Print Launch and artist talk with Claire Roberts

For the past year Claire has been undertaking a residency at Peacock thanks to support from the Friends of Aberdeen Art Gallery & Museums. During this time Claire has been developing and printing a new reduction woodcut print with a very special story.

Claire says of the project:

"When I received the Friends of Aberdeen Art Gallery Commission it allowed me to explore the complexities of making prints at a larger scale than usually financially possible for me. It also enabled me to honour Aberdeen Art Gallery and its importance in the foundation of my life as an artist.

My great, great grandmother was Jessie Brough and her sister Helen was the artist Robert Brough’s mother. I don’t know when I first heard about Robert Brough and our family connection but I know that it became important to me in my teenage years when I dreamed of going to art school.

At that time there was a memorial bust of Brough in the Prints and Watercolours Room at Aberdeen Art Gallery and it was here that I discovered that he was born on the 20th March 1872 - exactly 99 years before me. That we shared this added connection seemed significant and special to me and it also made me feel that I was on the right track - that I too could become an artist.

In 1995 Aberdeen Art Gallery held an incredible exhibition celebrating Robert Brough - this was the first time I had seen many of his paintings and learned more of his fascinating yet tragically short life and career.

The accompanying exhibition catalogue and poster featured Brough’s portrait of Dolly Crombie (a painting once titled in an exhibition as “The Sulky Girl”) and this is the painting I chose as inspiration for my print commission for the Friends of Aberdeen Art Gallery.

I saw in this striking painting an opportunity to explore my own fascinations with colour, character, pattern and design and to create an equally compelling portrait of Dolly as tribute to Robert Brough (and to “sulky” girls everywhere)."

The new print will be revealed on Saturday 23rd May, 2pm at the Cowdary Hall, followed by a special artist talk. The event is free but you can also donate to the Friends here.

We look forward to seeing you there.

⁠About Claire Roberts

Claire Roberts is an artist printmaker based in Aberdeen, Scotland, creating her work at Peacock Print Workshop. She is a graduate of Gray’s School of Art, Aberdeen, and The Slade School of Fine Art, London.

Claire is a Printmakers Council and Royal Scottish Academy prize-winning artist and has exhibited widely, both nationally and internationally.

Her work is held in many private collections and in the collections of the Royal Scottish Academy, Robert Gordon University, University College London, Grampian Hospitals Art Trust and Aberdeen Art Gallery.

About David McCracken

David McCracken was born in Glasgow and moved to Kemnay aged 8, a small quarrying village with a large hole at its heart. After studying painting at Duncan of Jordanstone Collage of Art in Dundee, he settled in the northeast of Scotland to pursue his first love of printmaking.

He currently works at Peacock & the worm in Aberdeen and has his work represented in many distinguished collections including The Collection of the Bank of New York Mellon, The Scottish Parliament, Aberdeen Art Gallery and The De Beers Collection.

About the Friends of Aberdeen Art Gallery & Museums

The Friends of Aberdeen Archives, Gallery & Museums (AAGM) is a vibrant charity supporting some of the city’s most iconic cultural spaces – including Aberdeen Art Gallery, the Maritime Museum, Provost Skene’s House, The Tolbooth Museum, and the City Archives.

Since 1975, the Friends have helped bring Aberdeen’s incredible heritage to life. Their support has enabled the acquisition of major artworks and artefacts, funded conservation and new displays, and helped develop exciting initiatives like the Micro Commissions, which nurture local creative talent.

Whether you’re passionate about preserving the past or shaping the future of Aberdeen’s cultural landscape, joining the Friends is a great way to get involved, give back, and stay inspired.

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