Claire Harkess - The Scottish Gallery

Claire HarkessIndian Tigerlands

Claire HarkessIndian Tigerlands6 – 30 March 201316 Dundas Street, Edinburgh EH3 6HZ • Tel 0131 558 1200Email mail@scottish-gallery.co.uk • www.scottish-gallery.co.ukFront cover: From the Forest (detail), watercolour, 63 x 65 cmsLeft: Troop (detail), watercolour, 76 x 105 cms1 Tiger Trace (20)watercolour, 13 x 13 cms

ForewordClaire Harkess resolves an ancient tension present in thedepiction of the natural world between art and science. Theprecise recording of animals and plants by skilled artists has forfive hundred years been a vital component of their taxonomy butnecessarily limited by scientific demands to dry representation.With many honourable exceptions, for example Audubon’s Birdsof America, an encyclopaedic approach devours inspiration.Today’s wildlife artists compete for prizes in a narrow ratherspecialist field and have to share their territory with thephotographer.Harkess has recognised that intense study is still necessary, as ismastery of proportion and colouration but that to make art outof nature she must draw from the same well-spring of creativityas any original painter. Habitat is suggested by a subtle colourwash or a screen of leaves dissolved in light. She has, for thisexhibition, been in India. Her tigers, monkeys and birds are veryreal, but glimpsed; far removed from cage or specimen table oreven the staged habitat of the wildlife artist so that her paintingsconvey the experience of seeing and the thrill of discovery andobservation. This is her second one-person exhibition with TheScottish Gallery and sees further confirmation of her status asone of Scotland’s most gifted painters.GUY PEPLOEJanuary 20132

IntroductionReturning from India – with its heaven and hell contrasts – it ishard to digest everything. I didn’t know where to begin. I left thematerial aside for a year or so. This gave me a distance from thetrip – time for memories to filter, ideas to come and space to calmdown. Unlike other study trips to remote uninhabited places,India is a crazy cocktail of colour and noise. Everything is all atonce. There’s no space for air and any natural habitats are neverfar from the encroaching population.If I become too conscious or considered about what I’m doing– the paint seems to stick – I get stuck. Working on heavywatercolour paper and tissue thin Chinese papers the paintingscan be split roughly into two sections, based on the paper andits characteristics. Watercolour leaves traces, stains, ghosts,shadows of what was put down before like a memory in paint.Claire HarkessJanuary 20132 Tiger Trace (22)watercolour, 13 x 13 cms3 Tiger Trace (19)watercolour, 13 x 13 cms3

