Biography

Born and raised in Edinburgh’s Leith area, Linsay moved to Aberdeen when she entered Gray’s School of Art in 2000. In 2004 she was awarded the John Kinross scholarship from the RSA and received the David Gordon Memorial.

After graduation, Linsay worked as a print-maker for the Edinburgh Printmakers and, currently, she works part-time for Peacock Visual Arts. She is also developing her own art practice. Linsay has a developing interest in lithography, which is a dwindling artform in Scotland.

After a brief summer workshop at the Tamarind Institute in New Mexico, she applied for and was accepted onto their nine-month, intensive Professional Printer Training Programme. Linsay will be the first Scottish print-maker for over twenty years to study at this internationally renowned centre of excellence. During the course she will strengthen and refine her technical skills in both stone and plate lithography.

When she returns to Scotland, Linsay hopes to pass on her skills to others, as well as develop her own art practice and collaborate with other visual artists.

How the Award Helped

The Dewar Arts Award will enable Linsay to take up this unique opportunity to study at the Tamarind Institute.

Since the Award

Studying lithography in the dry heat of New Mexico offers unique challenges. Linsay was told that “if you can print a stone in the desert, you can print a stone anywhere.” The intensive course comprised learning the techniques of stone lithography and then collaborating with artists to produce and edition their work.

Linsay writes that, “In the few months since [I returned to the Peacock Gallery] I’ve already editioned six stones with invited artists, have an ambitious one drawn up and ready to etch and various tests ongoing. All the artists have been delighted with the results so far …” The Education Director of the Tamarind Institute commented that the graduate art students at the Institute wanted to work with Linsay because of the special attention she gave to their collaborations.