Barbara Rae: Falkirk-born artist's work exhibited at Callendar House

Barbara Rae is one of the country’s leading contemporary artists and printmakers. Her exhibition at Callendar House is her first in the Falkirk venue and runs until September 10.

Entitled East and West, it focuses on the industry in and around Leith Docks and Scotland’s Atlantic coast.

Born in Gairdoch Street, Bainsford, the family moved to Crieff when she was aged two through her father’s work with the Walter Alexander bus company. But she told guests at the opening event that she regularly travelled by bus to visit her granny and other relatives in Falkirk. It was while passing all the industry on this journey that her interest in capturing what it evoked onto canvas was first born.

With work on display going as far back as a lithograph of Grangemouth from 1964, Barbara said choosing what to exhibit was very difficult. “But it was lovely opening drawers and discovering work that I hadn’t seen for 20 or 30 years,” she said. “This exhibition also allowed me to see how my work has developed over the years.”

Barbara is a Royal Academician – one of three from this area, the others being Alan Davie and Dame Elizabeth Blackadder. Having studied at Edinburgh College of Art, she went on to teach in the capital, as well as in Aberdeen and Glasgow.

East and West is on display in the Park Gallery and the second floor of Callendar House. Entry is free between 10am and 5pm every day except Tuesdays.