4 Parakeetswatercolour, 73 x 103 cms4

5 Stilt (iv)watercolour, 28 x 37 cms6

6 Stilt (ii)watercolour, 27 x 37 cms7

7 Bee-eater (ii)watercolour, 28 x 36 cms8

8 Roostwatercolour, 73 x 103 cms9

9 Hoopoe and Weavers at the Breakfast Tablewatercolour, 65 x 81 cms10

10 Kingfisherwatercolour, 54 x 74 cms11

11 Sarus Cranes, Bharatpurink on rice paper, 66 x 130 cms12

12 Indian Rollerwatercolour, 56 x 76 cms14

13 Forest Birds, Fading Tigerwatercolour, 64 x 81 cms15

15 Bee-eater (i)watercolour, 56 x 76 cms17

16 Langur and the Moonwatercolour & ink on rice paper, 17.5 x 27 cms18

17 Forest Creatureswatercolour, 66 x 100 cms19

18 Family Group, Macaques at Bharatpurwatercolour on rice paper, 25 x 31 cms20

19 Troopwatercolour, 76 x 105 cms21

20 Rhesus Macaquewatercolour on rice paper, 29 x 44 cms22

21 Jumpwatercolour, 76 x 105 cms23

22 Langur’s Favourite Tree, Kanhawatercolour & ink on rice paper, 68 x 85 cms24

23 Midday Shadewatercolour on rice paper, 17 x 20 cms25

24 Cool Morning, Kanhawatercolour & ink on rice paper, 62 x 90 cms26

25 Moving through Bandhavgarhwatercolour & ink on rice paper, 67 x 105 cms27

Kanha National Park3rd March 2010 3pmWe sit by open meadow. It’s hot and bright after the morning thunder storm. No wind, barely a sound.A stonechat sits on the end of a tall blade of grass. We wait.A sambar deer barks in the Sal forest about half a km away. I have learned not to get too excited – the nowfamiliar distress call usually turns out to be a false alarm. It is a surprise to arrive and hear a tiger. All othernoises fall silent as attention is fixed on the direction of sound. It is the resident female looking for her threecubs – nearly two years old and taken to exploring on their own. Her repeated call is soft, clear and urgent,interrupted every minute or so with an angry, impatient roar that seems to travel right through you, silencingthe forest beyond. The calls are loud, maybe 20 meters away. I see nothing. The tigress is so perfectly blendedwith her surroundings.Suddenly she’s out – behind us on the road. She sits, panting, calling. Her coat is intense orange/burnt siennafading to off-white under belly. Broad black stripes and banded tail, perfect camouflage in the bush are noweye-catching against the dirt road. Her forepaws extend towards us exaggerating their power and size. Shestands, turns and vanishes. Her winking white ear spots the last we see of her. Moments later, three flat eared,flat tailed, skulking teenage cubs, almost the size of their mother, cross a firebreak following her call.26 Kanha Tigerink on rice paper, 61 x 96 cms28

27 Kanha Waterholewatercolour, 78 x 80 cms30

28 Village Meets Forestwatercolour, 70 x 90 cms31

29 Hidden Tigerwatercolour, 73 x 103 cms32

tiger tracesThis is a series of very small paintings – each tigercan fit into your hand. The idea is of somethingprecious, rare, elusive, notoriously hard to find.To catch a glimpse of one is truly magical. They aresmall treasures – jewels of the forest that are sadly notpriceless. Some images almost majestic are reducedto a shadow or ghost, a silhouette or a mere trace ofsomething that once was.34

30 Tiger Trace (26)watercolour, 13 x 13 cms31 Tiger Trace (27)watercolour, 13 x 13 cms35

32 Tiger Trace (1)watercolour, 13 x 13 cms33 Tiger Trace (40)watercolour, 11.5 x 11.5 cms34 Tiger Trace (15)watercolour, 13 x 13 cms35 Tiger Trace (13)watercolour, 13 x 13 cms36 Tiger Trace (32)watercolour, 13 x 13 cms37 Tiger Trace (39)watercolour, 11.5 x 11.5 cms36

38 Tiger Trace (18)watercolour, 13 x 13 cms39 Tiger Trace (21)watercolour, 13 x 13 cms40 Tiger Trace (2)watercolour, 13 x 13 cms41 Tiger Trace (4)watercolour, 13 x 13 cms42 Tiger Trace (6)watercolour, 13 x 13 cms43 Tiger Trace (14)watercolour, 13 x 13 cms37

44 Hidden Leopardwatercolour, 78 x 80 cms38

45 Silent Passingwatercolour, 50 x 70 cms39

46 Tiger Trace (9)watercolour, 13 x 13 cms47 Tiger Trace (11)watercolour, 13 x 13 cms40

48 From the Forestwatercolour, 63 x 65 cms41

49 Spotted Deerwatercolour & ink on rice paper, 16 x 17 cms42

50 Tiger and Sunbirdwatercolour, 34 x 52 cms43

51 Wild Dogs (iii)watercolour on rice paper, 26.5 x 35 cms52 Wild Dogs (iv)watercolour on rice paper, 27 x 36 cms44

53 Asiatic Lioness, Girwatercolour on rice paper, 25 x 30 cms54 Hog Deer, Kazirangawatercolour on rice paper, 20 x 26 cms45

