JUDITH BRIDGLAND
CONNECTIONS
Judith was born in 1962 in Australia, and trained in Glasgow, Scotland where she now lives and works.
Her bold, exuberant and vibrantly joyful landscapes have led to sellout shows in Scotland, London and the rest of the UK as well as exhibiting further afield in America, Russia and Sweden.
Working in oils, her paintings use bold, vigorous, rhythmical strokes of impasto paint combined with delicate brushwork. This gives an exciting texture to the paint surface along with a sense of abstraction, which reflects nature’s contrasts and delicate harmonies. However, whilst the work is very painterly, it also has a strong sense of place.
Winner of the 1999 MacRoberts Open Prize, the 2010 House for An Art Lover Award, and the Glasgow Art Club Award in 2016, Judith is also a member of the Paisley Art Institute, and a regular exhibitor at the Royal Glasgow Institute and Royal Scottish Society of Painters in Watercolour. Judith’s work can be found in the collections of The Royal Bank of Scotland, British Midland, The University of Strathclyde, Glasgow Caledonian University, and privately worldwide.
SCAN TO SEE WHAT’S STILL AVAILABLE
Cover Image - Rosebay Willowherb at Queens View - 40 x 40 inches
JUDITH BRIDGLAND CELTIC CONNECTIONS
6 - 21 July 2024
All paintings are oil and are for sale on receipt of this brochure.
CELTIC CONNECTIONS
From the Scottish east and west coasts, to Wales and the Gower Peninsula, right down to the southernmost tip of Cornwall - all of these very special places come together in this exhibition, linked by their dramatic coastlines and connected by their Celtic heritage.
It’s a wonderful thing to be able to travel to such beautiful, wild places. Both Wales and Cornwall are favourite locations to find inspirational landscapes, reminding me so much of the rugged west coast of Scotland that I know so well.
As I am based in Scotland, it’s a long journey to get to either The Gower or to the area around St Ives, but well worth it! In Wales, I am especially fond of the little village of Port Eynon. I’ve been returning to there for a number of years now, with the long curve of the bay and the colours and sand patterns that constantly change throughout the day. The dunes and coastal paths are covered in the most wonderful wildflowers, so different throughout the seasons.
The sweeping coastline of Rhossili is another favourite. You can see such a very long way into the distance – the bay of sand is so vast, it’s difficult to tell how big it really is. You can sit on the cliff there, and watch the clouds and weather roll in, the shadows chasing across the strand and up the cliffs. The mood of the landscape changes in a moment.
In Cornwall, St Ives is the perfect base for touring the Penwith peninsula. It really does have a very special light reflecting from the water, making all the colours sing. It is a palpably ancient landscape, with oddly sculptural remnants punctuating the hillsides, ranging from prehistoric standing stones to the industrial ruins of the tin-mines. Add to that the exhilarating cliff-top coastlines and remote coves, and it’s no wonder artists such as Barbara Hepworth and Peter Lanyon loved this place so much.
When I’m on location, I take hundreds of photographs of the landscape as reference material. It’s very important to me to be authentic, and to communicate the feeling of these real, amazing places, that sense of actually being there.
Back in the studio, I use the tactile, textural qualities of oil paint to build up my canvasses in an almost sculptural way. Lots of impasto mark-making, using palette knives and a wide range of brushes, build the sense of energy and the vitality of the landscape. The vibrant colours I choose are bold and expressive, and based on what I actually see and feel when I am there.
Joyous and uplifting, these paintings aren’t just intended as focal points or statement pieces to hang in a home. They are meant as windows into these beautiful, remote, transportative places, full of life and happy memories. They mean a lot to me, and hopefully they will tug at your heartstrings as well.
Judith Bridgland, June 2024
Montbretia and Sea Pinks, Gullane
20 x 20 inches
Evening Reflections, St Andrews 12 x 12 inches
Trees, Caswell Bay 8 x 8 inches
Porthcurno, Cornwall
32 x 32 inches
20 x 24 inches
Evening, West Sands, St Andrews
Waves on the White Sand, Camusdarach
8 x 8 inches
Montbretia, Sennen Cove, Cornwall
10 x 10 inches
Autumn Trees, the Campsies
8 x 8 inches
Stone Turners Huts, the Lizard
24 x 40 inches
Pearlescent Light through Grasses, Port Eynon 12 x 16 inches
Evening Primroses in the Sunlight, Port Eynon 24 x 24 inches
Yellow Flowers, the Mumbles 24 x 24 inches
12
8
Sand Patterns, Sea Cliff
x 8 inches
House and Rolling Farmland near Truro
x 12 inches
Avenue of Trees, Queens Park
20 x 20 inches
Autumn
Grasses in the Sand, Camusdarach
40 x 40 inches
5 x 7 inches
16 x 16 inches
August, Rhossili Beach
Stoer Bay
Near Kynance Cove, Cornwall
24 x 24 inches
Pink Flowers at Tyninghame 16 x 16 inches
White Daisies and Broom, the Campsies 16 x 16 inches
Poppies Near Mullion Cove, Cornwall
24 x 30 inches
Flowers Blown in the Wind, Causeway Coast
8 x 8 inches
Big Clouds over the Hill, Argyll
8 x 8 inches
8 x 8 inches
12 x 12 inches
Yellow Grasses, the Campsies
Dark Sea, North Berwick
Gorse and Grasses, Camusdarach 24 x 24 inches
The Red Cuillins 32 x 32 inches
Grasses by the Shore, Camusdarach 6 x 6 inches
Beautiful Sunset 6 x 8 inches
Three Cliffs Bay at Sunset, the Gower 20 x 21 inches
Calm Evening, St Andrews 24 x 24 inches
Sea Pinks on the Cliff, Lands End 24 x 24 inches
Springtime Cherry Blossom, the Meadows 16 x 20 inches
32 x 48 inches
St Ives Harbour from Pedn Olva Rocks