of the Netherlands. Although only 1000 windmills survive from the estimated 10,000 there in the 1850s, tourists, inspired by generations of Dutch landscape painters, travel to the Netherlands in the expectation of enjoying the sight of windmills there.
Through his art, Peter Yates is inviting the viewer to look at the landscape and consider it again. For the most part, Yates works on calm and peaceful images involving the light of the seasons and seeks to engage with beauty. He works on the principle that art reveals beauty and peace to the viewer.
From his home in Callander, Yates is spoiled for choice of subject. He writes:
‘These drawings and paintings relate to moments in time and space through the formal arrangement of symbols and imagery. Light will momentarily pause the poetic rhythm and cycle of time and a sense of quietude prevails.
Artists should strive to create beautiful and thought provoking work which can redress the balance from the continual exposure to the often superficial products from our synthetic age.’
Speaking for the Stirling Smith, Chairman of the Smith Trustees, Colin O’Brien said:
We are pleased to host this exhibition for an artist who is dedicated to and inspired by the Stirling area. Peter was educated at the Edinburgh College of Art by Cumming, Phillipson and Blackadder, but his first art teacher was Derek Clark in the High School of Stirling, who is still with us at the age of 102.
The works are in acrylics or oils, and all are for sale in the price range of £350 – £2000.
The exhibition will be opened by Fergus Ewing MSP, Minister for Business, Tourism and Energy, at 10.45am on Friday 23 January,
More about PETER A L YATES
Born Stirling 1955
1973-78 Edinburgh College of Art
1977 Royal Scottish Academy student award winner
1978 Post Graduate award with distinction. Travelling scholarship to France, Italy and Sicily.
1984-85 Scottish Arts Council support grants
2005, 2007, 2009 visits USA
2008 British Council visit to China
ONE MAN EXHIBITIONS
369 Gallery Edinburgh
Perth Theatre Gallery
University of St. Andrews
Eden Court Theatre, Inverness
University of Stirling
Aberdona Gallery
Galerie ‘La Lumiere’, Paris
Chapelle des Penitents, St. Pons France
Galerie ‘La Toupie’, Paris
GROUP EXHIBITIONS
New 57 Gallery, Edinburgh
Lyth Arts Centre
Third Eye Centre, Glasgow
Scottish Art Two Generations – Edinburgh
Smith Biennal, Stirling
Greenock Arts Society
RSA, SSA, RSW Centenary Exhibition
Paintings in various public and private collections in Europe and the USA. Graphic work undertaken for various clients including Ardoch Consulting and The Edrington Group.
Photographs by David Paterson
Stirling Smith Art Gallery and Museum 18 January – 1 March 2015
The Smith’s 2015 programme kicks off with a photography exhibition to get into the spirit of Dig It! 2015, the year-long celebration of Scottish archaeology (http://digit2015.com).
David Paterson is a former commercial photographer who retired to Killin in Stirling district in 2003 after a long career as a freelance in the advertising and publishing industries. He began his career in Edinburgh, moving to London in the early 1980s.
In both cities he worked for the leading advertising agencies, design groups and publishing houses of the day. He has published over a dozen books of landscape photography on subjects ranging from the Scottish Highlands to the Himalayas, and has held numerous exhibitions.
He enjoyed a 25-year collaboration with the internationally-renowned garden artist, Ian Hamilton Finlay, which gave rise to several more books, exhibitions and other publications.
He now devotes himself to the photography of Scottish landscapes and nature.
Colin O’Brien, Chairman of the Smith Trustees said
It is a particular pleasure to welcome this exhibition of stunningly beautiful images from an internationally-known photographer who lives locally. The Stirling Smith serves the Stirling Council area from Killin and Crianlarich in the north, to Fallin and Throsk in the south, and we like to feature the work of artists who live here.
Scotland is rich in neolithic monuments and David Paterson has been photographing them from the 1970s to the present day. He writes:
The stones tell us that humans have long been capable great feats of strength and organisation, and that they have been engaged since the beginning in a search for meaning and spirituality. These monuments speak directly to us and though we may no longer understand their language, we feel their power and mystery.
