The Jetty Gallery
Ed Hunter
Ed was born in Glasgow in 1942 and studied drawing and painting in evening classes at Glasgow School of Art under Charlie Boyle. He turned professional in 1993 and has since exhibited in the Royal Scottish Academy, the Royal Glasgow Institute and galleries in U.K., U.S.A., Germany, France and Russia.
“ At first my focus was on making ends meet. I took on commissions and did a lot of portraits. Galleries began asking for work and I suppose I relaxed somewhat, took stock of where I thought I should be going artistically and started moving around a bit and developing.
Although I do figurative pieces, my sources are mostly hills and coast. I'm out on the hills every week and there is a natural drama there with changing cloud and weather patterns and a wee element of risk.
You soak up (sometimes literally) the atmosphere, and the challenge when you stand looking at the canvas,is to intensify the reality of the experience. I know it is essential to look to new experiences to keep the work fresh, avoid repetition and keep myself charged.
While I'm a great admirer of the Glasgow boys and the Colourists and of course they are still relevant to what is going on with many Scottish painters today, it is part of the magic of the business that I can go and see a show with the work of Francis Bacon, Max Ernst or Andy Warhol and come out feeling mesmerised.
At the end of the day it all comes down to communication and you really want to express yourself in the best way you can.”