About the Artist

www.colincarruthers.com

Colin Carruthers was born in 1963 in Antrim in Northern Ireland where he spent his early childhood. He lived in Germany for a time and at various places in the U.K., moving to Birmingham, U.K. in 1985. Having studied Fine Art at Margaret Street, Birmingham, in 1994, Colin was drawn towards painting and completed a B.A. Honours degree in 1997.

Colin paints with oils, acrylics and watercolours and often works with a palette knife – creating textured surfaces by applying paint to the canvas as thickly as possible. The oil paint dries slowly, allowing him to build layers in which the marks of the palette knife are often still visible – creating interesting and dramatic effects. When he is not painting in his studio, Colin likes to make trips to the countryside and coast and continues to draw inspiration from his travels. He enjoys the experience of being outdoors and emotionally connecting with the landscape and its surroundings and particularly likes visiting the Western Isles in Scotland. He may visit the same place at different times, but each time the place is changed by the light, the weather and the flora, and that inspires him to draw and paint and to experience the place afresh – as if visiting it for the first time.

EXHIBITIONS

Solo Exhibitions

Feb 2021: Light and Landscape – Purple Gallery, Bournville
Feb 2020: Changing Horizons - Purple Gallery, Bournville
Feb 2019: The Emotion of Landscape - Purple Gallery, Bournville
Feb 2018: An Exhibition of New Paintings - Purple Gallery, Bournville
Feb 2017: Journey – Purple Gallery, Bournville, Birmingham
Feb 2015: Here and There…. – Purple Gallery, Bournville, Birmingham
May 2014: Impressions of the City of Light – A Stroll Through Paris- Courcoux & Courcoux, Stockbridge, Hampshire
Feb 2014: New Paintings (Oils & Mixed Media) – Purple Gallery, Bournville, Birmingham
Nov 2013: From Harris to Mull – The Western Isles – Courcoux & Courcoux Contemporary Art, Stockbridge, Hampshire
Feb 2012: Land, Sea and Sky – Purple Gallery, Bournville, Birmingham
Nov 2011: Beyond the Horizon – McAllister Thomas Fine Art, Godalming, Surrey
Feb 2011: An Exhibition of New Paintings – Purple Gallery, Bournville, Birmingham
Apr 2010: The Granary Gallery, Weston Park, Shropshire
Apr 2008: Landscapes, Seascapes and the Test Valley – Courcoux & Courcoux Contemporary Art, Hampshire
Apr 2006: At the Edges of the Land – Purple Gallery, Bournville, Birmingham

Group Exhibitions

2023 The Royal Cambrian Academy, Conwy, Wales
2022-23 John Noott Gallery, Broadway, Worcs, England
2022 Leamington Spa Art Gallery & Museum, England
2022 The Royal Ulster Academy, Belfast, Northern Ireland
2017-23 The Wykeham Gallery, Stockbridge, Hampshire, England
2016-23 The Hunter Gallery, Long Melford, Suffolk, England
2016-23 Wren Gallery, Burford, Oxfordshire, England
2015 The Royal Birmingham Society of Artists, B'ham, England
2013-23 White Space Art Gallery, Totnes, Devon, England
2012-19 Blue Tree Gallery, York, England
2010-17 Red Rag Gallery, Bath, Avon, England
2006-23 The Albany Gallery, Cardiff, Wales
2006-17 Courcoux & Courcoux Gallery, Hampshire, England
2006-15 Artery Gallery, St. Andrew’s, Fife, Scotland
2005-23 Purple Gallery, Bournville, England
2009-13 McAllister Thomas Fine Art, Godalming, Surrey, England
2007-10 Woodbine Contemporary Arts, Lincolnshire, England
2007-08 The Hallward Gallery , Dublin, Eire
2006-07 Millcove Gallery, Castletownbere, County Cork, Eire
2004-16 Obsidian Art Gallery, Stoke Manderville, England
2003 St Paul’s The Crossing, Walsall, England
2002 Harborne Gallery, Birmingham, England
2001/04 The University of Birmingham, England
2001 North Ayrshire, Scotland
2001 Birmingham Heartlands Hospital, England
1998 The Arcadian, Birmingham, England
1998 Birmingham International Airport, England
1996 The Custard Factory, Birmingham, England
1996 The Concourse Gallery, London, England

Collections

Birmingham Heartlands Hospital
University of Central England
Private Collectors: (Australia, Canada, Finland, N Zealand, Russia, U.K. U.S.A.)