FIRST CLASS: Ullapool student celebrates art school accolade after discovering her burning passion
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IT was only when she dropped art at school that Mary-Kate (MK) Thomson realised how much she loved the subject.
Her decision to follow her gut and pursue her passion is already bearing fruit for the former Ullapool High School pupil who has won a prestigious award for skills in painting and drawing following her art and design undergraduate show at Duncan of Jordanstone College of Art and Design in Dundee (DJCAD).
The 22-year-old has just graduated with a first class honours degree in fine art as well as receiving a sought-after award for her excellence in drawing and painting.
MK picked up the Graham Lang award from the entrepreneur who has a keen interest in art and has attended the DJCAD degree show for a number of years.
'It was only when I dropped art as a subject in school that I realised how much I missed it, so I picked it back up and it became the only thing I wanted to do.'
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MK said: "I was delighted to receive the award, it’s a great boost in what can be a daunting period.
"I’m excited to move forward. While I’m grateful for my time at DJCAD, art school is only the start. Finding success in any creative practice often comes down to luck and privilege so it’s a scary path to commit to. But the amazing thing about art is that it can manifest itself anywhere and in everything so whatever happens after this, good or bad, it will all feed back into the art."
Describing her art, she said: "My art is figurative oil paintings of the human body. They’re an attempt to see the body at its most physical and fundamental.
"Recently, I’ve been inspired by the fabricated ideas that we use to make sense and order of the world. For example, the concept of the normal or ideal body is a goal that people are conditioned to hold themselves against, but it’s a falsified notion based on standards that are constantly changing depending on where and when you live.
"The same can be said for how we understand gender, questioning the way we define our bodies is what inspires me."
'It was this understanding of the hard work it takes to make art and be successful at it, especially as a woman, that made me want to keep at it and improve.'
As well as creating the paintings, MK constructed the canvases for her work herself, each measuring 95 x 201cm.
Her journey has already taken some interesting turns.
She said: "I’m very lucky in that I have parents who always made seeing and making art a part of my life. It was only when I dropped art as a subject in school that I realised how much I missed it, so I picked it back up and it became the only thing I wanted to do.
"I was also lucky to have the art teachers I did, Lesley Strachan and Rachel Grant, who made sure in their lessons to always include female artists, who are often overlooked in art history. Art was the only thing I wanted but the people around me took it seriously. It was this understanding of the hard work it takes to make art and be successful at it, especially as a woman, that made me want to keep at it and improve.
"In the short term my plans for the future are to just keep painting. My work will be in a joint exhibition of paintings in The Ceilidh Place in Ullapool, alongside LG Thomson. This will run from April 1 to June 30, 2024. Long term, I plan to do a masters in fine art and get my art seen wherever I can.
"I’ve had great local support, Mhairi Muncaster from An Talla Solais has been an amazing source of knowledge and I’ve had a lot of kind words about my paintings from people in Ullapool."
Head of Ullapool High School art department, and MK's former teacher, Lesley Strachan said: "I have great memories of teaching MK during her time at Ullapool High School. It was clear from the start that she was passionate about Art and you could see it in how hard she worked and the ambition and creativity evident in her work throughout all her years at high school. I can still picture how MK would listen so attentively, teachers don’t always experience such an obvious level of commitment, so when a pupil comes along with talent and willingness to work hard – it really is the best job in the world to support them on their creative journey.
"I can still remember the ambition in MK’s portrait work at Higher level; a powerful composition featuring a triple portrait of three women, based on herself, her sister and Mum. It’s always interesting to see that themes are often laid down early on for artists and I can see aspects of her painting now rooted in her early explorations of paint.
"I can’t tell you how thrilled I felt standing in front of MK’s stunning paintings at her degree show. The work is beautiful, brave and outstanding on a technical level."
