The Living Earth | Pascale Rentsch
The Living Earth is a deeply moving witness statement – an exhibition bursting with positivity & hope.
Artist Pascale Rentsch’s first solo exhibition with The Scottish Gallery runs until 28th June
We’ve followed the work of Pascale Rentsch for several years now. Known for her determined dedication to painting en plein air, the artist has a profound ability to distill the essence of a place, and to offer brightness and warmth, even in moments when they seem hard to find.
What intrigues us most about Pascale’s artwork is her working process – her immersion within the landscape. Perhaps more than that, she’s able to truly anchor herself in the present. Painting with urgency and without distraction, she becomes a vessel. Her paintings could be considered self-portraits, they’re about so much more than the scene before her.
In these times of increasing distraction, her work presents us with the opportunity to regroup, to ground ourselves – often quite literally. Standing before a painting like Hedgerow and Arriving Geese, Aberlady (below), we feel physically placed within the scene, not least because of its scale. Her paintings invite us to pause, to breathe, to connect with the living Earth.
Hedgerow and arriving Geese, Aberlady 2023, mixed media on watercolour paper, 77x122cm
Pascale’s approach is rooted in instinct and spontaneity – neither of these states easily achieved. As a result of these working processes, her paintings are imbued with palpable energy, yet she still manages to retain technical perspective, with expressive yet delicate treatment of line and form. She embraces the unpredictability of the elements, be it wind moving her brush or rain disrupting her marks. This organic interaction with nature allows her to capture not just the visual aspects of a landscape but its very atmosphere. “I like the unpredictability and not having control”, Pascale has written in the past “…it all becomes an organic happening of that particular moment.”
Estuary 2022, mixed media on heavy weight watercolour paper, 58x76cm
Coastal Sea Buckthorn 2025, mixed medium on watercolour paper, 121x153cm
The landscape of East Lothian (in Scotland) serves as a constant source of inspiration for Pascale. Surrounded by both the intimacy of woodland and the drama of the sea and hills, she finds a rich variety of subject matter. “Many hours have been spent at Aberlady bay, Gullane beach, Longniddry, White Sands and the Lammermuir hills just to name a few.”
“My paintings are like a diary but without words. Moments and feelings captured on canvas as words would fill a page.”
Her sensitivity to the natural world offers a poignant perspective in a time of environmental uncertainty. Her search for light, both literal and metaphorical, resonates with us – “I am always looking for the light. Not necessary in its obvious form but more as an abstract hidden meaning; the leaves of a bush lit by the streetlights shining golden against the dark night sky. Shells and stones which gleam on the dark slate seashore, the gorse which glows like little embers across the grey landscape or the river flowers swaying gently with their delicate colour hues against the water’s edge.”
“It’s those tiny lights that touch me and I try to hold and capture them in my paintings in a spontaneous way. They are there, the small lights, no matter how dark and dull a day might appear … Those lights are magical; I paint them and take them with me.”
The Living Earth continues at The Scottish Gallery until 28th June
January Glow 2025, mixed medium on heavy weight watercolour paper, 44x54cm
River flowers II 2024, mixed medium on heavy weight watercolour paper, 54x44cm
Images used with permission | Text by A La Luz & Pascale Rentsch | Please do not re-publish any of the above without prior written consent
