Art / Abigail McDougall
Artist of the month: Abigail McDougall
Of all the cities in the world, Abigail McDougall picked Bristol as the city to begin her career as an artist. Her watercolour paintings often reflect her surroundings, with warm depictions of our city’s landscapes.
Abigail moved to Bristol straight after she finished college in Falmouth. She lives in Fishponds now, and has immersed herself in Bristol’s artistic community. She works from Jamaica Street Studios, helped to set up and run the former Nails Art Gallery in St Nick’s and launched her own online gallery, Bristol Contemporary Art.
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Click here to buy this month’s artwork
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“Bristol is small enough to make all of the art and creativity accessible, but large enough to have a good amount of people who are really interested,” says Abigail. “It is a city that is very good at drawing creative people into it and retaining them.”
Her work focuses on what she sees around her; watercolour landscapes and cityscapes, with a particular interest in reflections on water.
Morning Waters, Towards the SS Great Britain is one of these. It’s a limited edition Giclee print of the original watercolour. To paint it, Abigail woke up early on a frosty winter morning and cycled to the Floating Harbour to capture it at first light.
Morning Waters by Abigail McDougall
Bristol24/7 has joined forces with Abigail to bring you one of these. Her painting of the Floating Harbour is available at a special rate for readers, with 10 per of every purchase going to the sustainable transport charity, Sustrans.
Cycling is how Abigail often finds inspiration for her work. “I have chosen Sustrans because I use their cycle routes for my daily commute and for doing research for my paintings.”
You can see more of Abigail’s work at this year’s Bristol Affordable Art Fair from September 9-11, and get her artwork for Bristol24/7 on our online store. Keep updated about her latest works via www.abigailmcdougall.com.
A framed copy of the print is also available at a discounted rate. Seb Reed, from The Little Framing Company, was particularly struck by Abigail’s ability to capture the particular light that falls over the harbour in the morning.
He lived on a boat in the marina, and was reminded of “still, early winter mornings, frost on the decking and the warm sun on your face”.
Seb wanted the colours to stand out as much possible: “I decided to use a blue/grey moulding which contrasts nicely. A double mount gives a strong inner edge and introduces another complimentary shade without swamping the piece in colour.”
For more frames, visit www.thelittleframingcompany.co.uk
Framed print: £122 (15% discount on frame)