Fragments of the Land: Mountain Memories

Mixed-media collage of blue sea, red and grey rock, and green foliage.

Coast
Mixed Media

Mixed-media collage of mountains.

Crest
Mixed Media

Walking and climbing have inspired me as an artist since I first started getting out into the hills when I was fifteen and living in Derbyshire. Now based in Scotland, I often sketch directly from the landscape using charcoal, pastel, pencil, pen and ink. Some of these drawings become finished works in their own right but, mostly, they provide me with the inspiration for more contemplative explorations of journeying through the landscape or of climbing rock.

Mixed-media collage of a rocky cliff face.

Sgurr Dearg
Mixed Media

Mixed-media collage of hilly uplands.

Uplands
Mixed Media

Photograph of artist making a collage, with scraps of sketches and paintings on the table.

Artist at Work

My collages are developed using scraps of my own superseded prints and drawings. I find the process of collaging evokes the way we remember only in fragments and also reflects the continuing process within the natural world of creation and destruction—both by natural forces and the human hand. Through a process of layering and piecing together, these fragments become a composition, which I then work over with wax crayon, oil bar and other media. It can be a long and thoughtful process, as ideas and chance meld with personal memories and feelings.

Mixed-media collage of hills.

Corvus
Mixed Media

Mixed-media collage of tracks, paths and trails through moorland.

Moorland Tracks
Mixed Media

Mixed-media collage of hills.

Ymir
Mixed Media

Rather than trying to capture a single moment in time, or to create a photographic-style snapshot of the mountains, I use mixed media, print and collage to reflect upon the dynamic experience of moving through Scotland’s ever-changing landscape. In this way, I also explore the fluid and shifting boundaries between the landscape and our own selves.

Mixed-media collage of a winter mountainside.

Winter Mountainside
Mixed Media

Creator’s biography

Clare Yarrington studied archaeology at the University of Edinburgh (MA Hons), and was later awarded a BA (Hons) in Fine Art by Sheffield Hallam University. Since leaving archaeology to pursue a full-time career as a fine artist, she has exhibited nationally and internationally. Her mountain-related exhibitions include Dundee Mountaineering Festival; Mountains, Moor and Cliff at John Muir Trust, Pitlochry; The Colour of Fear at Kendal Mountaineering Festival; Cliffs, Crags and Climbers at Brechin Arts Festival and Birnam Arts Institute; Wilderness at the Lecht, Aberdeenshire; Above and Below at Gracefield Arts Centre; Wandering at Stirling Smith Art Gallery and Museum; and From Here to There at Fergusson Gallery, Perth. 

Website: www.clareyarrington.com