Tutors & Demonstrators
Jonathan Koetsier
I was born in South Africa and lived there until I was ten. Following that we moved to a small and quaint countryside village called Owslebury in Hampshire in the UK. Finding that I had an interest in art and design, I pursued a BTEC level 3 Diploma in Art and Design at Fareham College, a BA in Drawing and a MA in Illustration (authorial practice) at Falmouth University. My wife and I decided to make the move to St. Andrews to be nearer to our family and because of the beautiful and inspiring location.’
'For me, painting from life is to do with much more than simply representing what I see optically; painting is a matter of expressing how I feel about what I see. In paint I render momentary experiences of observing and responding, continuously amassing marks into a visual statement as a whole. When I tutor, I aim to help student understand and master the foundations of painting from life so that they can build upon them and develop a way to express their personal vision.’
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Susan Forsyth
I graduated from Edinburgh College of Art in 1993 and I have combined painting and teaching with bringing up a family in the beautiful East Neuk. My work focuses mainly on local landscapes especially the sea. I enjoy painting outside and working mainly with a palette knife for the richly textured qualities of impasto that can be achieved as well as the essential element of speed when working outside in Scotland! I take a lot of photographs and keep a sketchbook as working outside is not always possible!
Edinburgh College of Art 1989- 1993 Hospitalfield House, Summer painting Scholarship 1992
PGCE (Secondary Teaching) Art and Design 1994
M.A. Art History Open University 2007
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Jean Duncan
Jean Duncan graduated from Glasgow School of Art, with a BA hons degree and a post graduate diploma in mural design, she is a part time teacher at Fife College, and for the past seven years has worked collaboratively with scientists at the University of Dundee whose work is linked to environmental change.
Jean is a professional member of the Scottish Society of Artists and has work in both public and private collections in the UK she has received several awards and scholarships from the Royal Scottish Academy and Creative Scotland including the William Littlejohn Award and the JD Fergusson award.
These awards have funded residences in Orkney, Shetland and Iceland and the Scottish Natural Heritage Project ‘Montrose Bay the Changing Coast’.
Current work is linked to barley heritage varieties being researched at the James Hutton Institute in Invergowrie.
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Judith Heald
I make Expressionist paintings and Figurative drawings, including life drawing, line and wash illustration, and some portraiture. I have been concentrating on the Dynamic side of drawing for some years now, looking to working with expressive lines for drawings with feeling and energy. In painting, I’ve been making some narrative work, telling a story within the painting, as well as abstract Expressionist painting, making atmospheres of mood and place.
I trained at Glasgow School of Art 1982-87. I worked from a studio at Cambo from 1993 – 2016 and am still involved in teaching art classes there. I’ve also taught at Fife College, community classes and Life drawing workshops. I have been a member of East Fife Open Studios, and Pittenweem arts festival.
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Ruth Stiven
Edinburgh College of Art - Diploma / Post graduate dip. Drawing&Painting 1975/1976.
Teaching in N.E. Fife 1979 till 2011, and since 1995 as head of Art & Design at Bell Baxter High School, Cupar.
Latterly I was also the senior verifier with SQA ( Scottish Qualifications Authority ) for Higher Art & Design national coursework.
Throughout a happy teaching career, I have continuously developed my own studio work as a painter. Elected a professional member of VAS ( Visual Arts Scotland ) and twice an award-winner at VAS. I was an invited artist at the 2015 annual RSA exhibition and an award-winner at the 2018 Royal Scottish Society of Painters in Watercolour (RSW ) exhibition.
I exhibit widely in juried and private exhibitions and works are in public and private collections in the UK and abroad. My paintings are highly detailed, figurative or still life, usually done in gouache.
Art club - teaching approaches
While working within a structured framework, I like to use a flexible and spontaneous approach to allow for the different ability levels and interests and enthusiasms of students.
Importantly, I know that many people prefer more gestural or expressive approaches to my own tightly-drawn style, hence I teach in a way that fosters wide diversity.
Each session of a course of classes will focus on a specific technique, with examples and a brief demonstration, before students can make their own trials and samples based on this OR bring some aspects of this into their own ongoing project OR opt out of the given technique to simply focus on their own project.
The final two sessions will allow opportunity to consolidate or revisit certain techniques and approaches, depending on members’ preferences.
