Denise Findlay was born in 1973 into a family with a strong artistic pedigree. Her mother was the Great Granddaughter of Fra Newbery (1855 - 1946), who was married to the equally famous Glasgow Girl, Jessie Newbery (1864 - 1948), whose applique work gave rise to the rose motif identified with Charles Rennie Macintosh. Fra Newbery was the Director of the Glasgow School of Art (GSA) between 1885 and 1917. Under Newbury's leadership the school developed an international reputation and he was instrumental in fostering the Glasgow Boys and the work of Charles Rennie Macintosh and his circle.
As a young girl, Denise Findlay was always passionate about art and not much else. She was encouraged by her parents, a teacher at school and her attendance at Saturday morning classes at the Glasgow School of Art. She went on to study at Glasgow School where she graduated in 1996. Findlay entered Glasgow art school with strong figurative drawing skills and was keen to learn how to paint. She studied under the tutelage of Jimmy Robertson CBE RSW RGI RSA PAI and Barbara Rae RA. Rae, in particular singled out and admired Denise's incredible ability to handle light. During her development, Findlay embraced figurative realism and in particular the American realist Andrew Wyeth and the Chilean hyper-realist Claudio Bravo.
Denise's paintings were initially very detailed. Her more recent work has become much lighter and looser. Denise puts this down to changes in her personal circumstances. Talking about her work she says: ‘The female figure tends to be dominant in my work - most of the time she must be representing me. Things have been changing in my own life and it is definitely to do with that, which I suppose is good because it means my work is true to me - maybe I'm taking control back.' Denise also notes that she paints woman because she can relate to them and can understand their point of view.
Denise Findlay works with a contemporary colour palette with stunning, almost abstract markings. Her work is pleasing and powerful and cleverly narrates and intones the female perspective. Her work also implies that her characters, while beautiful and vulnerable are also very determined and can be strong and single-minded when they choose to be.
Denise Findlay has received many art awards including the Elizabeth Greenshields Foundation Award which she has won three times. She has also won Arnold Clark Award, awarded by The Paisley Art Institute and was runner up to the Aspect Prize also awarded by The Paisley Art Institute.
In addition to Red Rag Art Gallery Denise Findlay art work has been exhibited at other leading Scottish Art Galleries. Each painting at Red Rag is sourced from the Denise Findlay artist studio and like all Red Rag Scottish art and Contemporary art it can be shipped worldwide.
