Lesley Carruthers

Lesley Carruthers’ widely acclaimed art is the product of a largely intuitive process, often informed and inspired by the landscapes in which she has lived and worked. During almost two decades of working as a sculptor many commissions were undertaken, including one for a major piece of public sculpture in Essex, and one for a sculpture in Helensburgh’s new outdoor museum, in Colquhoun Square.

Returning to her native Scotland in 2010 resulted in an impressive and fascinating new body of work, including some new bronze pieces but also led to a step change – from 3D to 2D. For several years now she has been working almost exclusively with fluid acrylics, producing a new and exciting range of abstract paintings

Her technique in both sculpting and painting is instinctive: ‘usually happening without advance planning or rational thought’. and she finds the creative process both unpredictable and unfathomable, yet at the same time hugely inspirational. “Working in abstract is, for me, a means, of self-expression which allows me to communicate in a different way, without words”.

Lockdown 2020 prompted a period of introspection, leading to clarity, simplification and a renewed commitment to painting, as well as a decision to give all money received from painting sales to charity. ‘I felt a very strong desire to reach out to those in need, and realised that rather than just making a single donation, I could significantly increase my contribution by using it instead to pay for art materials and then selling my paintings and gifting all the money received to charities”

“When we try to pick out anything by itself, we find it hitched to everything else in the universe” John Muir