Morag graduated with a MA Hons Fine Art degree from Edinburgh University and Edinburgh College of Art in 1992. After working in the arts sector for a number of years and starting her family, Morag refocused on her own art work in 2012 when she committed to a daily sketchbook practice. Since then, this has evolved through constant experimentation in visual diaries and sketchbooks, enabling her to find her voice and preferred palette of colours. Working across multiple sketchbooks continues to be a cornerstone of her creative method.
Having lived in the same part of Edinburgh all her life, Morag has a strong and unique relationship to the land beneath her feet, specifically the streets and green spaces of this urban neighbourhood. The focus of her practice is to convey a sense of her personal archaeology, now overlayered by loss, absence and change.
Recurring motifs in Morag’s recent work, such as earthy handmade pots, garden plants, and background or textural references to long remembered landscapes, have deeply personal and commemorative meanings. Morag has inherited her Mum’s beloved collection of pottery ware, which has sparked a deep dive in her sketchbooks of observational drawings and more abstract experiments. Plants and cuttings also feature, these taken from her late parents’ home of more than 50 years, now transplanted in her own garden. Memories of treasured childhood walks with her geographer father who taught her much about the local landscape, and drew beautiful illustrations of their adventures, also inspire Morag, as do the landscapes of her husband’s birthplace, Orkney, with regular family trips there since 2001.
Do follow Morag on Instagram where you will find the most recent work, studio updates and videos.
Please find CV below.
CV
SELECTED EXHIBITIONS
2025 SSA ‘The Land’ exhibition, The Dick Institute, Kilmarnock
2025 RSW 144th Annual Exhibition, Royal Scottish Academy, Edinburgh. Awarded the RSW Watermark Award for “Recalibrating”, Plants & Pots series 2024
2024 SSA 126th Annual Exhibition 30 x 30
2024 Ulaidhean / Treasures, SSA at Gairloch Museum, Wester Ross
2024 VAS 30 x 30, Borders Art Fair, Kelso
2024 VAS Centenary Show 30 x 30, Royal Scottish Academy, Edinburgh
2024 RSW 143rd Annual Exhibition, Royal Scottish Academy, Edinburgh
2023 SSA 125th Annual Exhibition 30 x 30 online
2023 AngusAlive Meffan Winter Show, Meffan Museum & Art Gallery, Forfar, Angus
2023 RSW 142nd Annual Exhibition, Royal Scottish Academy, Edinburgh
2022 SSA 124th Annual Exhibition 30 x 30, Royal Scottish Academy, Edinburgh
2010 Group Exhibition, Craft House Concept Gallery, Newington, Edinburgh
1995 ‘A Day in the Life of Scotland’ Photographic Competition organised by The Scotsman & the Scottish National Portrait Gallery in association with the exhibition “Light From the Dark Room”, Royal Scottish Academy, Edinburgh
1993 Christmas Watercolour Group Exhibition, ESU Scotland, Edinburgh
1993 CD2 Show, Collective Gallery, Edinburgh
1993 Group Exhibition, Harestanes Visitors’ Centre, Jedburgh
1992 Solo Exhibition, Helensburgh Music Society October concert, Helensburgh
1992 RSA Students’ Exhibition, Royal Scottish Academy, Edinburgh
AWARDS
2023 Longlisted for final selection, Scottish Landscape Awards exhibition 2023
2013 AccessArt Star Award
COMMISSIONS
2017-2019 Commissions for UK private clients
2011 Commissions for local authority and private clients in UK
EDUCATION AND CONTINUING PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT
2022 – present: Mentoring with visual artist, writer and mentor Samantha Clark
2022 My sketchbooks were referenced at an international InSEA webinar as an exemplar of using visual journals to develop visual thinking in education.
2014 Selected participant in the Scottish Book Trust Illustration Lab (led by Jonathan Gibbs and Vivian French, with Catherine Rayner and Nick Sharratt)
2013 Member-tutor, AccessArt ‘Focus on Drawing’ project (online)
1993 – 1994 Moray House Institute of Education, AMTIS postgraduate training programme with placement in the Talbot Rice Gallery, Edinburgh
1987-1992 Edinburgh University & Edinburgh College of Art, MA (Hons) Fine Art
COLLECTIONS
Work in private collections in UK and America
EMPLOYMENT
2022 – present Social Media Marketeer, AccessArt Creative Direction Team (resource contributor 2012 – present)
1997 – 2007 Grants Administrator, Scottish Arts Council
1994 – 2001 Grants Admin Assistant, Edinburgh City Council Arts Development Team. Arts administration for Edinburgh District Arts Council.
