Garry Harper

Garry lives and works in Scotland. Having graduated from Glasgow School of Art, he spent some years working in the TV industry as a designer before jumping ship to become a painter full time. He’s exhibited widely throughout Scotland and the UK and has work in private collections in the UK, USA, France & The Netherlands.

Garry’s main source of inspiration is the human figure. He says his creative mind is always at play through the course of a day, taking in ideas for textures, marks and colours to play with and marry them with the human form.

“People and their lives fascinate me, especially lives that were lived years ago. The figures are inspired from various sources – I love memories, glimpses of the past. Images that capture imagination and make you wonder as to who or where… The spark could come from a sitter modelling for me or drawings from sketchbooks or found photographs. I try to instil in my work more than just an image – an attempt to play on the viewer’s imagination and give them the first steps of a story.”

For some, it’s a landscape painting that takes hold of their imagination and gives them lasting pleasure hung in their home. For Garry, a human connection takes him even further. “
We sometimes see ourselves through the figure on the canvas and get lost in their story. We conjure up a connection from our own experiences and are transported to that place – to escape for as long as we want.”