Paintings
offer a slice of city living
Mixed Chameleon is the collective name of an
ongoing series of exhibitions. It sees a number
of artists represented by Chameleon Arts given
the opportunity to stage solo displays in the
beautiful surroundings of the Radisson Hotel,
for periods of around two months each.
The current exhibition features the work, predominantly
in oil, of Paul Donaldson. There are both portraits
and landscapes on show, with the latter being
vivid and full of colour and life. They have
the added bonus of featuring many local scenes,
views and people.
Using large, impressionistic brushstrokes, applied
with confidence and flair, he captures, lively
characteristics in hit sitters, and conveys all
the atmosphere and energy of the outdoors in
his landscapes.
Donaldson clearly enjoys clouds. Many of his
works are composed from a high viewpoint. and
feature more sky than land. Fife from Granton,
Mist and Sky Over Leith in particular are beautiful
studies with rich, impressionistic cloudscapes
and, while the land is present, especially in
the latter, the sky is undoubtedly the dominant
element.
City Landscape represents a quality of Edinburgh
that is beloved by many - the fact that, for
a major city in Western Europe , the Capital
has vast areas of green space. Given the title
of the piece, it's surprising (to anyone but
locals) just how full of grass and trees the
painting is.
The huge Edinburgh Landscape, with its array
of autumnal trees in the foreground, and City
Landscape South, with the farmland and hills
in the background, both continue, both continue
this theme, showing the relative paucity of manmade
structures, relative to the expanse of countryside
within parts of the city.
Interestingly, for all their titles, Coastal
Sky and The City and the Sea under-represent
the Forth as an Edinburgh feature. In the former,
it's barely seen at all, while in the latter.
it's flat and inactive - in each, the water is
the least developed element of the paintings.
Betraying a fondness for the great Edinburgh
Landmark, Donaldson has two paintings entitled
South From Arthur's Seat (I and II). and a third
named Over The Trees from Arthur's Seat. The
views are clearly intended to give the viewer
a complete picture of Edinburgh's natural beauty,
not simply to be studies of weather conditions
over Scotland.
A lovely exhibition with some fine painting,
which augurs well for future shows.
• Runs
end February 23rd 2007
www.chameleon-arts.com/paul-donaldson/folio.html |