Bield

Laura Drever was born in Kirkwall, Orkney. Laura studied Drawing and Painting at Edinburgh College of Art and works from her studio in Kirkwall. For nearly twenty years Laura has been exploring the changing nature of her native islands. By walking over and through the landscape the artist has come to a deep understanding of the fabric and form of the hills, valleys and seascapes around her. She has exhibited regularly throughout the UK, and takes an active role in Orkney’s creative community. Laura is Chair of Soulisquoy Printmakers, delivers creative workshops and nurtures others through short residencies with locally based arts organisations.

‘The modern Orkney landscape is characterised by the agricultural developments of the last 150 years or so, which saw a complete transformation in appearance from common grazing and piecemeal cultivation, to squared-off, drained and ordered fields. The higher up and more difficult to reach places, that proved impossible to put under the plough, endured, and most outlooks across the islands are capped by a contrasting layer of rough grass and heather. It is to these more rugged and untamed landscapes that Laura Drever is most often attracted… [and her paintings] offer a sense of the geology of these unpeopled landscapes and, through the artist’s careful modulation of tone and colour, a feeling of slowly evolving space.’ – Extract from Teebro, New Work by Laura Drever, Andrew Parkinson, The Pier Arts Centre, 2022