‘The Gathering’ is a small painting that explores the intertwined lives of Hermione, Paulina, and

Perdita in The Winter’s Tale, evoking themes of loyalty, resilience, grace, loss and renewal.

Rather than illustrating the story directly, the painting reflects the three women's quiet strength

and enduring connection.

My oil paintings are steeped in the historical language of paint, and sit somewhere between

realism and abstraction. They live in a space shaped by memory and reality. It is not always

comfortable, but it is honest. I see the canvas as an unbiased field where things come and go

through a daily process of reducing and rebuilding. My process is physical. As l accumulate

brushstrokes, l feel at ease with the rhythm and movement of my touch. Sometimes something

magical happens, but the dominant feeling is one of constant possibility.

Elaine Speirs studied at Edinburgh College of Art (BA Hons, 1993) and the Slade School of Fine Art, UCL (MA, 1995). Her work has been exhibited widely in the UK and internationally, including solo exhibitions at Arusha Gallery and The Stratford Gallery, and group exhibitions at the Royal Scottish Academy, National Portrait Gallery, Mall Galleries and IS Gallery, New York. Her recent exhibitions include Salon 21, New York, Frontiers: Painting in Scotland Now at the Royal Scottish Academy, and Hunted Projects, Edinburgh.