James Lumsden :: Solus bho Thuath | North Light

For the past ten years James Lumsden has worked between studios in Edinburgh and An Rubha (Point) on the Isle of Lewis. The exhibition Solus bho Thuath | North Light presents a series of paintings developed over the past two years, mainly in his Hebrides studio. About Primarily interested in the creation of a sense of light, colour, depth and feeling – he builds multiple thin layers of translucent colour; layer upon layer, glaze upon mark upon glaze – concealing, revealing, action, reaction, until a sense of light and depth is achieved within the process. Each layer is dragged, pulled or manipulated with various implements – the process being repeated until the painting begins to emerge. The use of interference and opalescent pigments add a further dimension to the paintings, the surface of the painting changing when viewed from different angles and varying light conditions. The work alludes to landscape and a sense of place, yet is essentially abstract. Lumsden describes his paintings as ‘Open paintings’ – open in the process of their creation, interpretation and in spirit. The exhibition includes a selection of recent drawings which the artist began to develop in 2025, funded by a Creative Scotland Open Fund Award. The award supported a six month period concentrating solely on experimentation and development within drawing. The coloured pencil drawings echo the painting process in being built upon multiple layers of mark making – rubbing, blending and erasing between layers, and repeating until the drawing is complete. Read more Toggle Painting