Francis Convery RSA’s paintings have been characterised by scale, a colourist sensitivity and changeable form.
Convery is an intuitive painter, interweaving the shapes, textures and colours of the landscape with a gestural touch that relates to the abstracted lines of the Edinburgh School, namely William Gillies RSA and Robin Philipson PPRSA, but also to the bold colours of John Bellany HRSA and Alan Davie HRSA. However, the elegance of Convery’s composition defines his style. Often using a geometry of serpentine trees to add lofty verticality or bridges and paths to bring strong diagonal thrust, Convery marks out a stage set for each scene. Reminiscent of Uccello and the Renaissance masters, this depth of field renders the viewer surrounded, wholly engulfed by the ethereal landscape.
Also particular to Convery’s style is a use of pattern, decorative shape and collage that perhaps betrays the influence of the famous textile trade of his hometown of Paisley. In The Hammock Convery suggests the serenity of the waterside setting with a gentle rippling pattern that contrasts strikingly with the impasto painting of the tree trunks and the collaged fence below. Convery’s championing of these mixed media techniques in painting has had considerable influence on younger generations of artists emerging from Gray’s School of Art, Aberdeen, where he was Head of Painting for 14 years.
