Sally Fisher is, like so many artists, from a creative family. Her mother makes clothes and quilts. Also, like a number of artists, Â she did not choose art as her first career.
‘I didn’t go to art college but I’ve always been interested in the countryside and the environment,’ she says.
In fact, Sally’s degrees from the universities of Nottingham and Norwich were in Environmental Studies. She came to Edinburgh four years ago for her job with the Royal Society for the Protection of Birds (RSPB). She performed various roles during her six years with the Society but says, ‘I can’t imagine now being in an office from 9 until 5’.
When the job came to an end enterprising Sally decided to see if she could make a living as an artist. This was a daunting task but she set about it with verve.
After experimenting with various media she now prefers to work in oil but has also established a reputation as a print maker and sells her work at Stockbridge market as well as other outlets. She came across the Printmakers workshop in Edinburgh by chance and finds it a source of inspiration as well as a place to make her own prints to sell.
When I looked at some of her original oil paintings I was most interested in her favoured subjects -cattle! The one we show here is ‘Annandale’, named after an Edinburgh Street where she once lived! At first I was surprised but then I realised these subjects were entirely in keeping with Sally’s love of the outdoors.
By using the internet Kick start facility she has attracted ‘investors’ from all over the world, especially the United States. These investors were given a picture as a reward for their investment. The project ended in September and Sally raised enough money to fund her forthcoming exhibition.
As well as painting, Sally is using her experience gained at RSPB in fund raising to do this on a freelance basis. Currently she is working with a charity based in Leith to give more confidence to multi-cultural children.
Sally’s exhibition will be at The White Space Gallery in Gayfield Square in Edinburgh from 7th to 14 December. Her website is www.salgallery.com
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Christine Richard OBE FRSA
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Christine has over 25 years' experience in public life in Scotland in the fields of politics, education, public relations and charity work. For 12 years she served on the City of Edinburgh District Council and was her Group's leader for 4 years. She is a Fellow of the Royal Society of Arts. In 1992 she was made an OBE. Christine is a member of the Board of The Friends of the Royal Scottish Academy. She has just completed six years on the Board of The Edinburgh International Festival.
Christine's business experience has covered the fields of theatre, economic development, science, coal mining, education and training. She has held a number of non-executive directorships in these disciplines. She is a trained and experienced personal relationships counsellor and a business and personal mentor. In 2005 Christine established Christine Richard Associates who undertake Event Management and Public Relations as well as company and individual profiling. She coordinated the 'Yes to Edinburgh' campaign on congestion charging in Edinburgh. ten years ago Christine co-founded West Lothian Women in Business, which is a network for women who are self-employed and also for women managers. Christine has now stepped down from the Chair of this thriving organisation.
For 5 years Christine was a magistrate in the District Court. She was also a member of the Secretary of State's Advisory Committee on the appointment of Justices of the Peace. She has been an adviser to Government in various areas of policy, including health, local government and education.
Christine is a trained and experienced radio and television broadcaster and writer as well as an entertaining and accomplished speaker. She has a wealth of topics on which she is invited to speak. These range from witty after lunch and after dinner speaking to the more serious topics of the economy, health, education, enterprise, the Powers of the Mind and Life/work balance. She writes reviews and articles for lifestyle magazine, Lothian Life. She took part as a contestant in an ITV gourmet TV show, Chef V Britain, challenging TV chef Gino D'Acampo to cook her signature dish, Posh Cottage Pie. Currently Christine is a member of the Goodison Group in Scotland and Scotland's Futures. Also she is involved in the group Changing the Chemistry of Scottish Boards. Her first novel, Whitewalls, a modern Scottish family saga has been published by New Generation Publishing and is available on all internet books siets and from libraries. She is writing a sequel Autumn at Whitewalls.
Her leisure interests include her family, literature, music, theatre, food, wine and horse racing. She is a member of a racing syndicate, which has two horses in training.
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