They are messages written on the landscape; memories from out of time.
All works are for sale in the price range £150 – £300.
To celebrate Sunday’s epic clash between Argentina and Germany in the FIFA World Cup final, legendary Scotland goalkeeper Alan Rough has been getting to grips with an exact replica of the world’s oldest football.
The former Partick Thistle, Hibs and Celtic shot-stopper was at Stirling Castle, where the original 450-year-old football was discovered in the 1970s, to help VisitScotland, Historic Scotland and Destination Stirling to promote tourism in the city.
The original ball, which was found lodged in the rafters of the Queen’s Chamber and is thought to have belonged to a young Mary Queen of Scots, is on permanent display in the city’s Smith Art Gallery and Museum – which is also home to the world’s oldest curling stone.
Joining Alan for a kickabout in the Castle’s Queen Anne Garden were Stirling Albion under-13 players Niall Burns (12), representing Argentina, and Ben Cully (11), playing in the colours of Germany, as well as costumed performers Mairi Gibson (as Mary’s mother, Mary of Guise) and Bob Holsman (as James Guthrie).
Alan, who played for Scotland in the World Cups of 1978 and 1982 and is now a presenter for Central FM and STV Glasgow, said: “I’m sure not many people know that you can see the world’s oldest football in Stirling – it’s a bit before my time! And the castle is unbelievable – I think we should all make the most of what we have in Scotland and take the opportunity to visit places like this.”
Liz Buchanan, Regional Director at VisitScotland, said: “During what has been one of the most exciting World Cups in history, we are delighted that a Scottish football legend is helping us to promote the beautiful city of Stirling. We are now on full countdown mode for the biggest sporting event ever held in Scotland. The Glasgow Commonwealth Games begin on 23 July – exactly ten days after the World Cup final and, with The Ryder Cup taking place at Gleneagles in September, sports fans won’t have long to wait before the action kicks off again.”
Liz Grant, Commercial Business Manager for Historic Scotland, which runs Stirling Castle, said: “We were delighted to welcome Alan to Stirling Castle to enjoy a kickabout with a replica of the oldest known football in the world which was found in the rafters of the royal palace.
“The castle has many sporting links – including one of the earliest references to golf being played in Scotland – so it’s a great place to celebrate Scotland’s summer of sport.”
Dr Elspeth King, Director of the Stirling Smith Art Gallery and Museum, said: “The world’s oldest football is just one of many fascinating objects to be found at the museum, which takes visitors on an unforgettable journey through Stirling’s history, from prehistoric times to the present day and bringing together everything from the Battle of Bannockburn to Burke and Hare.”
The replica of the football is one of two specially commissioned by FIFA (the Federation of International Football Associations). The other will be displayed at the Football Museum in Zurich, Switzerland, which is due to open next summer.
For more information on the Smith Art Gallery and Museum, go to www.smithartgalleryandmuseum.co.uk
Twenty textile artists have collaborated on the new banner, sewn by the members of the Stirling and District Embroiderers Guild.
With the 140th birthday of the Smith, the 700th anniversary of Bannockburn, the centenary of the Great War, and the 50th anniversary of the Stirling – Dunedin twinning, the Year of Homecoming 2014 is a special year for Stirling and the Guild members have created a new work of art to mark it.
Drawing all of the threads of history together has been a year-long labour of love for the artists. Depicted on the banner is the Stirlingshire landscape, wild flowers, and some of the best built heritage – the Castle, Wallace Monument, Bannockburn, Cambuskenneth Abbey, the University and the Smith itself. The Stirling Heads make a special appearance.
The banner has been skilfully constructed in three parts, allowing each of the parts to be displayed separately, in different places, if required in future. Provost Mike Robbins, who is also a Smith Trustee, welcomed the Banner to the Smith.
The Banner is in the Stirling Threads exhibition in the Stirling Smith, which runs until 6 April and includes everything from a Bishop’s Preaching Scarf to a pair of shoes made for a fairy and finely embroidered evening bags.