En Plein Air

John Nicholson is an established Scottish artist whose work has been shown widely including at the Royal Scottish Academy. After studying art at the Byam Shaw in London he taught art but continued to paint when time allowed. He worked for many years in Highland schools and after retiring he started to paint full time, initially in a converted room at home and then when WASPS opened Inverness Creative Academy he was one of the first to be allocated a studio.

His love affair with France began when he was still at school and, with a friend, hitch-hiked through Northern France, visiting cathedrals he had read about while studying for A level Art. He also enjoyed French classes at school and still attempts to converse in French with a like-minded group.

For over four decades he has visited France with his oil paints, seduced by the landscape and way of life. Favourite haunts have included the Tarn, Corrèze and Dordogne. The works in this exhibition have all been painted en plein air, each one building a lasting memory of place. With the odd exception most were completed in one day, spending up to six or seven hours on each and struggling with changing light and weather conditions. When painting en plein air he has always resisted the temptation to take a camera with him so the selections are his own and not influenced by a photographic image. Partly through choice and partly through the necessity of transporting them by air, the paintings are all small, giving an intimate view of sections of the landscape.

For a number of years John has thought about exhibiting a selection of his French paintings together and what could be a better venue than the prestigious French Institute in Edinburgh?

In all his work John attempts to combine his subject matter and the abstract elements in his search for aesthetic, intellectual and emotional significance.