William Birnie RSW, RGI, PAI, 77, Scottish artist and teacher
Shrike!
JAMES SPENCE
http://news.scotsman.com/obituaries.cfm?id=1351102006
13-Sep-06 01:27 BST
WILLIAM BIRNIE RSW, RGI, PAI Artist and teacher
Born: 18 March, 1929, in Bathgate.
Died: 3 September, 2006, nr Kilbarchan, aged 77.
THE death of Bill Birnie marks the end of a distinguished career in
art and education. A talented student himself, he had the rare
experience of having his work purchased by his tutors.
Bill Birnie studied at Glasgow School of Art under Gilbert Spencer and
then at Hospitalfield Art College under Ian Fleming. After graduating,
he joined the staff at Hyndland Secondary School in 1952. That same
year he was also elected a member of the Society of Scottish Artists
(SSA).
In 1958, he became a founder member of the Glasgow Group and formed
the Glasgow Group Society, of which he was vice-president for 32
years. In 1965, he was elected a member of the Royal Scottish Society
of Painters in Watercolour (RSW), a society of which he also became
vice-president and treasurer. He became principal art teacher at
Douglas Academy, near Bearsden, and later at Gryffe High, near Kilbarchan.
Bill's abilities not only as a teacher but also as an administrator
were noticed by the Department of Education and he was soon appointed
head examiner in art for Scotland. I recall on one occasion tiptoeing
guiltily, with other senior examiners, past Bill, as we returned after
an extended lunch hour. Bill's arched eyebrow was enough to ensure
that we were in time in future.
He still managed to maintain an active exhibiting schedule, and showed
in all the main public galleries and many of Scotland's best
commercial galleries. His work was enthusiastically collected and
increasingly sought after. He was elected a member of the Royal
Glasgow Institute of Fine Art (RGI) and of the Paisley Art Institute
(PAI).
In the early years he painted from his garden, showing the village of
Kilbarchan in its changing seasons, under a quiet blanket of winter
snow, or framed in a blazing sunset through autumnal trees. In all his
work, one sees the hand of a man, the agricultural fields of Balfron,
the village spires, the farms and harbours of Fife. Later visits to
France and Italy with his artist wife, Cynthia Wall, whom he married
in 1953, brought new subject matter, café scenes, vine groves, Italian
cliff top villages, and the crumbling facades of palaces and churches
of Venice. He was a lover of Italian culture, its wine, its food, and
especially its opera. When working in his studio the background was
generally filled with the sound of an early Schipa or De Stefano.
Of his own work he said he needed the stimuli of the observed scene.
Few artists observed better. His boats and palaces could have been
rebuilt from his drawings. Light shimmering on a surface infused all
his work, light was his true motif and his response to light gave his
work a consistency that was instantly recognisable.
It was characteristic of the man that when told that his illness was
terminal, he calmly put his affairs in order and started work for a
final one-man show at the Open Eye, the scene of so many of his
successful shows.
Despite being able to work only one or two hours each day, he
completed an exhibition of his favourite East Neuk. The exhibition
contained some of his finest work and it was a sell out. Though very
weak, he was there to welcome the many friends who came to the opening.
Bill's legacy of a painting career of more than 50 years will be in
the collections of more than a thousand homes. Bill Birnie combined a
poetic vision with a generosity of spirit and exceptional
administrative gifts, all of which he shared with family, colleagues
and friends.
He is survived by his wife Cynthia, their three children and six
grandchildren.
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