Born in Perthshire, Chris is one of Scotland’s greatest living landscape painters. Initially he studied archaeology and ancient history at Edinburgh but from his earliest years he has responded to his fascination with the landscape around rural Aberdeenshire. He was accepted at Gray’s School of Art in the 1980s and forged a career painting landscapes very much in his own style and at odds with the fashionable conceptualism of the day.
Examples of his richly textured, deeply personal responses to his native land sit in many public collections and they have won him a plethora of awards at the societies. His work can be found in the corporate collections of Murray International Metals, Premier Property Group, Aberdeen Hospitals Trust, Grampian Regional Council, Edinburgh Hospitals Trust, Bulthaup, Scottish Life, the Royal Bank of Scotland, Scottish & Newcastle, Dundee City Council, Bulthaup, University of Stirling, Turnberry Hotel and Centrica. His many awards include the Morton Fraser Milligan, Russell Flint Trust, Glasgow Arts Club Fellowship, Scottish Arts Club Awards, the RSW Council Award, the RSW McManus Galleries Purchase Prize, the RSW Fotheringham Gallery Award and the RSW The Walter Scott Award. Most recently, Chris has had considerable success at the The Discerning Eye winning both the Founder’s £2500 Purchase Prize in 2015 and ING £5,000 Purchase Prize in 2016.