Bank Street Gallery
Zoe Duthie is a woman who knows her own mind. Unusually for a young artist, (she is only twenty four), Duthie has shown resolve from the outset of her degree course at Duncan of Jordanstone Art College in Dundee and perhaps even before! Realising at secondary school that this thing she loved doing was worthy of study, unleashed her passion
But not for her was the pull of student life at art college. She knew by the end of first year that she wanted to be a jeweller and her focus has proved to be a catalyst to her success. The fact that she is a home bird may have assisted, as she has resolutely stayed at home during her studies and now remains in her home town, following her marriage earlier this year.
Don't be fooled by this homeliness. Parochial is the last word you would use to describe Zoe's style. Her use of the internet (she has a fabulous website!) for both research and placement has given her work a very cosmopolitan air. Her current enthusiasm for memorabilia and her passion for the minutia of the past - sometimes even incorporating a degree of recycling into her work - means that her retro output is right on the button.
Her modern interpretation of historical style and design produces a warming sentimentality with a really gutsy edge. The quirkiness of interpretation with the excellence of execution draws the eye and now, increasingly, draws commissions!
This year has seen Zoe Duthie emerge in more ways than one. She has herself well placed online (blogging directly from her workshop) and a recent move to a work bench at Woodhead & Son in Forfar has literally brought her into the market for all to see.
Zoe's show runs from Friday 18th November, 2011 to Saturday 31st December, 2011
The Gallery is open Wednesday to Saturday 10am-4pm and Sunday 1pm-4pm