“I love this city, and always shall. I write about it. I dream about it. I walk its streets and see something new each day … It’s obviously a very beautiful city, but it’s a fragile beauty, a delicate beauty ...”
Alexander McCall Smith
Edinburgh, like Rome, is built around seven hills, the ancient volcanic rock formations shaped by ancient glaciers as a unique natural backdrop. In his new exhibition, 'Inspiring Vistas,' at Dundas Street Gallery, Jamie Primrose very much focuses his eye on this dramatic, craggy, undulating landscape.
Here are indeed inspiring, iconic views such as “Sunset from Arthur’s Seat”, “Edinburgh Skyline from Blackford Hill” and “Pentlands Skyscape” as seen from dawn to dusk.
Primrose says he returns several times to observe the same scene in shifting shades of light, cloud and weather patterns. He must have kept very fit, having been running up and down these hills over the past few months!
The good news is that if you don’t really fancy clambering up Salisbury Crag to see the sun rise, then take a more gentle stroll around the gallery to see these panoramas across Edinburgh. A painterly scene overlooking St. Margaret’s Loch and the distant horizon is beautifully captured in the moody light of early evening.
Down from the hills, see the changing views around The Meadows from blossoming Spring to the bare trees and snow in bleak mid-winter - you can almost feel the chilly air as if standing in the frozen park.
A fine landscape is “Evolving Moods over the Meadows”, depicting the Old Royal Infirmary beside the contemporary structure of Quartermile. And there's a series of magical city skylines at sunset, vividly colourful visions in indigo and peachy pink.
The architecture of Old and New Towns is well handled in meticulous Indian Ink drawings, such as “Late Afternoon on the Mound”, featuring the towering Assembly Hall, Ramsay Garden and Castle Rock. In simple black and white, there is a precision of line, light and shade to portray grey stone, cobbled streets and church steeples.
In these 50 artworks, Jamie Primrose certainly captures “the fragile beauty, the delicate beauty “ of the Capital, from the charming curve down Victoria Street to a shimmering summit of Arthur’s Seat.
Exhibition times
Friday 30th October to Saturday 7th November, 2015.
Monday to Friday, 11am-6pm. Saturday/Sunday, 11am – 5pm.
For more information on the exhibition, Limited Edition Prints and private Commissions - www.jamieprimrose.com