Ewen Duncan

About me

I studied at Glasgow School of Art followed by post graduate studies in New York. While then working in film and TV set design for 17 years I continued to develop my artist practice whenever time allowed.

I started teaching in 2008, in 2010 my wife and I started art4you Scotland, offering art classes, workshops and regular exhibitions.

My understanding of what art is and what it means has been shaped by the classes we run at art4you. The only way to learn how to make art is to make art. Experience has shown me that everyone will interpret a subject differently. By explaining the potential within materials and suggesting a way to start the creative process I have found that helping people develop their practice through feedback and discussion has developed my own practice as teacher and helped to shape my work as an artist.

What we do at art4you is give people the opportunity to simply enjoy the process of making art, in the company of like-minded people in a friendly and safe environment where they won’t be judged.

I have found inspiration as a teacher and artist in the work of Joseph Albers with colour and more recently in the creative process of his wife Anni Albers. The freedoms of expression to search and play fostered at The Black Mountain College in America where they worked give encouragement and validity to the approach we have developed at art4you. For many of our students the meaning of their art is found in the process of making. In my experience people are always better artists than they think they are and by engaging with the making of art which has a positive outcome they have a positive experience of the abstract act of creativity which in turn brings a positive energy to their lives.

Together with his wife Claudia Ewen runs art4you art school. Wild at Art creates residential art experiences in partnership with art4you. Check our new summer art week with accommodation at Culcreuch Castle, 12 – 17 July 2020 – find out more…

Specialities

Painting and drawing using different techniques and mediums (oil, acrylic, gouache, pencil, pastels, charcoal)
Life painting, portrait painting, colour theory
Life drawing
Portrait drawing

Things I love

Family of course. Hill walking when I have the time. Singing (when alone in the studio).

You need two things to make art, the desire to do it and practice.