Jonathan Shearer

Award winning artist Jonathan Shearer graduated from Gray’s School of Art, Aberdeen in 1993 and completed a Post-Graduate Diploma from the Cyprus College of Art in 1996.

“Through a process of walking, drawing and painting directly in the highland landscape I need to get to know a place before I can paint it. Initially spending a lot of time walking, looking and contemplating, I prefer that feeling of isolation. Being submerged in a landscape that has a resonance of history, although perhaps no visual evidence of mankind.

My paintings are concerned with trying to convey the sensation of being immersed in the landscape, the wind in your face, the soft bogginess of the moor beneath your feet, the clouds enveloping the mountain. The sheer exhilaration of wild places. Working on small oil paintings outside, speed is essential - too much time spent on a sketch or a painting and the sense of what’s happening is lost. Painting must always be an emotional, vigorously expressive process. I then use the small studies to develop larger paintings back in the studio.

Jonathan has exhibited in solo and group exhibitions in the UK and abroad with his work held in public and private collections worldwide.