I graduated from Duncan of Jordanstone College of Art and Design, University of Dundee, in 2007. My allotment shed was the theme of my Degree Show.
At the Students' Exhibition at the Royal Scottish Academy, I was delighted to receive the Scottish Further Education Unit Prize for one of my paintings. (See image above)
I now specialise in oil painting, primarily of the Scottish landscape; I have been influenced by the Highland Clearances of the 18th and early 19th Centuries when crofters were forced off the land in order to make way for sheep-farming. Elizabeth, Countess of Sutherland thought that sheep would yield more profit than the rents from the crofters. She was wrong: The land has been soured, the glens and the communities were desolate, and much heartbreak had been caused to families which were split up when the crofters emigrated to Canada and the United States.
The landscape nowadays has a few remnants of the crofting communities; tumble-down cottages and remains of what were once thriving communities.
Some have been preserved, up to a point, at Rossal township near Helmsdale, and Dunbeath, further north, which was situated beside a productive river. Nearby is the settlement of Badcaul, on the North Sea coast. This was where the crofters were 'invited' to settle. It is a harsh and windy place with steep cliffs. Mention is made of the fact that the crofters were used to living off the land, not the bleak place where they had to risk the dangerous cliffs to catch seabirds and their eggs for food and where mothers tethered their children to rocks for fear of them falling over the precipitous edge.
It is a wild and beautiful area, with long stretches of peatlands and lochans. It is the largest wilderness in Europe, largely uninhabited, but people are moving to this beautiful area to enjoy the peace and tranquillity
Other paintings are of flowers, particularly irises. I have developed these in to a more expressive style, using palette knife and thick applications of paint to give texture. I also enjoy painting trees.
Having been influenced by a visit to Iceland, with its geysers, volcanos and ice-covered mountains I have developed some Abstract paintings depicting the contrasts of this amazing island.
I paint on 3D deep box canvasses that do not require framing, as well as narrower canvases which can be framed if you wish.
WHAT THE PAPER SAID....
"Be sure to take a look at Ericka Kinnear's wonderful sheds" : 'The Scotsman' Review of Degree Show, May 2007