A MORAY ART AND DESIGN teacher is to show her work at a special exhibition in the Elgin Museum Gallery.
Work by Aileen Neillie, who is the principal teacher of Art & Design at Milne’s High School, is currently on show and available for purchase.
Aileen is a mixed-media artist having graduated from the Glasgow School of Art with a BA(Hons) degree in 1995. She spent ten years as a community artist working with a diverse range of individuals and groups before undertaking post-graduate study.
Qualifying as a Secondary School Teacher in 2005, Neillie finds great satisfaction in her current role as Principal Teacher of Art & Design at Milne’s High School, Fochabers. A committed and inspirational teacher, Neillie makes time to continue her own art practice.
Her formal art school training in Ceramics, with its emphasis on concept, material, texture and form, is still very apparent in her two-dimensional artwork.
Her exhibition work is a collection inspired by looking at the magnification of dandelions that have ‘gone to seed’. Neillie appreciates the elegant beauty of the structural qualities of seeds which contain much intricate detail, only seen under a powerful lens by an inquisitive eye.
She said: “A lack of self-awareness and wonder results in emptiness and lack of real joy as we continue to grasp for things which do not fulfil our needs. We exist, we do not live.
“I was fascinated with the idea of using dandelions to represent generations of children who have blown seed heads to ‘tell the time’ or ‘make a wish’. I find the later most intriguing – this action verges on superstition or folk lore.
“I am moved by the innocent naivety that this simple act will make wishes come true, as the seeds are scattered and carried in the wind.
“In reality, this act assists the dandelion’s very effective method of seed dispersal, encouraging future growth and ensuring its long-term survival. Taken in this context, the title “Gone to Seed” is not associated with negative connotations, depicting an end or death, but rather speaks of new life, hope and respect.”
Entry to the Gallery is free of charge.