Early Years
Colin Carruthers was born in Antrim in Northern Ireland where he spent his early childhood. Colin showed an interest in drawing at an early age and was encouraged by his mother to draw and paint. In the mid 1970’s he moved with his family to Germany where he spent many happy childhood hours roaming in nearby forests with friends, picking wild cherries and swimming in the rivers.
An Art Education
To develop his interest in drawing and painting, Colin undertook a Foundation Course in Art & Design 1992, and completed a B.A. Honours Degree in Fine Art in 1997. It was in the final year of his degree programme that he discovered that painting was the ultimate vehicle to share with others how he emotionally felt about the world we live in. He realised that he wanted to become a painter.
image right: Self Portrait, Sutton College, 1992, Oil on Canvas, 75 cm x 105 cm
Fine Art Practice
Colin paints mainly with oils and often works with a palette knife, creating textured surfaces by applying paint to the canvas as thickly as possible.
The oil paint dries slowly, allowing him to build layers in which the marks of the palette knife are often still visible – creating interesting and dramatic effects.
Colin’s frequent trips to the coast and countryside have deepened his appreciation of the diversity and beauty of nature. His textural paintings often depict landscapes and seascapes which are intended to convey the ever-changing aspects of nature.
Biography
GROUP EXHIBITIONS
2024- Forest Gallery Fine Art, Petworth, West Sussex
2023- The Torrance Gallery, Edinburgh
2022-23 The Royal Cambrian Academy, Conwy
2022 The Royal Ulster Academy, Belfast
2022 Leamington Spa Art Gallery & Museum, Warwickshire
2022 The John Noott Gallery, Broadway, Worcestershire
2017- The Wykeham Gallery, Stockbridge, Hampshire
2016- The Hunter Gallery, Long Melford, Suffolk
2016- The Wren Gallery, Burford, Oxfordshire
2015 The Royal Birmingham Society of Artists, Birmingham
2013- White Space Art Gallery, Totnes, Devon
2012-19 Blue Tree Gallery, York
2010-17 Red Rag Gallery, Bath, Avon
2006- The Albany Gallery, Cardiff
2006-19 Courcoux & Courcoux Gallery, Hampshire
2006-15 Artery Gallery, St. Andrew’s, Fife
2005- Purple Gallery, Bournville, Birmingham
2009-13 McAllister Thomas Fine Art, Godalming, Surrey
2007-10 Woodbine Contemporary Arts, Lincolnshire
2007-08 The Hallward Gallery, Dublin
2006-07 Millcove Gallery, Castletownbere, County Cork
2004- Obsidian Art Gallery, Stoke Manderville, Buckinghamshire
2003 St Paul’s The Crossing, Walsall, West Midlands
2002 Harborne Gallery, Birmingham
2001/04 The University of Birmingham
2001 North Ayrshire, Scotland
2001 Birmingham Heartlands Hospital, Birmingham
1998 The Arcadian, Birmingham
1998 Birmingham International Airport
1996 The Custard Factory, Birmingham,
1996 The Concourse Gallery, London
SOLO EXHIBITIONS
Feb 2021: Light and Landscape– Purple Gallery, Bournville
Feb 2020: Changing Horizons – Purple Gallery, Bournville
Feb 2019: The Emotion of Landscape – Purple Gallery, Bournville
Feb 2018: An Exhibition of New Paintings – Purple Gallery, Bournville
Feb 2017: Journey – Purple Gallery, Bournville, Birmingham
Feb 2015: Here and There…. – Purple Gallery, Bournville, Birmingham
May 2014: Impressions of the City of Light – Courcoux & Courcoux, Stockbridge, Hampshire
Feb 2014: New Paintings (Oils & Mixed Media) – Purple Gallery, Bournville, Birmingham
Nov 2013: From Harris to Mull – The Western Isles – Courcoux & Courcoux, Hampshire
Feb 2012: Land, Sea and Sky – Purple Gallery, Bournville, Birmingham
Nov 2011: Beyond the Horizon – McAllister Thomas Fine Art, Godalming, Surrey
Feb 2011: An Exhibition of New Paintings – Purple Gallery, Bournville, Birmingham
Apr 2010: The Granary Gallery, Weston Park, Shropshire
Apr 2008: Landscapes, Seascapes and the Test Valley – Courcoux & Courcoux, Hampshire
Apr 2006: At the Edges of the Land – Purple Gallery, Bournville, Birmingham
COLLECTIONS
Birmingham Heartlands Hospital
University of Central England
Private Collectors: (Australia, Canada, Finland, N Zealand, Russia, U.K. U.S.A.)
Current & Forthcoming Exhibitions
Seascape Paintings & Coastal Art
Forest Gallery Fine Art, Petworth, WEST SUSSEX
07/02/24 – 07/05/24
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