55 Holy Cowwatercolour on rice paper, 14 x 16 cms46

56 Hanuman Langurwatercolour on rice paper, 29 x 44 cms47

57 Rhinowatercolour on rice paper, 29 x 44 cms48

58 Rhino (ii)ink, 56 x 77 cms49

CLAIRE HARKESS1970 Born Ayr, Scotland1988-93 BA (hons) Fine Art,Glasgow School of Art2005 Elected member RSW (Royal ScottishSociety of Painters in Watercolour)Selected Solo Exhibitions2013 ‘Indian Tigerlands’The Scottish Gallery, Edinburgh2010 Queen’s Gallery, Dundee2009 ‘Worn Tracks, New Marks, Kenya’The Strathearn Gallery, Crieff2008 ‘Galapagos’ The Scottish Gallery,Edinburgh2007 ‘St Kilda’ Plockton Gallery @ The Manse99, 01, 05 ‘Antarctica’ Strathearn Gallery, Crieff97, 04 Maclaurin Art Gallery, Ayr2003 Green Gallery, Aberfoyle2000 ‘Outback and Beyond’ Open Eye Gallery,Edinburgh1998 Edinburgh Zoo98, 00, 05 Tolquhon Gallery, Aberdeenshire1997 University of York1997 Crosskeys, PerthSelected Group Exhibitions2011 The Scottish Gallery at KinblethmontGallery, Arbroath2011 Whitehouse Gallery, Kirkcudbright2011 Perthshire Open Studios2009 Kilmorack Gallery, Beauly2007 Wade Gallery, Elie2005 Castle Gallery, Bute2004 Thomas Henry, Fine Art, Nantucket, USA2004 Galerie Dauphin, Singapore2003 Green Gallery, Munich2002 Society of Wildlife Artists, Mall Galleries,London2000 VAS, Royal Scottish Academy1996–98 SAAC, Royal Scottish Academy1998 Queen’s Gallery, Dundee1998 Fotheringham Gallery, Bridge of Allan1997 RSW, Royal Scottish Academy1996 New Faces, Perth Museum and ArtGallery1996 Frames Gallery, Perth1995 Aberdeen Hospital1993 Degree Show, Glasgow School of Art1992 ‘Contain’, Sydney, Australia1991 The Old Museum, BelfastPublic CollectionsPerth Museum and Art Gallery,Perth and Kinross CouncilRoyal Scottish Geographical SocietyInvited Artist2004 Dunkeld Cathedral Annual Exhibition2004 Perthshire Art Association, PerthMuseum and Art Gallery50

Awards/Competitions2011 David Shepherd Wildlife Artistof the Year overall runner up andCategory Winner of Wildlife in Action2010 Riverside Gallery Award, RSW2006 SAC, Perth and Kinross Artists’ Award2002 Windsor and Newton, RSW2002 Exhibitor at Singer and Friedlander/Sunday Times Competition1996 Arches Winter Painting Competition(wildlife)Residencies1998 The Royal Zoological Society, EdinburghTeaching1999– Dollar Summer School1998 Summer School, Edinburgh Collegeof ArtStudy Visits2010 India2009 Kenya2008 The Galapagos Islands2007 St Kitts, Nevis2006, 07 St Kilda2006 Australian Outback2005 Grenada, Tobago2004 Antarctica + South Georgia2003 Caribbean Islands: Dominica, Barbados,Trinidad, Cuba2003 Mexico: migration of the MonarchButterfly2002 Letterewe Estate, Wester Ross:Commissioned paintings for book‘A Highland Deer Herd and Its Habitat’pbl Red Lion Press, London2000 Australia: three months travelling theEastern and Central regionsTelevision2002 Landward, BBC: Art and Nature1998 The Zoo, BBC: Documenting the artist inresidence programme51

Published by The Scottish Gallery to coincide with the exhibitionClaire Harkess: Indian Tigerlands6 – 30 March 2013Exhibition can be viewed online atwww.scottish-gallery.co.uk/claireharkessISBN: 978-1-905146-74-1Designed by Kenneth GrayPhotography by William Van EslandPrinted by Barr PrintersAll rights reserved. No part of this catalogue may be reproducedin any form by print, photocopy or by any other means, withoutthe permission of the copyright holders and of the publishers.16 Dundas Street, Edinburgh EH3 6HZTel 0131 558 1200 Email mail@scottish-gallery.co.ukWeb www.scottish-gallery.co.ukRight: Langur’s Favourite Tree, Kanha (detail)watercolour & ink on rice paper, 68 x 85 cmsBack cover: Tiger Trace (31)watercolour, 13 x 13 cms52