A north-east artist has added a fresh flourish to her promising career.
Izzy Thomson, who grew up in Cromarty, recently graduated with a degree in painting from Gray’s School of Art.
Now, she has reached a major milestone in her career by securing a place in her first exhibition, Fly 2016, at the Royal Scottish Academy (RSA) in Edinburgh.
Miss Thomson’s oil painting, From the Eyes, will be hung as part of the display.
The piece was inspired by the landscape and scenery the artist encountered when she visited Iceland.
Miss Thomson, who is currently taking up a graduate residency at Leith School of Art, said it was a “huge honour” for her to take part.
“I’ve always had an interest in art, as my parents were both artists and encouraged me to be creative from a very young age,” she said.
“Before coming to Gray’s I hadn’t really done a huge amount of oil painting, drawing was mainly my thing, but it quickly became my staple.
“The piece was inspired by my time in Iceland: a country with an otherworldly space and aberrational atmosphere. I wanted to make a painting about Iceland’s dark kind of light that is experienced when watching the northern lights from a hill.
“To have my work displayed in the RSA is a huge honour and it is amazing to have my work recognised in this way.”
Izzy also has a solo show, The Shape of a Mountain, currently on display at the Arts Centre and Theatre in Aberdeen.
Keith Grant, head of painting at Gray’s, said the news came as no surprise to the art school.
He said: “Izzy had an outstanding fourth year which culminated with her receiving a 1st class Honours Degree as well as a sell-out Degree Show.
“It therefore came as no surprise to me when she was awarded a one year graduate residency at Leith School of Art or that in the six months since leaving Gray’s she would have had a one person exhibition and now on top of that winning an award at this year’s Visual Arts Scotland exhibition at the RSA. It’s been an extremely good year for an extremely talented painter.”
