I used to paint Scottish landscapes. I would paint the way Scottish landscapes make me feel - wild, free, open and light. Then lockdown came and my world got smaller. My landscape became my small patch in the west end of Glasgow. My focus became the walls around me. I craved a view. A vista. The ability to look far into the distance. But you have to make the most of what you’ve got and what I have is a curiosity for connections, for contrasts, and a creative mind. With the barrage of city noise gone my sense of sight became heightened. I could no longer look into the distance but I could see more clearly what was right in front of me. I began to notice ‘landscapes’ in the pattern of lichen on worn masonry, the peeling paint on a windowsill, the cracks in the pavements. With the freedom to leave the city and head for the hills gone, I began to play with the sense of containment, what that means to me, and how to express that to mark this time. 

I work in acrylics, with some elements of collage. I also use oil pastels, pencils and a variety of mark-making tools. I have a design background and find that restrictions help creativity so I prefer a very limited palette. 

I paint because I love solving problems. I love the mindfulness that comes when applying paint to a surface. I love the weird complex simplicity of creating something out of nothing. But really I just love to paint because it makes me feel the way I did when I painted as a child - calm, free, focused, and joyful.

Caroline Millar (b. 1964, UK)

caroline@carolinemillar.com 

https://www.carolinemillar.com

Lives and works in Glasgow  

Education 

Chelsea College of Art and Design, Master of Fine Arts, 1994

Exhibitions

2019  Threads, Dundas St Gallery, Edinburgh

Bibliography

Artmag, Dundas Street Gallery, Edinburgh: Threads, 11 March 2019