Ice Shelf

Scottish painter John Kingsley RSW PAI studied Drawing and Painting at Glasgow School of Art in the 1970s. Since then he has had many successful shows both in London and throughout the UK and his work is to be found in numerous collections around the world. Working in both representational and more abstract formats, the landscapes of Scotland and Provence in particular have been long-standing sources of inspiration for him.

John’s abstract works have particular energy and vitality; he works with colour and composition alone to convey feeling and communicate with the viewer, with challenges and rewards in equal measure. The paintings are an ongoing conversation, as John tries to surprise himself through the process of painting, resisting the constant urge to turn marks into a represented image, and working hard to keep the final painting alive with the immediacy and dance of mark making. Although the paintings are never based on drawings, John values drawing as a tool and a regular practice, and his paintings explore the contrast between these different ways of engaging materials and creating form – just as we relax into the deep, deep areas of painted blue on the canvas we meet a line that takes us somewhere else. Always engaging, these are paintings that we almost want to live in, certainly get lost in for a while.

John appreciates the work of others as much as he produces his own, and we see traces of inspiration from sources that range from the abstract ‘scribbles’ of Cy Twombly to the vibrating colour harmonies of Winifred Nicholson.