The Castle Gallery in Inverness will be exhibiting evocative paintings of the West Coast of Scotland by Shazia Mahmood from March 10 – April 1 2006.  

Shazia and her paintings are a bit of an enigma. She lives in the home counties of England but paints only the spectacular scenery of the West Coast of Scotland.  Her method of painting is peculiar to her and the details of her precise technique are a well kept secret.

Since completing her MA in European Fine Art at Winchester School of Art in 1997, Shazia Mahmood has devoted her time to the exploration of a very specific and quite unique method of painting. Her technique relies on the phenomenon of chromatography - the colour-separation reaction that occurs when two specific mediums interact. In Shazia's work these mediums are PVA and ink.

After many years of experimentation, Shazia's intimate knowledge of the technique allows her to control the progress of each reaction to produce distinctive colour transitions. Once the initial layers of ink have dried, Shazia uses oil paints to build up her foregrounds, often applying the paint in thick layers.

Her work is inspired by the rugged West Coast of Scotland and her technique gives to her paintings an evocative, mysterious air that can't be matched by traditional methods. It is particularly effective in creating impressions of glowing distant light and rain showers.

Shazia’s paintings will also feature on the Castle Gallery stand (no 12) at the Glasgow Art Fair this year in George Square from 6 – 9 April.

The Castle Gallery is open Monday – Saturday 9.00 – 5.00. Admission free. For further information please contact Denise Collins at the Castle Gallery. Tel 01463 729512 www.castlegallery.co.uk