I can still remember very clear one of our first trips to Islay. We came by car from Glasgow travelling along Loch Lomond, Rest and be Thankful and enjoyed the lovely drive along Loch Fyne passing Inveraray and the Auchindrain Museum, which is worth a visit if you have some time to spare. Because we booked the ferry to Islay the day after we stayed in Tarbert in a lovely Bed and Breakfast, called Rhu House. Tarbert is a very lovely village built around the picturesque harbour and has some very nice restaurants and shops. Because we had some time to kill we visited several shops and one of them was a bookshop annex art shop and it was there that we saw Ian Gray's paintings for the first time. We were struck by the beauty of his paintings, expressing just these feelings that fit so perfectly to Islay, the Queen of the Hebrides. Remoteness, solitude, beauty, big skies and dramatic landscapes, all the things that make Islay so attractive.
Ian Gray is an extremely talented painter and was born in Hamilton/Scotland in 1966. He grew up near Edinburgh but later moved to Germany in 1988, where he now lives with his wife and two children near Dusseldorf. Ian started his creative carrier in 1995 and participated in a lot of exhibitions all over the world and several times on Islay during the Islay festival.
Colour and the stroke of the brush influence one another like deafness and blindness, as one alone may sometimes be perceived as an extreme. Viewers again and again will discover new aspects and sense the story behind them, becoming absorbed in them, thereby being reminded of their own emotions. Then, all of a sudden, they reemerge out of the shadow of the picture, returning to reality.
If you are interested in Ian's work you can contact him by sending an email or visit his website to find out more about this excellent painter and his work. All images courtesy of Ian Gray.
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