Students’ own curiosity and enthusiasm will aid the development of skills and confidence.
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Michelle Hewitt
Michelle works mostly in soft pastels and whilst predominantly a wildlife artist she also uses pastels for landscapes and portraits. It is a joy and challenge for her to portray the subject and she always completes the eyes first in portraits as it helps capture the character and soul of the person / animal.
She has work in several galleries and sells directly at large events like Royal Highland Show and Pittenweem Arts Festival.
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Lyn Evans
Lyn has painted throughout most of her life. From her years at Sunderland Art College to the present day, pausing briefly only to care for her young family and run her dress shop, Lyn at No1 in St. Andrews.
Lyn is inspired mostly by the more unusual colours of nature. The early morning or late evening light, particularly during the Autumn months, is a favourite. Lyn will happily sit on a plastic bag in the snow to capture the perfect scene. However, when she is not working en plein air she can be found in her studio painting from the drawings and photographs that she has collected.
Lyn paints in oil, pastel and watercolours, each one bringing a different quality to her work. So often it is the subject that will dictate the medium used. Pastel is unsurpassed for colour and texture while oils excel in quality and the ability to move or blend. Watercolour, with its more delicate character, is ideal for the beautiful misty days of Fife.
Lyn often works to commission where it is her portraits, both human and animal, which are most popular. It is landscape that is her first love so the countryside in which she lives and the quality of light she enjoys are present in all her work.
Lyn’s influences are Edward Seago, Chien Chung Wei, Iain Stewart, Thomas Schaller and the work of the Glasgow Boys, particularly Arthur Melville.
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Andrew Parry
Since completing my art training in Dundee in the 80’s, I’ve had what I would call a varied working life.
Over the years I have been involved in Arts and disability, Community Arts projects and mural painting, I also spent many years doing press cartoons.
I’ve been drawing and painting for as long as I can remember but I did have a recent spell when I did very little easel painting; there just seemed so much of it around. I’ve always made drawings of my close family and friends and this is an eclectic group of pictures mainly made for myself and not exhibited previously.
The two military portraits are of my father and father in law and are done from old black and white photos.
Both these men joined up voluntarily and for many young men it was an escape route out of a tough working class life. In my fathers’ case the navy offered a more glamorous life than Coal mines of South Wales.
As an officer in the Polish cavalry my father in law was part of the last battalions to charge German tanks before he was captured. He spent the rest of the war in a prisoner of war camp.
These paintings are a little tribute to them.
I now divide my time between teaching and working in my own studio.
Eileen Gardner
Eileen is a professional painter and teacher. She divides her time between creating her own work and sharing her creative skills with others. She derives almost as much satisfaction from enabling people to develop latent talents for self expression as she does from producing her own work. In her early years her main interests were portraiture and life drawing and botanical flower painting. In recent years the most significant proportion of her output has been in pastel, a medium which she loves for its ability to create vibrant pictures using complex layers of colour.
Eileen is now regarded as one of the finest painters of contemporary seascapes. She explores her fascination with light and movement in water with many layered vibrant pastel paintings of dramatic seascapes and skies. These themes are further developed in watercolours and oils of Scottish landscapes.
She has exhibited throughout Scotland, and has paintings in private collections throughout Britain and also in Europe, the USA and Canada. In 2017 Eileen was awarded the British Empire Medal for Services to Art in Fife and Adult Education.
Eileen Gardner
Steve Bretel
'Following art school in Wales in the 1980’s then several years in London as a commercial artist, a passion for adventure in the wild outdoors took Steve to Scotland where he now lives and works. He is a past member of the Society of Industrial Artists & Designers, and now holds a BA in Visual Communication with Distinction from the University of Abertay, Dundee. He has also studied drawing and painting at Duncan of Jordanstone, Dundee and Edinburgh colleges of art, and theatre design in Glasgow. He is a popular arts tutor, teaching in several locations around Scotland, where he also runs crafting classes. His work features in galleries, and he regularly exhibits through Open Studios North Fife.’
Wayne Galloway
"I am interested in creating unique ceramic pieces which are smoke, barrel or pit fired at Cambo Estate. Texture is important in my work, sometimes I create beeswax sealed pieces which are beautifully smooth, other pieces can have contrasting textures, created on the potters wheel. The results are always invitingly tactile. I use locally gathered materials, including seaweed and driftwood, to fire my work. The ancient firing methods I use create dramatic and unpredictable surface markings.
