James Allan Hawkins (born April 1954) is an English painter and film maker associated with Scottish Highland landscape. He lives, works and exhibits at his open studio RhueArt in Rhue, three miles North of

Ullapool Ullapool (; gd, Ulapul ) is a village and port located in Northern Scotland. Ullapool has a population of around 1,500 inhabitants. It is located around northwest of Inverness in Ross and Cromarty, Scottish Highlands. Despite its modest size, ...

Early life

Hawkins was educated at

Monkton Combe School (Thy Word is Truth) , established = , type = Public schoolIndependent schoolBoarding school , founder = The Revd Francis Pocock , head_label = Head Master , head ...

Bath Bath may refer to: * Bathing, immersion in a fluid ** Bathtub, a large open container for water, in which a person may wash their body ** Public bathing, a public place where people bathe * Thermae, ancient Roman public bathing facilities Plac ...

. He went on to study at

Wimbledon School of Art Wimbledon College of Arts, formerly Wimbledon School of Art, is a constituent college of the University of the Arts London specialising in theatre, screen and performance art. It is located in Wimbledon and Merton Park, South West London. ...

, London and

Ruskin School of Drawing The Ruskin School of Art, known as the Ruskin, is an art school at the University of Oxford, England. It is part of Oxford's Humanities Division. History The Ruskin grew out the Oxford School of Art, which was founded in 1865 and later became ...

, Oxford University. After graduating he moved to the Highlands of Scotland in 1978 with his wife Flick.

Career

His early work was figurative and mostly painted outside, on-location on the West coast of Scotland. After a commission in 1986 to produce stage sets for a production of The Brahan Seer at

Eden Court Theatre Eden Court Theatre (Scottish Gaelic: Cùirt an Easbaig) is a large theatre, cinema and arts venue situated in Inverness, Scotland close to the banks of the River Ness. The theatre has recently undergone a complete refurbishment and major exten ...

Inverness Inverness (; from the gd, Inbhir Nis , meaning "Mouth of the River Ness"; sco, Innerness) is a city in the Scottish Highlands. It is the administrative centre for The Highland Council and is regarded as the capital of the Highlands. Histori ...

his work became larger and semi abstract. He exhibited at the 369 Gallery,

Edinburgh Edinburgh ( ; gd, Dùn Èideann ) is the capital city of Scotland and one of its 32 Council areas of Scotland, council areas. Historically part of the county of Midlothian (interchangeably Edinburghshire before 1921), it is located in Lothian ...

during the 1980s and in 1989 he won Warwick Arts Trust prize. In 1996 his paintings were part of Heartlands an overview of Scottish landscape painting at the City Art Centre, Edinburgh. Commissioned to paint large polyptych for Inverness airport in 2004. In 2005 he began making short video films about nature's microcosm. In 2012 Hawkins has broken away from his traditional medium or acrylic on stretched canvas and started working with carbon fiber and core board to create freestanding irregular shaped cut-out pieces.

Style

Hawkins work has always concentrated on landscape. Early paintings were figurative painted in

watercolour Watercolor (American English) or watercolour (British English; see spelling differences), also ''aquarelle'' (; from Italian diminutive of Latin ''aqua'' "water"), is a painting method”Watercolor may be as old as art itself, going back to t ...

on location. After he turned to

acrylic Acrylic may refer to: Chemicals and materials * Acrylic acid, the simplest acrylic compound * Acrylate polymer, a group of polymers (plastics) noted for transparency and elasticity * Acrylic resin, a group of related thermoplastic or thermosett ...

his practice became increasingly studio based but with reference to frequent camping and walking trips throughout

Scotland Scotland (, ) is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. Covering the northern third of the island of Great Britain, mainland Scotland has a border with England to the southeast and is otherwise surrounded by the Atlantic Ocean to the ...

. The work has been abstract at times and representational at others a progression that the artist describes as "being like climbing a spiral staircase, by turns arriving at a similar point but from a different perspective". The surfaces of the paintings are complex and textured the artist applying paint with large painting knives and pieces of board. Most recently he has been making cut out paintings, fragments of landscape that are freestanding irregular shapes mounted on carbon fiber.

Solo exhibitions

*2012 Cutting Edge, RhueArt in

Cork Street Cork Street is a street in Mayfair in the West End of London, England, with many contemporary art galleries, and was previously associated with the tailoring industry. It is part of the Burlington Estate, which was developed from the 18th centur ...

London *2009 Chronicles of the straight line Ramblers Club, London *2007 Water, Wind and Light,

Kilmorack Gallery Kilmorack Gallery reuses a converted church building for its exhibitions, in a rural location near Beauly in Inverness-shire, Scotland. It was established as a commercial gallery in 1997 after the building was purchased by art dealer Tony Davids ...

, Beauly *2006 Atlantic Coast,

Duff House Duff House is a Georgian estate house in Banff, Aberdeenshire, Scotland. Now in the care of Historic Environment Scotland, it is part of the National Galleries of Scotland and is a Category A listed building. The house is built of ashlar in t ...

