Dawne McGeachy is a multi-award winning painter, as she describes herself, a ‘sea painter.’ Originally from Argyll, she now lives and works in Helensburgh. In 2013, she won one of Scotland’s most important art prizes, the Jolomo Bank of Scotland Award for Landscape Painting. Her paintings are inspired by her father’s career as a fisherman in Argyll and her personal relationship with the sea.
I am a sea painter living and working in Scotland.
Both sides of my family are fisher people, one based in Campbeltown the other in Shetland. But the person who started my obsession with the sea was my dad; best friend; protector; and most importantly the one who never allowed me to give in.
Growing up on the peninsula of Kintyre (Campbeltown) I was obsessed by the scale of the ocean, its physicality, poetry and my father’s voyages on it to catch fish. I loved his tales of the stars on a clear night and their use in navigation. However, the flip side of this was being awoken as a child by terrifying wind and rain, knowing that my dad was on the Firth of Clyde on a 55ft boat. As the child of a fisherman, I was aware of what the sea gave but also acutely aware of the cruelty of what it was capable of taking away.
The Sea and me.
I go to the coast as often as I can, mostly to build a bank of experiences and photographic reference material for the studio. I usually take short films so I can study the movement when I get back to the studio. I love watching the wind drag across the surface, pulling and agitating, making slants and troughs, noticing the channels get deeper and steeper as they collect the wind.
-Dawne McGeachy, Artist’s Statement
Education
1994 Ohio State University, MFA Degree – Awarded ‘Phi Kappa Phi’ for graduating in the top 7% of masters students studying in all disciplines in the USA.
1992 Glasgow School of Art, Post graduate diploma – Awarded ‘Highly Commended’
1991 Glasgow School of Art, BA Hons Degree – Awarded 1st class with distinction
Exhibitions
2018
Group Exhibition, Beaux Arts Bath
Small is Beautiful, Flowers Gallery, London
From the Sublime to the Concrete, The Scottish Gallery
Spectrum Art Prize, Saatchi Gallery, London
2017
Solo Show, Doubtfire Gallery, Edinburgh
Elements, The Tatha Gallery, Newport-on-Tay
Awards
2018 The Spectrum Art Prize – Shortlisted
2013 JOLOMO Bank of Scotland Award for Landscape Painting
1992 Award for Most Accomplished Master of Fine Art Student – Ohio State University
1991 Ann Hamilton Painting recommendation
1991 Outstanding Painting Award – Ohio State University
1991 2 Year Scholarship MFA – Ohio State University
1991 The Mary Armour Still Life Award
1991 Jock McPhie – ‘Most Outstanding Student’ in drawing and painting
1991 McClaine and Watters Award for Painting
1990 Newberry Medal – runner up (most outstanding student in graduate year)
1990 Jock McPhie – ‘Most Outstanding Student’ in drawing and painting
1989 Bursary in Drawing and Painting
1988 Shlitz Design Award