I am largely self-taught and a member of Scottish Potters Association. I have had my work selected for inclusion at Potfest Scotland, the country’s largest ceramic event. I take part in East Neuk Open Studios and sell my work in a selection of galleries throughout Scotland."
Elizabeth Ogilvie
I studied painting at Duncan of Jordanstone College of Art, University of Dundee under the tutelage of Alberto Morrocco and James Morrison. After leaving I taught art and later in life decided to return to the university to take a degree in Environmental Interior Design. Following this I then ran my own Renovation and Interior Design business. Recently, I gave up this work to solely concentrate on my painting.
In 1989 I met the Artist and Sculptor Eduardo Paolozzi and became friends with him till his death in 2005. He became a great mentor over the years and, through spending time in his studio, I became influenced by his use of collage using the cut and paste method. My recent semi-abstract paintings are an interpretation of how an individual suffering from Alzheimers feels when afflicted by this devastating condition; painted using an automatic procedure of applying mixed media such as acrylic, household paint, ink, and collage to a canvas randomly. This method is entirely involuntary and often goes through several transitions before finally the conscious mind takes over and an image appears to resolve the conflict. The fact that I do not know what the final image will be at the start of the procedure – whether figurative, landscape or semi abstract – is fundamental, as if putting together a puzzle of remembered images slightly distorted and fragmented through time and memory.
Ali MacLeod
I am botanical and wildlife artist who paints and teaches from my studio in St Andrews, Scotland. I trained with The Royal Botanic Gardens, Edinburgh, graduating with Distinction. I work primarily in watercolour, egg tempera, coloured pencil and graphite.
I love painting insects and birds and the plants they live and feed on but am happy to take commissions on a wide range of subjects for both scientific and decorative pieces.
For garden designs that encourage wildlife into your garden, I can be commissioned for specific planting schemes, advice on historically accurate plans or full garden designs.
Alan Stephens
Born in Portsmouth, Alan Stephens trained as an electronics engineer, and took up painting as a hobby in 1974. In 1990, after 25 years with the BBC, he started painting full time, and has had a regular stream of commissions for his work, which are mainly portraits, although any subject is undertaken. His landscapes are usually local views around his home in St Andrews, and he mainly uses oils. His work is represented in private collections around the world.
Local portrait commissions painted can be seen in the Club house of the Crail Golfing Society, and Gordonstoun School Elgin.
Alan has been a demonstrator at the Art Materials Exhibition at the Design Centre, Islington London, and was a tutor at the local Adult Education Centres in Oxfordshire, and is a former tutor with the St Andrews Art Club. He also gives demonstration and workshops to Art Clubs around Fife and Edinburgh.
Alan has won many prizes throughout his career. He was a runner-up in the 1992 national competition for acrylic paintings, organised by the Liquitex Company, and has won the Presidents Prize at the St Andrews Art Club Summer exhibition three times, (runner up twice), for the most votes by the general public. Alan is a past President of the St Andrews Art Club.
Mark Holden
Mark was born in Glasgow and after a career in Sales and Marketing had the opportunity to follow his interest in painting and commenced his Professional from 2002.
Initially based in St. Andrews Mark established a reputation for his paintings of St .Andrews, many of which are in private collections in the UK and further a field.
Principle medium used is Oils, however Mark has enjoyed more recently working in Acrylics and Watercolour . He paints in an “ Impressionistic” style and is a fan of the French and Scottish Artists who strove to develop much of this genre.
Commissions have included a painting for the entrance lobby of the Castle Course Golf St.Andrews and last year he completed the 5th painting for the Radiology Department in the Rijnjstate Hospital in Arnhhem in Holland.
Alongside his own painting, Mark coaches at the Nairn Art Society periodically and has also lead residential Art Weeks based in Inchnadamph Hotel near Loch Assynt in the Highlands for Nairn Art Society. Mark is available to instruct Art Club classes to help composition and painting techniques in all mediums. Classes are Taylor made to the needs of the individuals attending. Please contact Mark to discuss this further if interested.
More recently Mark has been appointed as an approved artist to lead Watercolour Workshops aboard ships from the Fred Olsen Cruise Lines company.
Mark works from his base in Ceres in Fife and his home in Inverness.
