Lesley Carruthers

After almost two decades sculpting abstract works in bronze and aluminium, with public sculptures in Essex, and in Colquhoun Square in Helensburgh, Lesley now paints full time, mostly abstract, using alcohol inks on heavyweight paper.

She is acutely conscious of the bittersweet nature of life and has long been intrigued by existential questions such as the meaning of life, or the concept of time. Her series of sculptures entitled Lacrimae Rerum (Tears for Things) was well received and sold out rapidly, as did a parallel series, ‘The Space Within’.

She looks for the beauty in decay and imperfection, admiring the Japanese concept of wabi-sabi and its embrace of transience and impermanence, and explores these ideas using inks on paper. Her intuitive technique works particularly well when painting with alcohol inks, which are notoriously difficult to control. She senses that creativity comes through her rather than being controlled by her, and finds the process of creation unfathomable, yet at the same time hugely fulfilling, .

Since the first lockdown she has chosen not to retain any money from painting sales, but to donate all proceeds to charity.