The achievements of renowned scientists Sir Ken and Lady Noreen Murray were celebrated when Fionna's double portrait of them was unveiled in the Raeburn Room by Sir Tim O'Shea, Principal of the University of Edinburgh, in March 2009. Sir Ken is best known for his pioneering work in developing the vaccine against Heptatitis B and as the founder of the Darwin Trust of Edinburgh.
Fionna discusses her work with Camilla, the Duchess of Rothesay, after the completion of a painting with a difference for the charity The Elephant Family. The charity asked Fionna to paint a sculptured crocodile which was displayed alongside an array of other animal works in Princes Street Gardens,Edinburgh, for Jungle City during the summer of 2011.
The inspiration for Fionna's crocodile came from her birthplace of Caithness and included images of thistles and rugged seascapes. The crocodile took more than three weeks to paint in the Dovecot Studios in Edinburgh. Coincidentally, Fionna discovered that there is a stuffed crocodile on show in Wick Library, a fact which amused Camilla.
Visit the Elephant Family website
THEY say artists must be prepared to suffer for their work, and Fionna Carlisle walked through fire and crashed into the North Sea to prepare herself for a commission.
The artist had to endure the rigours of an oil industry survival course before starting a series of portraits on various people who have played leading roles in the history of North Sea exploration.
Full article on scotsman.com
The 80th birthday on 22nd April, 2009, of Sir Michael Atiyah was celebrated with the Atiyah80: Geometry and Physics conference organised by ICMS at the Informatics Forum of the University of Edinburgh and the Royal Society of Edinburgh, April 20–22, and a sequence of events Science, Politics and Drama at the Royal Society of Edinburgh and the Royal Lyceum Theatre, April 23–24 2009.
Fionna created a set of drawings at the Atiyah80 conference, you can see the full set at the Atiyah80 website.
These sketches led to commission of Sir Michael Atiyah and Professor Friedrich Hirzebruch, two double portraits one is in University of Edinburgh and other Max Planck Institute of Mathematics Bonn. Drawn in Bonn and Edinburgh, 2011