Robert McNeill
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Robert is a renowned award winning international botanical artist. He was born in Scotland UK where he currently lives and works. He studied drawing and painting at Edinburgh College of Art/Edinburgh University 1974-1979. On graduating he was awarded a year of Post Graduate study at Edinburgh and an Andrew Grant Travelling Scholarship which he used to travel throughout Italy and France.
On completion of his post graduate studies he never ceased painting, followed a teaching career for thirty one years and took early retirement in 2011. He continued to paint but changed genre almost overnight, moving from pure abstraction to painting botanical subjects in watercolour. The quality of work the he produces reflects his professionalism and commitment to the accurate recording of botanical subjects. His aim is to be true to Art and Science whilst incorporating a passion for form, meticulous detail and a need to capture the dynamic qualities of his chosen subjects through the use of watercolour using a variety of techniques including wet into wet and dry brush, with a focus on transparent glazes. Robert has years of experience as an abstract artist but never allowed himself to indulge in slick superficial methodologies. His botanical watercolours are no exception and bear witness to a creative process that is grounded in strong painterly qualities which are always in a state of constant flux to meet the demands and challenges of his botanical subjects. Although relatively new to this particular genre he has rapidly established himself at its forefront and continues to expand his portfolio with a growing determination and passion to seek out and record in his own unique way natures seemingly endless abundance of diverse plant forms. His first three botanical watercolours were exhibited at The Society of Botanical Artists Annual exhibition in London 2013, where he was made an Associate Member and was awarded a Certificate of Botanical Merit, the Suzanne Lucas Memorial Award and the People's Choice Award. His work was selected by the Fundación Cidade da Cultura de Galicia, Monte Gaiás, Santiago de Compostela, Spain, to be included in the prestigious "Auga Doce" / Fresh Water, exhibition 2014. In 2015 he was made a full member of The Society of Botanical Artists UK, invited to tutor for their Distance Learning Diploma Course and at their annual residential course at Plas Tan y Bwlch in the Snowdonia National Park North Wales. More recently Robert’s work was selected for the 17th and 18th International Annual Exhibitions at the Horticultural Society of New York, also for the 15th International Exhibition of Botanical Art & Illustration at the Hunt Institute, Pittsburgh 2016. He is a member of the American Society of Botanical Artists. |
