Border Telegraph | News | Ruaraig's birthday gift stars in top exhibition

Tuesday, 6th January, 2009

Published: Tuesday, 25th October, 2005 10:37

Ruaraig's birthday gift stars in top exhibition

By Border Telegraph Newsroom

A MELROSE artist has added his work to the melting pot of Scottish talent for the Royal Glasgow Institute of the Fine Arts annual exhibition.

Ruaraig Mciver was one of a small number of international artists to have a piece selected for the prestigious exhibition, which opened at Glasgow’s Mitchell Library last Friday.

Mr Mciver runs a bronze foundry in Peebles called Beltane Studios, and uses the metal for sculptures of his own.

Now one of his pieces, called “Thor”, has taken its place with the best of Scotland’s modern works of art.

Mr Mciver said: “It is a prestigious exhibition, and I am very pleased to get into it.

“I had a piece in the RSA summer exhibition in 2003, so I have been fairly lucky as far as having works exhibited.

“It is the first time I have put in for the RGI exhibition, and I was accepted, which is brilliant.”

Mr Mciver took a Higher art course at night school in his twenties, and worked his way up to Canterbury Christ Church University, where he studied for a degree in fine art.

He said: “While I was there, I got a job working in their bronze foundry. It helped pay my way through college, and taught me about bronze.

“In 1996, my brother and I set up a bronze foundry in Peebles. One of the chief reasons for setting up the foundry was that I wanted to produce my own work as well.”

Mr Mciver’s latest piece is based on the Norse god of the same name, and takes Viking mythology as its theme.

But the piece was not intended for the RGI exhibition, and almost didn’t make it there.

Mr Mciver said: “It came about because it was my older brother’s 50th birthday. He is called Thorfinn, which is a Viking name, so I made this as a birthday present.

“But I got a bit carried away with it, and it became more important. I got a lot of positive feedback from people that saw it, so I decided to submit it.”

Mr Mciver is now looking forward to visiting the exhibition, which closes on November 13.

He said: “Working with bronze is a very time-consuming way to work, but I expect there will be other bronze pieces in the exhibition.”

Social Bookmarking What are these?