Alan B Hayman Exhibition & Opening Night at Resipole Studios

Highly revered Scottish wildlife and landscape artist Alan B Hayman returns to Resipole Studios with an exciting new body of work celebrating the outer fringes of the west coast of Scotland. Paintings on display depict far flung locations, from Sanna beach on the Ardnamurchan peninsula – the most westerly point on the British mainland – to the remote archipelago of St Kilda, taking in the smaller islands in between. Depictions of tranquil expanses of white sandy beaches, many only accessible on foot or by boat, are juxtaposed with towering cliffs and sea stacks teaming with birdlife. Painted from a healthy mixture of memory and imagination, the locations in Hayman’s paintings have all been experienced by the artist first hand. Travelling in just a 17ft boat from his studio overlooking the Sound of Mull in the tiny hamlet of Drimnin on the Morvern peninsula, the artist navigated some 180 nautical miles to reach St Kilda, stopping at several of the western isles along the way. The resulting work is staggering.

Alan Hayman was born in Montrose in 1947. When most of his peers were still playing with toys, he was studying and drawing the birdlife found around the Montrose Basin. Although he has had no formal training he has developed his technical skills and knowledge through his own study of the landscape and wildlife, and through this process has honed remarkable painting skills. Painting is his life and he believes he was born to paint, even teaching himself taxidermy to achieve a better understanding of the anatomy of the birds and animals which are portrayed in his work.

After working as a commercial artist for 15 years Alan moved to Glen Lyon in Perthshire where he painted in his magnificent surroundings and opened his own gallery. In 2008 he relocated to the small hamlet of Drimnin on the west coast of Scotland where he now has a large workshop and studio overlooking the Sound of Mull and Tobermory harbour. Living in this location, in the midst of abundant wildlife and epic scenery Alan is able to be encapsulated by the subject and matter of what he paints. His landscapes and wildlife paintings are admired nationally and internationally for their distinct style and intricate detail and his work subsists in collections around the world. Alan spends his time exploring on his boat and through his painting he captures the majesty of this spectacular part of Scotland.