Written by Liz Findlay
Gill Robb MA (RCA)
Gill studied drawing and painting at Harrow and Maidstone College of Art before graduating in tapestry at The Royal College of Art, London in 1976.
Her remarkable ability with watercolour translated into weaving and she was commissioned to undertake large scale tapestry works for The Royal Bank of Scotland and The Pitlochry Festival Theatre.
In the late 70’s Gill spent time in Sutherland and came to understand and love the vast open spaces and ever–changing light of the far north west of Scotland.
Gill settled in the Borders in 1978 where she brought up her family. She continues to paint and runs a renowned second hand bookshop in Innerleithen with her husband. She exhibits locally in the Scottish Borders and in the North West. Initially she painted delicate and subtle watercolours of her home and garden close by the River Tweed. Later, using oils and more recently working also in egg tempera. Whatever the medium, her work comes from quiet and honest observation, reflecting the life and the world she sees around her; whether the glowing light in a pot of marmalade, three pears in a simple white bowl, or the gentle delicacy of a jar of flowers; integrity of drawing, understanding of light and tone and exceptional freshness of colour underpins all her work.
Gill’s landscapes bring us the Border woodlands, rolling hills and rippling light on the River Tweed and the wild clean, sand and sea of Sutherland, where she also has a studio and spends part of the year. Sometime her paintings include the people, animals and birds that inhabit the places where she sits to paint.
These are paintings to cherish and enjoy, reminding us of the beauty that constantly surrounds us, in ordinary objects and in the hills, woods, sea and skies of Scotland.