Ron Lawson – Surf to Summit at the Strathearn Gallery

October 21, 2021 | Culture

Scotland’s most original and in demand artist opens his largest solo exhibition to date at the Strathearn Gallery in Crieff.

Celebrating a return to the islands, Ron Lawson is seeing his favourite locations with a new perspective. The Scottish Wilderness… Endless skies, vast landscapes dotted with lone cottages, dramatic mountainscapes and rugged coastlines.

The raw beauty of this environment appeals to no-one more than Ron Lawson, one of Scotland’s most iconic painters. Thrilled to be able to return to his beloved Highlands and Islands for the first time since the start of the pandemic, Ron has produced a new body of over 60 paintings inspired by his recent travels.

He said: ‘It was wonderful to return to the islands for the first time in two years. I’ve been visiting them regularly for over 20 years but this is the first time I’ve actually gone in late summer.

‘Ravenous midges aside, what struck me the most was the purple hue of the landscape due to the flowering heather. I just had to paint it!’

For Ron’s largest solo exhibition to date, the prolonged absence from travel along with a late-summer expedition has caused him to view locations with a different perspective.

As well as capturing his distinctive shorelines and croftscapes, Ron is also looking towards higher ground to include his experiences of some of Scotland’s majestic mountains. Having developed a fascination for the terrain and geology of the Scotland over the years, Ron’s incorporating more of the rocky environment he loves into his works.

Artist Ron Lawson

He said: ‘I’m excited to be painting mountain pieces for this exhibition. I don’t want to paint huge panoramas, but instead, close-ups showing the dramatic make up and formation of mountains.’

Back down to earth, lighthouses sitting on incredible rocky clifftops have captured Ron’s attention, as well as the island of Eriskay: ‘Eriskay is a wonderful remote heaven – rocky up and down with amazing formations and boulders- almost like a moonscape in places.. The way the land lies, cottages look like they’re just perched on cliffs and the top of rises.’

Regardless of Ron’s chosen subject matter though, it is his relentless pursuit of capturing the feeling of standing in a remote and beautiful Scottish location that drives him on and continues to create incredible demand for his paintings.

He added: ‘When you experience the Scottish coast and the islands, it leaves an indelible impression in your mind. I’ll never get bored of visiting or painting it and I aim to spend more time there, experiencing different seasons.

‘Through continually studying and painting my croftscapes, I strive to capture a perfect vision of how you feel when you’re actually there – the real sense of space. At times I’ll paint my memory of a place, sometimes deliberately exaggerating the remoteness of a cottage just to convey the feeling I experienced standing there, in majestic and splendid isolation.’

Heather Hill by Ron Lawson

Having exhibited his work professionally for almost 45 years, Ron Lawson has become one of Scotland’s best known contemporary artists, with a global following for his unique paintings.

The huge demand for his work means his bi-annual Solo Exhibitions with the Strathearn and Annan Galleries are eagerly anticipated and are regularly sell-outs.

If you would like to be kept updated on the show and receive notification once the paintings are released, visit the show website.

Ron Lawson’s Surf to Summit solo exhibition opens at the Strathearn Gallery, Crieff at 10am on October 30 and runs until November 21.