WebMarApr2020

32 | www.westendermagazine.com
When artist Norman Mathieson moved
from Glasgow, calling the Japanese
inland sea island of Awaji home,
there echoed a shift away from the medium
of printmaking as his primary method of
working and a 13 year pause in exhibiting on
his native soil. Something which has been
wonderfully rekindled with an exhibition of
paintings at Mansfield Park Gallery and a
body of work that offers a beautiful reflection
of this new landscape and his expressed
moments in time.
As a graduate of Glasgow School of Art
and the MFA at Duncan of Jordanstone
in Dundee, Mathieson’s roots were at one
time firmly placed in the UK – working at
the Northern Print Studio in the North East
of England and subsequently as the master
screen printer and later, workshop manager
at the Glasgow Print Studio. A time he recalls
of, ‘fun days – great people with plenty of
creative energy buzzing around.’
It was also around this time however
that he was involved in several overseas
residencies and printmaking workshops.
‘About three years before relocating I took
part in a workshop on the techniques of
traditional Japanese woodblock printing
located in a rural mountainside village called
Nagasawa on Awaji. Everything about the
place including the landscape, the buildings
and the way of life seemed a bit magical, like
the movie, My Neighbour Totoro.’ Mathieson
was also to meet his wife Kozue on this trip
and after a few more visits, settled in a town
close to this village.
Knowing of Awaji only for its famous
Naruto Whirlpools and home to Izanagi Jingu,
legendary referred to as the oldest shrine
in Japan and being aware of Mathieson’s
work as a printmaker, I had been intrigued
by how these new experiences and the
sense of place would translate and perhaps
influence a new body of work. Not long after
arriving and through the world of Facebook
he started his page, ‘Awaji Drawing’ and
it was clear from early on that the creative
momentum endured. ‘I had been drawing
around Awaji City and soon had completed
about ten sketchbooks, mainly in watercolour
pen. In the studio I was painting most days,
subsequently I was amassing a body of
work, however I didn’t have opportunities
to exhibit the work I was making. I started
‘Awaji Drawing’ around this time principally
Zebras Without Stripes © Norman Mathieson
to reconnect with friends and other artists.
I post regularly and although it’s not as
satisfying as exhibiting it’s a good way to
share with others what it is that I am doing in
Japan,’ he tells me.
I really was drawn to the works Mathieson
was posting. There is gift of beauty and
a little bit of that magic, less abstract in
composition to previous works but continued
sympathy and reflection of everyday life.
The balance of the elements within the