Shadowed Winter by Mardi Barrie (1930–2004) is a moody, atmospheric landscape painting, one of many painted by Barrie, that reflects the artist’s characteristic tendency towards abstraction. Composed in soft, muted tones of grey, white, and brown, with faint hints of blue in the sky, the painting depicts a winter scene. Broad horizontal brushstrokes primarily sweep across the upper portion of the composition, while vertical lines and blocks of colour in the lower half hint at trees or built structures. 

Mardi Barrie, 1930-2004

Born in Kirkcaldy and trained at Edinburgh College of Art, Barrie became a teacher at Broughton High School in Edinburgh. She painted mainly landscapes and interiors in oils, with an emphasis on loose, expressive brushstrokes and harmonious colour, leaning towards abstraction but rarely becoming fully abstract. Following two solo exhibitions with the Douglas and Foulis Gallery in Edinburgh in the 1960s, she went on to exhibit regularly with the Scottish Gallery in Edinburgh and the Bruton Gallery in Somerset. In the 1980s, she had three solo exhibitions at the Thackeray Gallery in London.