Ruth BEARDSWORTH

Artist's Statement

My training as a printmaker using traditional and experimental methods has greatly influenced my concern with making images.
I have always been interested in shape and textures, in simplicity and the tension between realism and abstraction.
Most of my works are transformations of my interest in landscape/nature/objects and their reduction into marks, symbols and compositions - the distillation of matter into basic imagery.

Education

  • 1976-1979 - B.A. (Hons) Fine Art, Preston Polytechnic.
  • 1979-1980 - M.A. Printmaking, Manchester Polytechnic.

Academic Experience

  • 1980 - Part-Time Lecturer, Manchester Polytechnic.
  • 1981 - Appointed Full-time Lecturer in Printmaking, Grays School of Art.
  • 1996 - Visiting Lecturer, Duncan of Jordanstone College of Art and Design, M.F.A. Course, Dundee.

Awards

  • 1992 - Shell Expro Award.
  • 1992 - Scottish Arts Council Project Assistance Award to study Lithography at the Tamarind Institute in New Mexico.
  • 1996 - Glasgow Print Studio Publication Award.

Commissions

  • *With an Eye to the East*, Print Folio, Seagate Gallery, Dundee, Scottish Arts Council.
  • 1991 - SSA Centenary Print Folio, Print.
  • 1994 - Design for Etched and Printed Panels, Aberdeen Royal Infirmary, Intensive Therapy Unit.
  • 2000 - P&O North Sea Ferries, Print.

Collections

  • Newhall Art Collection, Cambridge University
  • Aberdeen Art Gallery
  • Scottish Arts Council
  • Grampian Television
  • BBC Scotland, Glasgow
  • Leeds Education Authority
  • Aberdeen Royal Infirmary
  • Dunfermline NHS Trust
  • Edinburgh Hospital Trust
  • Shell Oil, Aberdeen

Bibliography

  • Catalogue *In Search of Paradise*, with essays by Clare Henry and Arthur Watson.
  • Brochure, *Liminal Moments*, Peacock Visual Arts, Aberdeen.

Solo Exhibitions

  • 1981 - Sutton College of Liberal Arts
  • 1984 - Peacock Printmakers, Aberdeen, Prints & Paper Pulps.
  • 1996 - Peacock Printmakers, Aberdeen, *In Search of Paradise*, Prints, Box Constructions and Paper Pulp Works.
  • 1997 - *In Search of Paradise*, Seagate Gallery, Dundee.
  • 2000 - *Transitions* Foyer Gallery, Aberdeen.
  • 2002 - *Liminal Moments*, Peacock Visual Arts, Aberdeen.

Selected Group Exhibitions

  • 1984 - *Papertrails*, Bluecoat Gallery, Liverpool.
  • 1985 - *Peacock 10*, Aberdeen, Edinburgh, Glasgow, U.S.A.
  • 1985-86 - *Smiths Biennale*, Stirling, Glasgow.
  • 1985-86 - *One Cubic Foot*, Sculpture Exhibition, Artspace Gallery, Aberdeen.
  • 1985-86 - Talbot Rice Gallery, Edinburgh.
  • 1986 - *New Art from Scotland*, Warwick Arts Trust, London.
  • 1986 - *International Paper Art*, Duren, Germany.
  • 1986 - *Romance, Realism, Risk*, Artspace, Aberdeen.
  • 1986 - *Prints from Peacock Printmakers*, Talbot Rice Gallery, Edinburgh.
  • 1987 - *Paperworks*, Ruthin Crafts Centre, Wales.
  • 1988-90 - *Inverclyde Biennale*, Glasgow and touring Scotland.
  • 1988 - *Avant Garden*, Glasgow Print Studio.
  • 1989 - *Artists Choice*, Open Eye Gallery, Edinburgh.
  • 1993 - *Paperworks*, Seagate Gallery, Dundee.
  • 1995 - *Art 95*, London Contemporary Art Fair.
  • 1996-97 - *Scottish Print Open 5*, Glasgow Print Studio, Edinburgh, Dundee and Aberdeen Print Workshops.
  • 1996 - *Networking*, Edinburgh Festival Exhibition, Edinburgh College of Art.
  • 1996 - *Peacock 21*, Peacock Printmakers, Aberdeen.
  • 1996 - *Day of the Dead*, Glasgow Print Studio.
  • 1996 - *Dias de los Muertos*, Self help Studio, Los Angeles, U.S.A.
  • 1997 - *Double Exposure*, SSA, Aberdeen Royal Infirmary.
  • 1997 - *JAR*, Seagate Gallery, Dundee.
  • 1997 - *Miniatures*, Peacock Gallery, Aberdeen.
  • 1998 - *50 Years of Scottish Art*, SAC Exhibition.
  • 1998 - *Highland and Islands Open* Touring Scotland.
  • 2000-02 - *Monumental Miniatures*, Touring Exhibition, Scotland.
  • 2000-02 - *Hinterland*, Print Folio, Touring Internationally.
  • 2006 - *20*, Joan Hughson Gallery, Glasgow.

Selected Works 11