Fife’s coastline and splendour of Cairngorms in Fife artist’s debut exhibition

Hilary Joiner’s delightful evocations of Fife’s magnificent coastline and the Cairngorms’ majestic splendour feature in a pop-up show taking place in a former shop.

From Surf to Turf: A Journey of Discovery is something of a three-day wonder, filling the vacant premises at 8 Shore Road, Aberdour, all too briefly with light, life and no little colour.

It’s unlikely that lovers of good landscapes will encounter a more impressive debut this year. What’s striking about this assembly of paintings and drawings is the artist’s gift for capturing light, her command of composition and a pleasing eye for detail.

Hilary, who trained at Edinburgh College of Art before opting for a successful career in advertising, said: “It’s difficult to know where to begin when you’re starting over again, so I thought I would test the waters with this pop-up presentation of my work.”

Having not painted or drawn in earnest since graduating, Hilary eased herself into her small studio at home in Burntisland last year, opened a sketch book and wrote ‘Finding me…’

Having set herself a brief to embark on a process of creative discovery, she completed the new collection of work in less than 12 months.

“For me, it’s not enough just to produce a piece of work – the story that leads to the outcome must always be present too.”

For those of us who love the Forth and its ever changing light, there is much to savour here: the gusts and squals above the Black Rock; Inchkeith’s silhouette moored on the horizon, battleship grey; and those shifting shapes in the sand at St Andrews.

And anyone who’s enthralled by the Cairngorms, can marvel at Loch Pityoulish freeze-framed by a swirl of trees; the road to Rothiemurchus echoing all the eeriness of a Highland forest; and a fishing track somewhere, meandering into the falling dark.

But it’s not all about the bigger picture. There are delightful details too, of those places we pass without thinking, yet now are seen in a different light – the bandstand at Silver Sands; that tiny tunnel taking you from links to prom at Burntisland; and, even, a skate park.

Don’t blink or you’ll miss this little gem of a show … and you wouldn’t want to do that. This enchanting array of work, having rolled in a like a spring tide for its Friday morning opening, will be gone like mountain mist come Sunday evening.