All things must pass

The mining industry was a significant employer in Fife for several generations with around fifty mines operating around the Fife Coalfield in the 19th and 20thC.

An exhibition, Before and after Coal: Images and Voices from Scotland’s Mining Communities, currently showing at the Scottish National Portrait Gallery in Edinburgh, shows clearly how central the mines were to the life of communities in Fife, the Lothians and East Ayrshire, and the impact of their loss 40 years after the miners’ strike of 1984.

Now, only the pit head winding gear remains on sites that boasted working mines, although former mining communities continue to celebrate the heritage of a once thriving industry.

The two paintings displayed here are an observation on the changing industrial landscape of Fife and the Lothians. ‘The tide rises, the tide falls I’, shown above right, depicts an image based on a photograph of a Fife mine. The structure seems to be melting into the sea, reminding us that nothing is permanent, the rig in the distance marking the transition from coal to oil as a mainstay of Scottish industry.

’The tide rises, the tide falls II, seen above left, marks another transition. Communities that were reliant on coal such as those around Levenmouth in Fife, are embracing green technology. The Fife Energy Park, based at Methil is a demonstator site for offshore wind turbines. The wind turbines have an ethereal quality, suggesting that they too are temporary features in the Scottish industrial landscape.

These two paintings are executed in oil on canvas, dimensions 42 cm x 59.4 cm. They will be available for sale later this year. All enquiries to artbysmart4@gmail.com.