Heather MacKinlay FRSA

"I have always been influenced by the work of Leonardo da Vinci, unsurprisingly given his background as both an engineer and an artist. I first saw his ‘Last Supper’ aged 12 when taken to visit it by friends of my family with whom I was staying in Milan. I am fascinated by the fact that even the simplest line on a piece of paper can be ‘true’ and my work seeks that truth. The work maybe even the simplest and most unstructured non figurative painting or drawing but when it is right you sense it to be right. There is something essential, eternal and unquestionable about that truth. I seek to distil that essence in my work and as I get older I am attempting to achieve that essence with more and more economy. I believe that it takes a life time of looking to even approach that truth. I am needless to stay still looking! "

Heather has studied for periods of time at the Slade and completed short courses in Design and drawing for the stage at the Motley Design Theatre in London with tuition from the head of the Model room at The Royal Opera House and Head of Production at the National Theatre. She recently completed a short Theatre Design course with Gary Thorne, Head of Design at RADA. In addition she has studied art for film with Art Director Jean Peyre at Twickenham Studios. The Stage described her work for 10 touring set panels for the Marriage of Figaro as 'gorgeously designed'.

Her work, primarily in watercolour, has followed her extensive travels as part of her working career as an engineer in the oil and gas industry. Heather's travels have taken her through Europe, Scandinavia, Canada, America and Mexico, China, North Africa, the Middle East and she spent almost ten years living, working and painting in Australia.

Heather won a watercolour award for her work in Australia in 1986, where she has had a number of successful solo exhibitions. The latest at the Perth Gallery in 1997, featured work from Venice and the Middle East.

In London Heather had a successful exhibition of her work at The Art Collection Gallery in Chelsea in 1995 and her work was selected for exhibition at the Royal Watercolour Society Summer Open Exhibition and the 21st Century Exhibition at the Bankside Gallery in London, in 1995; 2003; 2004 and 2005.

Heather now lives in a cottage on the Essex/Suffolk border, where she has been entranced by the light and ever changing skies of Constable Country. Her work covers a wide variety of subjects including, the broad open East Anglian landscape; the detailed decay of Venetian canals; the dry burnt landscapes of the Australian and Jordanian deserts as well as delicate watercolour portraits of children. Her eye for understanding balance and structure are impeccable. While some of her studio work, reflects Heather's engineering training, being grounded and solidly constructed she has the ability to work 'al fresco' to capture the fleeting colours of light at dawn and dusk.

Heather's work is figuratively based, and in the nature of the medium of watercolour her work is influenced by the effects of light and how it can reveal and illuminate different aspects of the landscape at different times of the day. Heather's East Anglian work in particular reflects the sense of space and the sweep of rolling farmland, and increasingly the coastal light. Her favourite time of year for painting is harvest when the textures and colours of the landscape are rich and dramatic and the threat of summer storms is a constant danger.

Heather was created a Fellow of the Royal Society of Arts in 2006.