Image: Eleanor Buffam, Through the Looking Glass II. Oil on canvas, 2016.
My essay: ‘On the Importance of Creativity in Troubled Times’ has just been published on Neuk Collective’s blog.
Creativity is not a luxury in times of crisis, but a vital force for connection, resistance and renewal.
This is my first paid writing commission and it was a pleasure to write about something very close to my heart. Please give it a read and let me know what you think.
These are all hand-printed cyanotypes on Arches Aquarelle, A4 size (21 x 29.7cm), and are available online or in-store. Can be shipped worldwide.
Check them out here!
Posted in cyanotypes, Prints and Paintings for Sale
Tagged cyanotype, cyanotypes, hand printed, prints, prints for sale
Cyanotype on Arches Aquarelle. Paper size A4 (21 x 29.7cm).
Posted in cyanotypes
The House of Smalls
103 Henderson Street, Stockbridge, Edinburgh
1-30 August 2025
Spring Statement (TAX THE RICH), variation 1. Cyanotype, acrylic, and embroidery on linen and found fabric.
Opening exactly a year to the day since THOS’s first Edinburgh show, this exhibition showcases the textile artwork of 70 wise women artists using their craft to challenge, disturb and disrupt.
“The witch is at once female divinity, female ferocity, and female transgression. She is all and she is one.” ~ Kristen J Sollee
This show runs throughout the 2025 Edinburgh Fringe.
For more information please see the House of Smalls website.
Posted in Upcoming and Recent Exhibitions
Tagged cyanotype, edinburgh fringe, embroidery, house of smalls, textile art
Cyanotype and watercolour on Arches Aquarelle. 21cm x 29.7cm
Who doesn’t love a nice hot cup of Solidari-T?
I stand in solidarity with my trans siblings, always.
Posted in cyanotypes
Cyanotype, acrylic, and embroidery on canvas, 36cm x 31cm framed (31cm x 26cm unframed).
I made this piece (and several similar pieces) in reaction to Rachel Reeves’ Spring Statement earlier this year, in which she proposed to cut the money that disabled people need to survive rather than tax the rich. As I am disabled myself, and many of my friends are disabled, this issue is personal.
In my view, inequality is the single biggest driver of the permacrisis. Money in politics has led to lobbying against policies that would help the majority of the population. The richest 10% are responsible for half of global emissions. Houses being seen as investments rather than homes has led to a runaway property market which means that millions of people do not have a secure place to live. Water companies are diverting profits to shareholders rather than fixing infrastructure… and the list goes on.
Dandelions, for me, are highly symbolic. They are good for us, good for the soil, beautiful flowers, and yet they’re treated as the enemy by those who like their gardens sterile and manicured. Dandelions don’t give up though, they bloom through the cracks. They’re survivors. And they’re everywhere. Dandelions are like us, the people. The disabled, the struggling, the downtrodden, and all of us who feel that sacrificing the planet and its lifeforms is never justified in the race to increase profits. We persist despite the odds, and there are more of us than there are billionaires.
I’m very honoured to have been asked to work on this fantastic project by my friends at MGRM Malta.
I co-wrote the film score. (Full credits from 1:02:59)
Posted in Music
Cyanotype on Arches Aquarelle HP paper. A4 paper size (21cm x 29.7cm).
Posted in cyanotypes
Cyanotype on Arches Aquarelle HP paper. A4 paper size (21cm x 29.7cm).
Posted in cyanotypes
Cyanotype on Arches Aquarelle HP paper. A4 size paper (21cm x 29.7cm).
Posted in cyanotypes
Cyanotype on Bockingford HP paper. A4 size paper (21cm x 29.7cm).
For sale at Edinburgh Printmakers.
Cyanotype on Bockingford HP paper. A4 size paper (21cm x 29.7cm).
Posted in cyanotypes
In Tension is an online exhibition produced in collaboration with 16 neurodivergent artists from Neuk Collective. Encapsulating the divide felt by many neurodivergent artists between multiple contradicting factors, the exhibition explores the balance between external pressures and the need to find space where a creative, neurodivergent brain can make work and flourish.
I’m thrilled to be involved in this brilliant online exhibition. Check it out here: https://onlineexhibitions.fcac.co.uk/exhibitions/in-tension/
Available at Edinburgh Printmakers: https://edinburghprintmakers.co.uk/artists/326-eleanor-buffam/works/categories/2-consignment/10818-eleanor-buffam-diagonal-nasturium-2025/
Sett Studios, 127 Leith Walk, Edinburgh, EH6 8NP
Wheel of Fate and Sett Studios present ANTICIPATION: a show celebrating the approach of Spring
11th April: opening night event, 6PM-9PM, with music, readings, performances, art, and free wine and cider.
12th April – 15th April: general viewing 12-6PM
The Glasgow Gallery of Photography
3-27 April 2025
There are so many gems to be found in this show and its sister show COLOUR. I recommend going to see the exhibition if you can! You can also see it online here.
This is my response to Rachel Reeves’ Spring Statement in which she proposed to claw money out of the hands of disabled people and some of the poorest in the country. A wealth tax makes a lot more sense, actually- and would be far less cruel.
Posted in cyanotypes
Cyanotyope and acrylic on stretched canvas, 31cm x 41cm
Private Collection
Sparrows sing on the wild roses while the seagulls soar overhead.
This painting was on display in Edinburgh Printmakers as part of Hope/Dòchas: Castle Mills Members Show 4.
Edinburgh Printmakers
Castle Mills, 1 Dundee Street, EH3 9FP
29 November 2024 – 16 March 2025
Exhibition Preview: 28 November, 6:30-8:30pm
Hope/Dòchas invites you to explore the many forms hope takes, as demonstrated by over 96 artists and 105 works. Across both galleries, hope is considered through all printmaking forms, featuring processes including screenprint, lithography, cyanotype, etching, relief, digital, textile, and 3D works incorporating printmaking.
Themes include social cohesion and community, environmental and economic sustainability, and wellbeing. The artists in our community have considered various ideas of hope and what that means on a personal and collective level. Alongside reflection and critical responses, what can we actively achieve and make manifest to generate a better future and inspire hope? The resulting exhibition is a dazzling display of the various possibilities of the printmaking medium, and a celebration of the diversity and creativity of the Edinburgh Printmakers community.
My piece, Borage Pod v1, is a cyanotype on canvas made from a macro photograph taken in my garden. I have been appreciating the small details in my small urban garden, especially as I have been ill. For much of the summer I was unable to go much further than my garden.
The exhibition preview on the 28th is free and open to all, but please book a space via the link above as it is likely to fill up.
SOLD
30 November – 1 December 2024
The Edinburgh Macmillan Art Show is a great way to get your hands on exciting, affordable artworks from some of Scotland’s finest artists. You can attend the show or purchase your artworks online. And, it’s all for a great cause!
My piece is, again, a view from the garden- are you sensing a theme? I sat in the garden with my camera and tripod aimed at the wild roses, waiting for the sparrows to come and perch and sing. Seagulls soared overhead.
SOLD
Mall Galleries
The Mall, London, SW1Y 5AS
15-24 November 2024
The ING Discerning Eye 2024 has been chosen by six distinguished selectors and will be on exhibition at the Mall Galleries, London 15 – 24 November 2024. There will be daily artist demonstrations. The online shop will be open when the exhibition opens.
My piece is a tiny framed painting of a view through a curving branch in my neighbour’s garden, to a house with a cupola and widow’s walk on Commercial Street in Leith. This building used to back onto the docks, but they have since been filled in and the water is a little further away.
Eleanor Buffam 