END OF YEAR STUDENT EXHIBITION

Pathway is the name given to the graduation exhibition this year displaying a collection of work from 12 HND Art and Design students from Dumfries and Galloway College. Given the current impact of Covid-19, the exhibition cannot go ahead at Gracefield Arts Centre, but we hope you will enjoy seeing their work in our online gallery below.

It charts the students’ individual journeys through art to the future.  Each student has been exploring a different theme throughout the year and this gallery of their work showcases this through a range of techniques and use of materials including ceramics, painting, printmaking, digital media and textiles.

Congratulations to everyone involved. 

You can read more about the artists below… (click on each image to view the full artwork)

My name is Aileen MacEwan and I live near Amisfield.  I am inspired by the Dumfries and Galloway landscape and work from my studio in Carmont House where my window frames a fabulous view of Criffel.  I have been painting on large 4’ square boards, mainly in acrylic paints, with oil pastels.  I enjoy a semi-abstract and contemporary style, and also have an interest in sculpture, printmaking and textile based work.

My name is Debbie Kennedy and I live in Thornhill.  Art is my favourite form of self-expression.  I like working with a range of media and I particularly enjoy sculpture and ceramics. My art can be chaotic or careful, messy or methodical, multi-coloured or monochrome and each piece reflects a little part of me.  When I am creating I push the boundaries of every day life and realise that anything is possible in a creative sense.  Making art makes my soul soar and when other people like what I make it is the icing on the cake.

My name is Janey Stewart and I live in the mid Nithsdale hills.  I am primarily a potter, painter and printmaker and I work in a loose expressive style.  I am inspired by the abstract expressionists and have been following a theme of face and figure this year.  I will be commencing a degree in Fine Art at the University of Cumbria in the autumn.

My name is Heather Burton.  I am 25 and live within Dumfries and Galloway.  I am inspired by the Japanese Manga art style and am hoping to pursue a career within comic illustration.  I have combined my knowledge from an HND in Visual Communication and my Art and Design training to create pen and ink drawings on both a traditional and digital platform.

My name is Leia Walker and I am a young artist from Dumfries and Galloway.  My main inspirations come from fairy tales and emotions, usually creating imagery with darker undertones.  As an artist I predominantly work with an illustrative style, using pen and ink.  I have been exploring other areas, such as ceramics this year continuing my theme.

My name is Karen Auld and I am a mixed media and textile Artist based in Dumfries. I am inspired by the natural environment, history and heritage. I enjoy exploring the potential of repurposed materials and traditional textile techniques in my work. My current work is in response to my personal theme ‘Fragments’.

My name is Edie Hockey and I live in Dumfries and Galloway.   My theme this year has been anthropomorphic personification, combining animal features with the human form.  I have focussed much of my year on detailed pen and ink drawings and have progressed these in 3D with the use of ceramics and paper creating sculptural forms.

My name is Darren McLellan, 23, based in Dumfries and Galloway.  I am inspired by my own journey through life as a trans person.  Using my voice and art platform to stand up for LGBTQ+ rights and to spread awareness.  I express my stories through traditional and interactive illustrative techniques such as painting, printmaking and sculpture.

My name is Sophie Smith from Dumfries and Galloway.  This year I have focussed on ceramics and printmaking as I really enjoy the process that these subjects offer.  I am not pursuing a career in art and design but have enjoyed my time at Dumfries and Galloway College.

My name is Elle Findlater.  I am 20 years old and I live in Thornhill. I am inspired by the natural form and have followed this theme throughout the year.  I mainly work in black and white pen and ink drawings and, this year, I have worked on a much larger scale, something that has really tested my creative potential in a positive way.  I have continued this theme into printmaking and ceramics.

My name is Megan Nicole Baty and I am based near Kirkcudbright.  I am inspired by world issues, different world cultures and cultural folk tales.  A large body of my work consists of illustrative pieces executed in fine liner and gouache.  I enjoy the experimental quality and mark making potential that these materials offer.

My name is Jayne Ashley and I am an environmental artist based near Castle Douglas.  I work with a range of materials, often using found and repurposed objects to explore our innate relationship with the non-human world and reveal temporal and spatial layers of connectivity.  I am interested in the traces of cultural and physical activity that are laid down over time and how they reflect on issues relating to environmental degradation and social disconnection.

Thank you to Dumfries & Galloway College for sharing this gallery with us.

Dumfries & Galloway College is one of our academic partners located here at #TheCrichton.