Why Scottish Landscape Art Speaks to People Around the World

The Timeless Appeal of Scottish Landscape Art

Thanks to my solo exhibition of Scottish landscape paintings at Hotel du Vin, I’ve recently spent a lot of time talking to guests and clients from overseas about Scottish art. It’s made me reflect on what it is about our landscape that evokes such a visceral emotional response.

The Power of Place: Why Scotland Captures the Imagination

Collectors from the United States and Europe often tell me how much they enjoy taking a painting home — not just as a memory of their trip to Scotland, but as something that forever captures the dramatic mountains, deep lochs, low light, rich colour and tempestuous moodiness of Scottish landscapes.

Light, Colour and Movement: the Magic Behind Scottish Landscape Painting

For a small country, Scotland contains an extraordinary amount of visual depth: coastlines, Highlands, moorlands, lowlands and lochs. And the weather is never predictable. A recent weekend walk to an East Lothian beach contained all of the weathers:  thunderous black clouds, rainbows, hailstones, scarf-whipping wind and brief glimpses of blue sky. (You can see the painting inspired by that walk, “A Break in the Clouds,” on my website.)

The light is equally dynamic. We swing from barely a glimpse of sunshine between November and January to almost perpetual daylight from May to July. I adore the confluence of light and weather, it appears in all my paintings: rain slanting from heavy purple clouds through a band of gold, a scrape of orange cloud in front of a peach evening sky, thick mist with a soft, watery yellow sun trying to break through.

Why Viewers Feel Transported

There’s a truth to abstract landscape painting that resonates within us. We recognise those sunbeams shining through clouds, we know those colours, we remember what we felt wrapped up walking along a blustery windswept beach. That’s the ultimate aim of any Scottish landscape artist, to evoke awe, wonder, familiarity and restorative calm, echoing the feelings we experience in the wild

Why Scottish Landscape Art Appeals Globally

I recently chatted to Fiona McCrindle from Edinburgh’s Torrance Gallery about the enduring global appeal of Scottish art, and why collectors worldwide continue to happily pay courier (and tariff) costs. She pointed to three paintings behind her desk that were about to be shipped to a collector in the States, noting that overseas tourists make up a sizable percentage of the gallery’s sales. I’ve found the same. In the past year alone I’ve sold and shipped commissioned artwork to France, Switzerland and the US.

The global art world continues to value the authenticity and originality of Scottish art, a legacy that began with 18th-century portrait painter Sir Henry Raeburn, continued through the Scottish Colourists (whose recent Dovecot Studios exhibition attracted record numbers), and carried forward by artists such as Anne Redpath, Joan Eardley, Charles Rennie Mackintosh, Jack Vettriano, Peter Howson, Eduardo Paolozzi, John Bellany and William McTaggart, among many others.

For some overseas collectors, the pull is ancestral; for others, it’s an emotional connection to expressive landscapes, a timeless appreciation of nature’s beauty. One of my clients in Switzerland exemplifies this perfectly: she studied at St Andrews and wanted a reminder of Scotland in the form of a painting of a dramatic glen, even though her chalet in Verbier is surrounded by the Alps.

The Artist’s Perspective: Why I Paint Scottish Landscapes

This brings me to why I’m always drawn to landscape paintings in galleries (far more than portraits or still life) and why my own work is almost entirely landscape-based. Being in Scotland’s wild and remote places is where I feel most alive. Something of their beauty seems to soak into you: the fuller breaths of clean air, the lowered shoulders, the tingling cheeks, the simultaneous awareness of tiny mosses and vast horizons.

It’s only natural to want to preserve that feeling, to recreate it in our homes, because nothing in our commoditised, screen-based world comes close.

Seascapes and Coastal Paintings: Why the Coast Speaks to so Many

Much as I love Scotland’s rugged hills and moors, what I truly crave is the presence of water: the rhythmic waves of an East Lothian beach, Loch Tay’s gentle lapping on a stony shore, or the River Coe burbling noisily over boulders. There’s something universal about that pull.

I’ve never been drawn to overly-representational, ultra-realistic paintings of serene coastlines. I prefer the rugged, hair-whipping, skin-exfoliating kind of beach. The ones that make you feel alive. “Hold Onto Your Hat” is a perfect example: an Orcadian beach on a day so wild you end up with sand in your eyes, ears and mouth and no need for sea salt spray to add texture to a hairdo…

Winter Landscapes: Why Scotland’s Dark Months are Surprisingly Beautiful

Although Scotland’s summer sunsets were spectacular this year, there is a surprising beauty in the bleak, bitingly cold winter landscape too. For an artist, it’s an absolute gift. The softened palette of browns, greys and deep purples contrasts beautifully with the delicate glimmer of pale gold on the horizon or the dusting of white snow on the hillsides.

There’s something nostalgic, almost magical, about Scottish winter landscape art. We remember the frozen fingers and toes, but look back from the warmth of our homes. Billy Connolly once joked that Scotland has only two seasons - June and winter - and while not entirely true, it’s not far off!

(“Where the Storm Breaks”)

Choosing Scottish Landscape Art for your Home

This is why I’m such a passionate believer in bringing a sense of place and feeling into your home by buying original artwork. The right painting can transform a room like nothing else. When composition, colour, tone and brushwork combine with a landscape that means something to its owner, the result is unmatched.

I’ve seen clients moved to tears while collecting their artwork because the painting resonates, connects and truly belongs to them.

Working with Me

I have original artwork available through Scottish galleries and on my website, and I open my studio every few months. I also make space for commissioned landscape paintings twice a year. You can read more about my commission process online and see examples of recent commissions, including one for Olympic runner Josh Kerr.

It’s one of my greatest joys to work with clients to create the perfect, bespoke artwork that becomes a treasured possession. My latest collection includes free UK postage, and worldwide shipping can be arranged at cost. My original paintings range from 120x90cm to 30x30cm, so there’s something for every space.

Closing Reflection

Scottish landscapes speak a universal language that anyone can understand and everyone can be moved by. As Julia London wrote:

“There are few places I’ve found more ruggedly beautiful than the Highlands of Scotland. The place is magical, it’s so far north, so remote, that sometimes it feels like you’ve left this world and gone to another.”

Landscape art allows us to return to the places that restore us. Scotland’s dramatic light and ever-changing skies make it a landscape worth holding onto forever.

If you would like to find out more about our paintings, please feel free to contact us.