Thomas MacGregor, a former Highland resident now living in London with his family, is a figurative and landscape painter - capturing the world around us. MacGregor graduated from Edinburgh College of Art in 1999 and the Turps Studio Programme in 2020 where he was awarded with the Turps/Darbyshire prize for 'Emerging Art'. Alongside these achievements, he has recently featured in the finals of the Sky Arts 'Landscape Artist of the Year'.
In most recent years, MacGregor's has showcased in exhibitions around the world including Stockholm, Berlin, Bolivia, LA. Edinburgh, and most regularly, in London. While studying at Edinburgh College of Art, MacGregor produced some of his most well known pieces - the most notable being his 'Comedy Cowboy', based on his younger brother, which he created for The Stand Comedy Club when opening their first permanent venue in Edinburgh.
MacGregor expresses:
"It may not seem obvious between one of my landscape paintings and one of my figurative pieces that they are created by the same painter but I tackle all of my paintings in the same way. I'm inspired by stark and bleak landscape or figures, perhaps the less conventionally beautiful scenes where we see human intervention."
For our upcoming GlenWyvis releases, 3 year old Pedro Ximénez Firkin Cask and 7 year old First Fill Rum Cask, MacGregor travelled to Dingwall, the location where the distillery is situated, and began immersing himself in the Highland landscape. He told us:
"I love Highland whisky! It tastes like the landscape and so I wanted to capture the peaty and musty vibrancy that oozes from the ground. I wanted it to look like the whisky tastes."
MacGregors process for creating a piece like this involves him re-immersing himself in his childhood landscape, which isn't difficult to him - back in his London home, MacGregor researches landscapes and areas before visiting and works on multiple pieces at a time during his visits - he describes that:
"The work has a momentum and vibrancy when being created next to eachother simultaneously and that's how they come to life!"
If you're interested in finding out more about MacGregors work, you can find him on his website and social media accounts below!
Website: www.tdmacgregor.com
Social: @tdmacgregor
If our GlenWyvis releases take your fancy, you can reserve your bottles below!