Giving law the brush-off was artful move

Published on Monday 11 January 2010 20:05

IT IS quite the most heartening story in The Scotsman today: a lawyer has found redemption, through art. Patricia Cain, who trained as a solicitor, has won the Aspect Prize and £15,000 for new Scottish painting. It will enable her to continue her artistic work full-time.

Normally, this life story sadly runs the other way: penniless artist forced to abandon her muse and take up law. The story is all the more uplifting considering she was a personal injury lawyer.

The award is also distinctive in being given for work that the lay public would immediately recognise, for its observational insight and quality of execution, as "art". Empty building sites might seem unpromising subjects. Her work has focused on the interiors of unfinished buildings along the Clyde. Here, she has scored with great accuracy and power. The winning entry is a powerful portrayal of scaffolding, its eye-guiding, geometric lines working to capture the complexities of depth and breadth across the canvas. It is the calculated organisation of the scaffolding that gives a dramatic sense of movement, while the space between the poles and beams defines the whole. It is a study both of strength and guile, its appeal akin to that of an Escher drawing.

Her entries were described by the judges as "assured and remarkable pieces of work". That they certainly are. We hope she inspires other lawyers.