Jan Patience: Tradition of invention and expressiveness

Scotland has an embarrassment of riches when it comes to artist-led organisations. Most have been around for more than a century.

The Royal Scottish Society of Painters in Watercolour, known as the RSW, was formed in 1876, with its first public exhibition being staged in Glasgow in 1879.

The 142nd Open Annual Exhibition of the RSW opened last weekend in the Upper Galleries of the Royal Scottish Academy on Princes Street with 315 paintings by more than 150 artists.

The work which goes on behind the scenes of these big exhibitions always amazes me; with artist members stepping up and putting in hours and hours of their time for free.

The tie which binds the exhibiting artists, is the medium of watercolour, perceived by many as being a notoriously fleeting style of painting.

According to multi-award-winning artist Angus McEwan, who recently took over as RSW president, it’s time for a reappraisal of watercolour. “Sometimes watercolour is seen as a traditional thing,” he says. “But you only have to take a look at this show to see how inventive and expressive these artists are.”

© Colin Hattersley Photography

McEwan has ambitious plans to take the work of the RSW to international audiences.

One of his paintings, Waiting Room, on show in the exhibition, displays a realism rarely associated with watercolour. An empty chair on bare floorboards sits by a window. Sunlight falls into the scene with gorgeous precision.

Seek, and ye will find a work which will blow your mind. Be that Janet Melrose’s Rewilding Project, watercolours on recycled paper found in an abandoned building or Morag Muir’s gorgeously rich Dundee Window.

Pascale Rentsch’s Windswept will have you sniffing the air for the salty tang of the east coast.

Entry to the exhibition, until Feb 16, is free.

If you are visiting the RSW show, have a look at the RSA Lower Galleries where two excellent free exhibitions are running in tandem.

The first shows off new work from recent Barns-Graham Travel Award winners, Natasha Jensen and Paige Silverman, alongside current work by past winners.

In the Academician’s Gallery, you’ll find William Littlejohn: In New Light. The Arbroath-born artist worked across several mediums and the work on show demonstrates his masterful handling of colour and light.