in painting mixed media

Claire Nicol grew up in Ayrshire, Scotland and studied Drawing and Painting at Glasgow School of Art.

She spent several years teaching art and design and now lives and works in Edinburgh.

In her still-life paintings, the artist presents a domestic scene with an edge. All her images have a faded quality, inspired by ancient tapestries and parchment. The distressed, painted surface is significant and acknowledges the passage of time.

Bold, flat shapes pay homage to Folk Art and become colourful symbols rather than objects. Negative and positive create an uneasy symmetry. On the scratched table, kitchen tensils are arranged like weapons, while bottles and bowls are mysteriously numbered.  The simplicity of the arrangement allows us to create our own stories.