This series investigates an interest in literature and landscape painting. Inspires by Allan Ramsay’s 1725 pastoral comedy The Gentle Shepherd, I went in search of the fabled Habbie’s Howe. Incorporating site-specific text into the canvas, I work with my text-written canvas on-site. The poetry or prose that is written on the canvas relates to the specific location in which I am working. Embracing the landscape, I worked in the water and on the muddy banks. The work is then dragged through the landscape where some of the text gets hidden beneath the geography of the site. Many of the words are further lost beneath the paints and inks used to complete the artwork. This is reflective of the landscape itself, changing over time, however if observed closely, traces of the past can still be found. The work which is further completed in the studio from memory and site sketches. My practice aims to probe the notions of time and place, focusing on capturing and transforming the natural landscape, while incorporating often overlooked pieces of text.
Of all the paths you take in life, make sure a few of them are dirt’
John Muir, author, and Environmental Philosopher
Adventures in Habbie’s Howe + Peggy’s Pool Tryptych
Outside-in Exhibition
ECA, Edinburgh
March 2022
Inscripted stone found along the banks of the water at Habbie’s Howe, Carlops, Scottish Borders
Working on the banks of the river Tweed on the site of Habbie’s Howe. The canvas is littered with lines of the text from The Gentle Shepherd, the inspiration for this work.
Working both in the water and on the river bank.
Untitled, ink and oil bar on canvas, 60 x 60cm
Adventures in Habbie’s Howe, ink and oil bar on canvass, 120 x 180cm
Ink sketch for Adventures in Habbie’s Howe, 30 x 40cm
ink on paper test piece, 35 x 25cm
Peggy’s Pool Tryptych, mixed media on canvass, each panel 40 x 80cm
Adventures in Habbie’s Howe and accompanying sketch exhibited at ECA March 2022
Tracey Exton Art 