Janet Melrose

Janet Melrose
Professional Member

I attended Edinburgh College of Art and while I was there I took a course in Natural History which meant I could escape the confines of the studios and venture out to the hills or to the coast. I had always been interested in the natural world and had spent hours as a child looking at insects and birds in our garden as well as museums.

When we moved to Perthshire I began to be interested in the area around our house which had been an area of derelict ground on the banks of the River Earn. I would take walks in the morning before beginning to paint and I began to feel that same sense of intrigue and wonder I felt as a child. I began to make drawings of the plants that grew on the stone walls; the insects and bees that appeared on the buddleia and our dogs whose presence in the garden alarmed the blackbirds.

The paintings in this exhibition are my response to the incidents which occur in our garden and provide me with limitless possibilities for work. Beyond the garden I have made work about environmental issues; the declining population of seabirds and the care that needs to be taken when transporting potentially damaging chemicals. I like to find ways which make a comment about these issues but with humour.

I have become more aware of my need to remove unnecessary elements from my paintings and to consider the placing of an area of colour and the
marks made with care .

My work is represented by the John Davies Gallery in Gloucestershire and the Strathearn Gallery, Perthshire.