Artist Margaretann Bennett in her Glasgow studio, working on a large abstract canvas. Black and white photograph

As an artist, I work beyond the purely representational, and intuition is central to my approach. In both material and emotional terms, most works manifest a gathering of experience shaped into visual form, evoking time and feeling.

I’m drawn to the beauty of the abandoned and forgotten, exploring impermanence, remembrance, and the fragile beauty of what is often overlooked. Victorian cemeteries, with their moss, weathered stone, rust, verdigris, and fading family portraits, provide a quiet, contemplative atmosphere that imbues both my abstract and figurative strands. Intimate studies of tombstone imagery inform larger canvases that evoke the shifting surfaces of time and nature.

Connecting deeply with the vulnerability of human experience, my figurative works often hold a more personal resonance. They reflect on identity and the tension between inner and outer selves. I am fascinated by twin imagery and by the ways women present themselves versus how they are perceived, weaving elements of alter ego into my portraits.

The physical making of the work is as important as its subject. I often prepare bespoke surfaces, embedding aggregates into gesso, scoring and weathering the ground, so the canvas carries echoes of erosion. Paint is layered with a balance of control and serendipity. Soft, expressive marks allow the work to breathe with rhythm and tension.

Through this interplay of materiality, symbolism, and intuition, my paintings become meditations on time, memory, and the persistence of love in the face of loss and change.

Born in Scotland, my practice is shaped, but not confined by place. Currently living in Glasgow, I’ve developed my studio practice over twenty-five years, with new work continually evolving.

VIEW MY CV HERE

AWARDS

2011 - The Mabel MacKinlay Award. RGI

2010 - The Scottish Arts Club Award. RSW

2007 - Inverarity One to One Travel Award. RGI

2007 - The Arnold Clark Award. PAI

2006 - The Armour Award. RGI

2006 - The William Bowie Award. PAI

2005 - Landside College Watercolour Award. RGI

2005 - Contemporary Fine Art Gallery Award. PAI

2000 - The Glasgow Art Club Fellowship. RGI

1997 - Scottish Arts Council Individual Development Award.