Inverness artist’s work finds home in Town House

A Highland artist’s depiction of Inverness Town House has joined the collection of artwork held by The Highland Council at the city’s Town House.

Rhona Joan MacLeod from Ullapool, today (17 December 2010) met Provost of Inverness Councillor Jimmy Gray, Chairman of The Highland Council’s Inverness City Committee to mark the presentation of her painting to the Town House.

Provost Gray welcomed the addition of Rhona’s work to the Town House art collection. Rhona’s work now hangs in the Provost’s meeting room, where distinguished guests including Royalty are received during visits. Her art shares the same room as the portrait of John Mackintosh of Aberarder by Sir Henry Raeburn and a landscape of Inverness harbour by Charles de Lacy.

Provost Gray said: “I am delighted to receive Rhona’s painting into the Town House collection. As much as I never tire of the magnificent collection that we hold here, it is very pleasing to introduce some new art in a modern style into the collection especially that of a local artist.”

Rhona is a member of the studio3artists group from the Corbett Centre who work at the Highland Print Studio. She said:  "I have always been interested in art and liked looking at pictures of paintings by Monet, Van Gogh and Jackson Pollock among others. I have been to quite a few Art exhibitions in Glasgow and Edinburgh as well as the Musee d'Orsay in Paris and various art exhibitions when I was on holiday in Italy.

“I really started to draw and paint when I became a member of the Highland Print Studio in 2003. I found that I particularly liked to draw pictures of buildings. In the studio we had a book of line drawings in ink of Inverness, by the late John Pearson. I liked them very much and did some line drawings based on his work. My favourite materials are pencil, paint, wash and pen. I love colour and mix my own shades. I now draw from photographs or from sketches I have made. I also make prints from some of my pictures in the Highland Print Studio.”

17 Dec 2010