Work Place Chaplaincy Scotland Blog

MSPs view chaplain's art

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Depute First Minister John Swinney is sponsoring a private art exhibition in the Scottish Parliament by one of our chaplains.

WPCS volunteer Larry Scrimgeour’s skill in Pictish and Celtic art – which he took up on his retirement from a career in academia - has gained him widespread acclaim and recognition.

 From Monday, December 12, to Friday, December 16, he will be exhibiting his designs, which include Celtic crosses (Holy Roods), in a private exhibition for MSPs and their guests in the Scottish Parliament building.

Said Larry (pictured): “The exhibition is being  sponsored by my MSP,  Depute First Minister John Swinney, to whom I am most grateful.”

Commenting on the forthcoming exhibition, Mr Swinney said: “I am delighted to be sponsoring this exhibition of a local artist in the Scottish Parliament.

“The Parliament building regularly hosts a rich, diverse range of different exhibitions that allow for public participation and engagement, but also to help promote a variety of different causes or projects. Larry’s work using Holy Roods will be right at home in Holyrood. I hope that this exhibition will allow many more people to view his work, who otherwise might not have had the opportunity to do so.”


Working from his home in Blairgowrie, Larry, 
who also volunteers with Work Place Chaplaincy Scotland as chaplain to Dundee and Angus College, creates his own distinctive pieces using one single, continuous, line. Many designs contain elements of wildlife.

His first solo exhibition was at Pictavia, Brechin Castle.“That was at the request of David Valentine, then Director of Marketing for Angus Council, who happened to see my work at a demonstration I did at Peel Farm," he explained.

"But it was really all my wife, Anne-Marie's idea for me to ‘go public’ as I was (and still am) quite happy to sit and draw as the Muse directs me. As a wee boy I was keen to become a naval architect, but my mother had had enough of the insecurity that went with the shipyard and groomed me for academia instead, which was wise. Several exhibitions and many demonstrations later I was again persuaded, this time to go for the "Big One", which for me is Holyrood, seat of the Scottish Parliament

 “Retirement left me with a vacuum in terms of physical and intellectual activity, which this peculiarly Scottish form of art slowly began to fill. It isn't easy and requires a certain mindset as well as a wee bit of skill. Initially I copied existing works from stone monuments and writings such as the magnificent Book of Kells, but now I produce my own original work. Actually, I don't - something possesses me when I pick up the pencil and completely takes over - I am merely an instrument.

 “My favourite piece is: ‘The Weaver's Knot,’ partly because it is the most difficult I have ever done (I gave up after the first attempt, then started again a year later!) and partly for what it symbolises.

 “The Weavers' Craft (one of Dundee's Nine Trades) was celebrating its 500th anniversary and my younger brother was Deacon of the Craft that year. He asked me if I could do something special, and I remembered the initial sketch. This time I started at the edge and worked my way into the centre, and this time it worked! Now it hangs in the Weavers' Hall. On the back there is a dedication to the mill workers of Dundee, including my mother, who was a weaver. It also commemorates my father, who was a ship rigger in the Caledon Shipyard and taught me every knot and splice in the book.

 “The piece I am working on at the moment is entitled: ‘Corriewreckan’, a whirlpool with seahorses encircled in a Celtic Mandala and it will form part of the collection I hope to take on tour after Holyrood.” See below for examples of Larry's skill.

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