Duncan MacGregor
Born in 1961 in Staffordshire, marine landscape artist Duncan MacGregor still resides in this Midlands county today with his family; although divides his time between there and his second studio in Scotland. It’s a seasonal thing with MacGregor, whereby the summer sees him relocate his family to the stunningly panoramic Isle of Mull on Scotland’s west coast, whilst when autumn beckons he returns to his native Midlands. It’s somewhat difficult to believe that an artist who has spent so much time at sea – and capturing pretty much everything he’s ever witnessed in acrylics to visually testify to this – was brought up in one of the most land-locked parts of the UK. Never the less, DMAC (as he likes to be referred to as amongst friends) quickly developed a life-long passion for the sea, something which multiplied incalculably and evolved with rapidity when he chose, along with his wife, to circumnavigate the Atlantic Ocean in an 18 month period of their lives together; followed by a fractionally less hostile trek around Britain’s coastline in his 34-foot boat.
Drawing his innate inspiration from the sea, MacGregor is also partial to documenting the role that the coastal landscape plays when it meets the acquaintance of vast bodies of island-hugging water, and successfully plots the travails of natural light and reflection as it weaves its way across the shimmering oceans, its frequent breakers and its formidable tidal swells. MacGregor’s distinctive palette employs cool yet resolutely vibrant tones of relentless sea and sky, as they react to the sun’s introduction and subsequent departure. On the cusp of abstract, MacGregor’s work is undeniably landscape, albeit of a maritime nature and disposition, and his keynote works are characterized by the densely populated administration of opulently textured acrylics, which he often applies with a palette knife, which as an artist he feels proffer a deft, spontaneous touch to creative proceedings and manifest this sense of unstoppable energy.
Contrasting deep azure blues and pitch blacks with purest pearly whites, Macgregor paints amazing streaks of colour into his pieces, conveying the ocean's waves with a strong form-based integrity to suggest both their violent and calm natures alike whilst reflecting the composition of the images strongly through an excellent use of the rule of thirds and by using the white colours and lighter hues to paint keen focal points. Of late, MacGregor has also ventured down new artistic avenues, in terms of surface applications rather than a groundswell of medium or material improvisation. Indeed, both glass and aluminium have been toyed with and cajoled, so as to produce and manufacture comprehensive changes to the degree of depth and visual volume depicted in MacGregor’s more traditional means of sea landscape expressionism. The artist embraces change in his approach to his subject matter as he embraces the challenge of the sea itself when he selects to physically interact with it.
When he’s holed up at his Scottish outpost, MacGregor opt for a very different start to his every day from that which he adheres to back in Staffordshire as you can imagine. When he’s up in Mull, MacGregor likes to take a dip in the sea first thing to awaken his creative senses, whilst when ready in the studio, he chooses the important musical soundtrack that will see him through his day of painting. If he’s not picking up where he left off the day before, MacGregor’s process regarding the commencement of a new composition is cerebrally elevating in itself. Sitting, quietly, contemplatively in his studio space, MacGregor transcends his memory banks, seeking out those timeless visual recollections of places he’s sailed to, through and around; waiting for that bolt out of the deep blue yonder to strike, and then to open the floodgates to an eventual stream of conscious. Alternatively Duncan MacGregor might just get the brushes out and start to experiment, which is sometimes useful, but always enjoyable.
It’s MacGregor’s unique, personal experiences – most of which have occurred whilst at sea – that provide the creative sustenance for his collective works of art, and fervently believes that nature and its true beauty is his sole inspiration and artistic life-force. He never feels compelled to source material as such for his paintings, he says that he simply wakes up every single day with a desire to paint, and concludes that his travels have all had a profound effect on the art he produces to this day. Since turning professional, MacGregor has enjoyed considerable success across the UK, displaying his work in both galleries and private collections.
Drawing his innate inspiration from the sea, MacGregor is also partial to documenting the role that the coastal landscape plays when it meets the acquaintance of vast bodies of island-hugging water, and successfully plots the travails of natural light and reflection as it weaves its way across the shimmering oceans, its frequent breakers and its formidable tidal swells. MacGregor’s distinctive palette employs cool yet resolutely vibrant tones of relentless sea and sky, as they react to the sun’s introduction and subsequent departure. On the cusp of abstract, MacGregor’s work is undeniably landscape, albeit of a maritime nature and disposition, and his keynote works are characterized by the densely populated administration of opulently textured acrylics, which he often applies with a palette knife, which as an artist he feels proffer a deft, spontaneous touch to creative proceedings and manifest this sense of unstoppable energy.
Contrasting deep azure blues and pitch blacks with purest pearly whites, Macgregor paints amazing streaks of colour into his pieces, conveying the ocean's waves with a strong form-based integrity to suggest both their violent and calm natures alike whilst reflecting the composition of the images strongly through an excellent use of the rule of thirds and by using the white colours and lighter hues to paint keen focal points. Of late, MacGregor has also ventured down new artistic avenues, in terms of surface applications rather than a groundswell of medium or material improvisation. Indeed, both glass and aluminium have been toyed with and cajoled, so as to produce and manufacture comprehensive changes to the degree of depth and visual volume depicted in MacGregor’s more traditional means of sea landscape expressionism. The artist embraces change in his approach to his subject matter as he embraces the challenge of the sea itself when he selects to physically interact with it.
When he’s holed up at his Scottish outpost, MacGregor opt for a very different start to his every day from that which he adheres to back in Staffordshire as you can imagine. When he’s up in Mull, MacGregor likes to take a dip in the sea first thing to awaken his creative senses, whilst when ready in the studio, he chooses the important musical soundtrack that will see him through his day of painting. If he’s not picking up where he left off the day before, MacGregor’s process regarding the commencement of a new composition is cerebrally elevating in itself. Sitting, quietly, contemplatively in his studio space, MacGregor transcends his memory banks, seeking out those timeless visual recollections of places he’s sailed to, through and around; waiting for that bolt out of the deep blue yonder to strike, and then to open the floodgates to an eventual stream of conscious. Alternatively Duncan MacGregor might just get the brushes out and start to experiment, which is sometimes useful, but always enjoyable.
It’s MacGregor’s unique, personal experiences – most of which have occurred whilst at sea – that provide the creative sustenance for his collective works of art, and fervently believes that nature and its true beauty is his sole inspiration and artistic life-force. He never feels compelled to source material as such for his paintings, he says that he simply wakes up every single day with a desire to paint, and concludes that his travels have all had a profound effect on the art he produces to this day. Since turning professional, MacGregor has enjoyed considerable success across the UK, displaying his work in both galleries and private collections.