Morag Thomson Merriman
- Work
- Biography
www.moragthomsonmerrimanart.co.uk
I am a Scottish contemporary artist based in Edinburgh.
My work explores remembered landscapes and the emotional imprints these have left on me, sometimes for many years. I am fascinated by my ever-evolving connection to cherished, familiar landscapes and the accumulative layering that is ‘place’.
My paintings are an intuitive response to the way memory is overlaid with historic or recent experiences of loss, absence and change. I experiment with ways to convey ‘presence’, or the sense of something being revealed or concealed in the landscape. This in turn has also sparked a new exploration of the still life genre, inspired by my Mum’s collection of textured pottery ware, which I have inherited recently, and the objects’ relevance to the landscapes they came from.
Small in scale, my work is mostly on paper, manipulated with mixed media to create subtle, richly textured surfaces. I sometimes allow sections of the landscape or still life to fade, as memory can, with little definition, using soft muted colours. This is offset by a sense of presence and solidity elsewhere, thanks to the textural layered mark-making and strength of colour.
My intention overall is to achieve a sense of stillness and quietness to invite the viewer to linger.
I am a Scottish contemporary artist based in Edinburgh.
My work explores remembered landscapes and the emotional imprints these have left on me, sometimes for many years. I am fascinated by my ever-evolving connection to cherished, familiar landscapes and the accumulative layering that is ‘place’.
My paintings are an intuitive response to the way memory is overlaid with historic or recent experiences of loss, absence and change. I experiment with ways to convey ‘presence’, or the sense of something being revealed or concealed in the landscape. This in turn has also sparked a new exploration of the still life genre, inspired by my Mum’s collection of textured pottery ware, which I have inherited recently, and the objects’ relevance to the landscapes they came from.
Small in scale, my work is mostly on paper, manipulated with mixed media to create subtle, richly textured surfaces. I sometimes allow sections of the landscape or still life to fade, as memory can, with little definition, using soft muted colours. This is offset by a sense of presence and solidity elsewhere, thanks to the textural layered mark-making and strength of colour.
My intention overall is to achieve a sense of stillness and quietness to invite the viewer to linger.
SELECTED EXHIBITIONS
2024 RSW 143rd Annual Exhibition, RSA, Edinburgh
2023 SSA 125th Annual Exhibition 30 x 30 online
2023 AngusAlive Meffan Winter Show, Meffan Museum & Art Gallery, Forfar, Angus
2023 RSW 142nd Annual Exhibition, RSA, Edinburgh
2022 SSA 124th Annual Exhibition 30 x 30, RSA, Edinburgh
2010 Group Exhibition, Craft House Concept Gallery, Newington, Edinburgh
1995 ‘A Day in the Life of Scotland’ Photographic Competition organised by The Scotsman & the SNPG in association with the exhibition “Light From the Dark Room”, RSA, Edinburgh
1993 Christmas Watercolour Group Exhibition, ESU Scotland, Edinburgh
1993 CD2 Show, Collective Gallery, Edinburgh
1993 Group Exhibition, Harestanes Visitors’ Centre, Jedburgh
1992 Solo Exhibition, Helensburgh Music Society October concert, Helensburgh
1992 RSA Students’ Exhibition, RSA Edinburgh
AWARDS
2023 Longlisted for final selection, Scottish Landscape Awards exhibition 2023
2013 AccessArt Star Award
COMMISSIONS
2017-2019 Commissions for private clients in UK
2011 Commissions for local authority and private clients in UK
EDUCATION AND CONTINUING PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT
2022 - present: Mentoring with visual artist, writer and mentor Samantha Clark
2014 Selected participant in the Scottish Book Trust Illustration Lab (led by Jonathan Gibbs and Vivian French, with Catherine Rayner and Nick Sharratt)
2013 Member-tutor, AccessArt ‘Focus on Drawing’ project (online)
1993 - 1994 Moray House Institute of Education, AMTIS postgraduate training programme with placement in the Talbot Rice Gallery, Edinburgh
1987-1992 Edinburgh University & Edinburgh College of Art, MA (Hons) Fine Art
COLLECTIONS
Work in private collections in UK and America
EMPLOYMENT
2022 - present Social Media Marketeer, AccessArt Creative Direction Team (resource contributor 2012 - present)
1997 - 2007 Grants Administrator, Scottish Arts Council
1994 - 2001 Grants Admin Assistant, Edinburgh City Council Arts Development Team. Arts administration for Edinburgh District Arts Council.
2024 RSW 143rd Annual Exhibition, RSA, Edinburgh
2023 SSA 125th Annual Exhibition 30 x 30 online
2023 AngusAlive Meffan Winter Show, Meffan Museum & Art Gallery, Forfar, Angus
2023 RSW 142nd Annual Exhibition, RSA, Edinburgh
2022 SSA 124th Annual Exhibition 30 x 30, RSA, Edinburgh
2010 Group Exhibition, Craft House Concept Gallery, Newington, Edinburgh
1995 ‘A Day in the Life of Scotland’ Photographic Competition organised by The Scotsman & the SNPG in association with the exhibition “Light From the Dark Room”, RSA, Edinburgh
1993 Christmas Watercolour Group Exhibition, ESU Scotland, Edinburgh
1993 CD2 Show, Collective Gallery, Edinburgh
1993 Group Exhibition, Harestanes Visitors’ Centre, Jedburgh
1992 Solo Exhibition, Helensburgh Music Society October concert, Helensburgh
1992 RSA Students’ Exhibition, RSA Edinburgh
AWARDS
2023 Longlisted for final selection, Scottish Landscape Awards exhibition 2023
2013 AccessArt Star Award
COMMISSIONS
2017-2019 Commissions for private clients in UK
2011 Commissions for local authority and private clients in UK
EDUCATION AND CONTINUING PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT
2022 - present: Mentoring with visual artist, writer and mentor Samantha Clark
2014 Selected participant in the Scottish Book Trust Illustration Lab (led by Jonathan Gibbs and Vivian French, with Catherine Rayner and Nick Sharratt)
2013 Member-tutor, AccessArt ‘Focus on Drawing’ project (online)
1993 - 1994 Moray House Institute of Education, AMTIS postgraduate training programme with placement in the Talbot Rice Gallery, Edinburgh
1987-1992 Edinburgh University & Edinburgh College of Art, MA (Hons) Fine Art
COLLECTIONS
Work in private collections in UK and America
EMPLOYMENT
2022 - present Social Media Marketeer, AccessArt Creative Direction Team (resource contributor 2012 - present)
1997 - 2007 Grants Administrator, Scottish Arts Council
1994 - 2001 Grants Admin Assistant, Edinburgh City Council Arts Development Team. Arts administration for Edinburgh District Arts Council.
- Morag Thomson Merriman
- The Wound Within, emotional landscape, 12x7.5cms
- Mixed Media
- Morag Thomson Merriman
- Receding Light, emotional landscape, 10x7cms
- Mixed Media
- Morag Thomson Merriman
- Deep Sounds Cloaked in Muted Purple, e.l, 10x7cms
- Mixed Media
- Morag Thomson Merriman
- Fading, emotional landscape, Fading Series, 10x7.5cms
- Mixed Media
- Morag Thomson Merriman
- Shift, emotional landscape, Fading Series, 10x7.5cm
- Mixed Media
- Morag Thomson Merriman
- Embrace, emotional landscape, 10.5x7.5cms
- Mixed Media
- Morag Thomson Merriman
- Still Water, landscape memory, 10x6cms
- Mixed Media
- Morag Thomson Merriman
- Hidden, 10x5.5cms
- Mixed Media
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