Scottish National Galleries, Banff *2003 Way Out West, Davies and Tooth, London *2002

Beauly *2001 Art on the Links, St Andrews *1999 Landscape, Colour and Light, Davies and Tooth, London *1998 A Journey in all Weathers, Davies and Tooth, London *1997 Inferences, Bellevue Gallery, Edinburgh *1996 Duncan R Millar Fine Arts, Glasgow *1993 Coventry Gallery, London *1992 Sacred Sights, C.Boyd Gallery, Galashiels *1991 Sense of Place, 369 Gallery, Edinburgh *1990 Gallerie Van Alom, Berlin *1989 Gallery 202 London *1987 Landmarks, 369 Gallery, Edinburgh *1983 McLean Art Gallery, Greenock

Group exhibitions

* 2011 Perception,RhueArt
at Dovecot Studios, Edinburgh; Scottish Housing Expo, Inverness * 2009 Glasgow Art Fair * 2008 Thompson's Galleries, Aldeburgh, London * 2005 Millennium Institute, University of the Highlands and Islands; Kilmorack Gallery, The Gallery, Cork Street, London; Art’05 London Contemporary Art fair * Scottish Exhibition, Richmond Hill Gallery, London * 2004 Thompson's Gallery Aldeburgh, London; Kilmorack Gallery, Beauly * 2003 Summer Exhibition, City Art Centre, Edinburgh * 2002 International Art Fair, New York; Exhibition, Fort Lauderdale, Florida USA * 2001 Art'01 London Contemporary Art Fair * 2001 Living the Land, Duff House, Scottish National Galleries, Banff * 1997 Lineart’97, International Art Fair, Ghent * 1996 ART 96, London Contemporary Art Fair * 1996 Glasgow Art Fair * 1996 Heartland, 20th Century Scottish Landscapes, Edinburgh * 1995 ‘Prints for the Western Isles’, Gulbenkian Foundation * 1991 Mountain Experience, Highland Region Touring Exhibition * 1989 Scottish Landscape, 369 Gallery National Touring Exhibition; Into the Highlands, McManus Gallery, Dundee * 1988 Light and Space, Crawford Arts Centre, St Andrews; Tenth Anniversary Exhibition, 369 Gallery Edinburgh; Artravaganza, Smith Gallery, Stirling * 1987 Seven Artists’ View of Iona, 369 Gallery Edinburgh * 1986 McLean Biennial, Greenock * 1978 369 Gallery, Edinburgh * 1975 Balliol College, Oxford

Film and video

* 2008 ambiEnt Festival, Brescia, Italy * 2007 A Series of Fortunate Events, Inverness City Centre; Royal Scottish Academy Summer Exhibition, Edinburgh; Water, Wind and Light, Kilmorack Gallery, Beauly * 2006 Atlantic Coast, Duff House, Scottish National Galleries, Banff * 2005 Dreaming Spires, Edinburgh * 2001 Highland Festival ‘Elements’, Animation Collaboration * 1986 Biston Betularia, performance/ video

Awards and Commissions

* 2004 The Great Glen, Inverness Airport * 1998 Scottish Art, GlenFiddich Distillery, Dufftown * 1989 Painter of the Year, Warwick Arts Trust, London * 1986 The Brahan Seer, Eden Court Theatre, Inverness * 1976 Painting Prize, Ruskin School of Drawing, Oxford University

Collections

Buchanan Ingersoll Buchanan Ingersoll & Rooney PC is an American law firm and lobbying group based in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. The firm has more than 450 lawyers in offices in 15 U.S. cities. As of 2022, Buchanan Ingersoll is the third-largest law firm in Pittsbur ...

, London * City Art Centre, Edinburgh City Council *

Denton Wilde Sapte Denton Wilde Sapte LLP (informally Dentons) was an international law firm headquartered in London, United Kingdom. It merged with the United States-based law firm Sonnenschein Nath & Rosenthal in September 2010, forming SNR Denton. At the time ...

, London, Brussels, Paris *

The Fleming Collection The Fleming Collection is a large private collection of Scottish art. Originally a corporate collection dominating the walls of the Flemings bank, it had a home in a gallery on Berkeley Square, central London, England from 2002 until the gallery's ...

, London * Gallery of Modern Art, Glasgow * Highland Council * Highland Regional Council *

Paintings in Hospitals Paintings in Hospitals is an arts in health charity in the United Kingdom. Founded in 1959, the charity's services include the provision of artwork loans, art projects and art workshops to health and social care organisations. The charity's acti ...

, Scotland *

Prudential plc Prudential plc is a British Multinational corporation, multinational insurance company headquartered in London, England. It was founded in London in May 1848 to provide loans to professional and working people. Prudential has dual primary list ...

The Royal Bank of Scotland The Royal Bank of Scotland plc (RBS; gd, Banca Rìoghail na h-Alba) is a major retail banking, retail and commercial bank in Scotland. It is one of the retail banking subsidiaries of NatWest Group, together with NatWest (in England and Wales) ...

* Warwick Arts Trust

References

External links

Official James Hawkins Website

Official James Hawkins Agent Website
{{DEFAULTSORT:Hawkins, James 1954 births Living people English contemporary artists 20th-century English painters English male painters 21st-century English painters 21st-century English male artists English landscape artists People educated at Monkton Combe School Alumni of the Ruskin School of Art Alumni of Wimbledon College of Arts 20th-century English male artists