Artist in Residence

Our Artist in Residence for 2025

We were delighted to introduce Sharon Quigley as the Winner of our Artist Residency 2025 at the Hugo Burge Foundation.

Throughout February Sharon will be taking up residence in the Old Squash Court Studio, one of the Hugo Burge Foundation studios at Marchmont Estate, near Duns, before exhibiting her work at Borders Art Fair.

Award winning Edinburgh based artist Sharon creates highly decorative, intricately patterned surfaces, fusing a myriad of cultural references, from topographic and diagrammatic engravings, arabesques, micrographic reproductions and cellular structures, exploring the correlation that exists between them. In recent paintings, scenes which invoke the natural world reveal the anatomy of patterns which persist and endure throughout life, and the unifying forces that underlie all living things.

Over the last few years, Sharon has poured herself into fulfilling collaborations, and the research, consultation and production of various public art commissions and exhibitions. Whilst finding joy and inspiration in creative facilitation, she is looking forward to spending time reflecting, refocusing and recalibrating her painting priorities, in the inspiring and enriching setting of the Hugo Burge Foundation Studios.

Based on prior and ongoing research into the origins of pattern and biophilic form, Sharon seeks to extend and develop a range of drawn and painted compositions and motifs inspired by the flora, topography, and geology of the Marchmont Estate, with specific focus on the gardens, observing winter structures, reflecting on the role of gardens and their link to myth, to history and to place.

Sharon's most recent commissions for Round Table Projects, Tonic Arts and the Lothian Health Foundation have resulted in the installation of artworks in a variety of mediums, such as painting, sculpture, sound works, etched glass, print and wallpaper, across healthcare sites within Forth Valley Royal Hospital, Stirling Community Hospital, the Edinburgh Renal Dialysis Centre, the Edinburgh Haematology Centre, the Edinburgh Cancer Assessment Unit and Royal Edinburgh Hospital.

However, most of these settings are not open to the public, due to the sensitive nature of work being carried out by healthcare professionals, meaning few people are in a position to engage with this work. Sharon is looking forward to exhibiting at the Borders Art Fair, engaging with a new audience and being able to show and talk about her work.

Sharon holds a BA (First Class Honours) in Fine Art Painting from Duncan of Jordanstone College of Art and an MA in European Fine Art from the University of Southampton. She has been recognized with numerous prestigious awards, including the Jay and W Gordon Smith Award for Painting, the Royal Scottish Academy Latimer Award for Painting, and the Royal Glasgow Institute of Fine Arts Exhibitionship Prize. Additional honours include the Jeffrey Orchar Award for Painting, the Hope Scott Publication Award, the SSA Edinburgh Printmakers’ Visiting Artists Award, and the Hope Scott Travel Award.

Her work is held in collections including the Bank of Montreal, The Royal Bank of Scotland, Mastercard International, Art in Healthcare, Baillie Gifford, The International Centre for Cultural Development in India and, in the University of Stirling's Art Collection.

We are thrilled that Sharon will be exhibiting at the Borders Art Fair, where she’ll be showing some of the work created during the residency, alongside other pieces. Visit her on Stand no. 29 to hear more about her time on Residency, and the beautiful work she creates.

Click here to visit Sharon's website.

About the Hugo Burge Foundation....

Based on the Marchmont Estate, located near Greenlaw in the Scottish Borders, the Hugo Burge Foundation was established to nourish and inspire creativity in everyone, young and old.

As well as running courses, hosting events and providing opportunities to those wanting to enrich their lives and surroundings with art and the magic of making, the Hugo Burge Foundation offers affordable workspaces for creative practitioners as well as funded and self-funded residencies throughout the year.

Art-lovers, schools and community groups are also welcomed to visit the Foundation's beautiful walled garden and restored glasshouses on the Marchmont Estate.

As part of the Foundation's continued support for the Borders Art Fair, they fund our month long Artist Residency in their Old Squash Court Studio during February. The opportunity is given to an artist we feel would really benefit from the experience, and also includes an exhibition stand at the Borders Art Fair where the recipient can show their work, engage with a new audience and network with other creatives. For details of previous residency beneficiaries, please click here.

For more information about the Hugo Burge Foundation please click here

Nearby Marchmont House, Hugo Burge's former home, will be open for tours throughout the weekend of the Borders Art Fair, to allow visitors the chance to see and hear about their incredible art collection. Please click here for further information.