About The Artist

Artists are known for being obsessive but perhaps few are as physically and intellectually challenged as the Scottish sculptor Ronald Rae when he stands alone with a hammer and chisel facing several tonnes of granite, which is one of the hardest stones in the world.

The Ronald Rae Sculpture Exhibition of hand carved granite sculptures has been on tour in England since 1994 showing at major venues such as Sheffield, Milton Keynes, Regent's Park in London and the Yorkshire Sculpture Park.

Each exhibition has varied in theme with new sculptures being added whilst others have found permanent homes. The current exhibition at Holyrood Park includes Rae’s largest ever sculpture to date, Lion of Scotland, exhibited for the first time.

The sculptures at Holyrood were carved over the past twenty years in the grounds of Cramond Kirk in Edinburgh. The exhibition celebrates the sculptures’ return home to Edinburgh to be shared with the people of Scotland and its visitors. It also marks the sculptor’s 60th year.

Ronald Rae was born in Ayr, Scotland in 1946. Whilst still in short trousers he struck his first granite rock. At the age of twelve he was drawing a weekly cartoon strip for a local newspaper. Drawing would be an important part of his life but sculpture his main love and obsession.

In the beginning Rae explored his faith through his art. This resulted in a large series of emotive drawings and carvings based on the life of Christ. Some of these sculptures are at Holyrood. Being brought up in the countryside it followed that he expressed his appreciation of animals in his art. Aware of his Celtic heritage he thrilled at seeing Scotland’s ancient carved stones and Celtic crosses that often included wild boar, horses and bears. All these animals are celebrated in the exhibition.

Rae was always intrigued by prehistoric cave art. This perhaps inspired his relief sculpture Bison. In this work he did not carve the stone in the round but used his chisel to draw on its surface. Also carved in relief is the monumental Tyger Tyger.

The granite Rae uses comes from Kemnay and Corrennie quarries in Aberdeenshire. The granite is 460 million years old and it is in these quarries that Rae finds the right stone or the stone finds him. He makes no plans in advance for his sculptures. He carves intuitively to find what is within each stone. To him it is “a miracle.” Of his latest works in the exhibition he says “I do not just carve animals, I try to carve the spirit of animals. The sculptures are a thank you for my life – they are my prayers”.

After 45 years of carving granite Ronald Rae now has many sculptures in private and public collections in the UK and abroad. Not only a sculptor he draws, paints, works in mixed media and writes poetry. For pleasure he walks, cycles, listens to world music and plays folk instruments.

Pauline MacDonald – Exhibition Organiser