Elizabeth Blackadder

Today’s taster workshop centered around Dame Elizabeth Violet Blackadder,

(Mrs Houston) , DBE, RA, RSA, HonRWA,

(Born 24 September in Falkirk, Scotland, 1931 Blackadder was a Scottish painter and printmaker.

Lilies and Mixed Flowers, 2010

watercolour and pencil on paper

H:80.5cm W:59cm

Elizabeth Blackadder was born in Falkirk in 1931. She studied at ECA from 1949 until 1954 under Robert Henderson Blyth and William Gillies earning travelling scholarships to southern Europe and Italy. In 1956 she married artist and fellow Scottish Gallery exhibitor John Houston and began teaching in Edinburgh. She taught at Edinburgh College of Art from 1962 until her retirement in 1986. One of Scotland’s greatest artists, she also gained recognition and success in London. In 1972, Blackadder was elected member of the Royal Scottish Academy, Edinburgh and in 1976 she gained entry at the Royal Academy, London – the first woman to be elected into both institutions. In 2001, Elizabeth was made the first female Artist Limner by HRH The Queen, a position within the Royal Household unique to Scotland. One decade later, in 2011 (the year she turned 80) a major retrospective of her work opened at the National Galleries.

Elizabeth Blackadder died 23 August 2021 (aged 89), in Edinburgh, Scotland.

After reading this post, scroll back on up to here and Click on this link for a short video

Blackadder video

Our class today used line and drawing skills to represent a floral composition, inspired by the clever and unusual water colours by Elizabeth Blackadder.

Materials provided