Artists who have been identified as contributors, and for whom articles are in course of construction include Ian Spence (leaving year 1962), Stewart Mackinnon – also a film maker (1965) and Emily Hogarth (2003) There is also a category for a miscellany of artistic work, from those with just one or two entries Click here to go to the Artists entries.
Film Makers include Nigel McIsaac (a teacher but he qualifies), Stewart Mackinnon, Ian R C Cowie and the School film club group of the 2000’s and 2010’s who won a variety of awards. Click here to go to Film Makers entries
Sculptors are at the moment are limited to just one, but as Keith McCarter was the first to endow this overall category, he gets pride of place on the page. Keith has recently pointed out to the Editor that the following should be given proper representation in due course (which they will be…), but in the meantime click a name for more (Wiki) information:
- Alexander Nasmyth 1758-1840 Artist (credited as being the first Scottish landscape painter)
- James Nasmyth 1808-1890 Artist and Engineer, inventor of the steam-driven hammer
- Robert Adam 1728-1792 Architect
- Robert Mylne 1733-1811 Architect
- William Burn 1789 -1870 Architect
- Robert Scott Lauder 1803- 1869 Artist
- David Bryce 1803-1876 Architect
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Sculptors
Keith McCarter
Keith McCarter’s work is known and exhibited worldwide. He left the Royal High in 1954, and after National Service, attended and graduated from Edinburgh College of Art in 1960, gaining the Andrew Grant Scholarship for further study in Europe. He travelled next to New York, where he worked as glass designer for Steuben Glass. He Undertook an intensive study of materials used in construction industry that may be employed in art forms.
He married and after visiting several countries returned to the United Kingdom, where he has continued his work. Click here for an extensive PDF of Keith’s Sculpture career. He also talks about his inspirational school teachers, and other influences which characterised his career. Click here for an article about Keith first published in the Architects Journal in 1989, in which he explains why Art should be available in the open air in public spaces, as opposed to being only in indoor Art galleries.
Keith has offered up an extensive gallery of images of his work, and along with the website editor has assembled a further gallery of images from his life as a High Scholar.
Click on any of the images below to enable a full screen slideshow.
Keith’s Galleries – Sculptures and his School days
The first gallery shows full-sized sculptures in a wide range of locations. Scroll down to find a further gallery showing a number of small sculptures, generally available in limited editions, and scroll down again to find a gallery of his School days.
Click on any of the images below to enable a full screen slideshow.
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Gallery of Keith’s limited edition sculptures
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Click on any of the images below to enable a full screen slideshow.
Gallery of Keith’s schooldays and some cultural stuff
These images are a blend from Keith’s own family album and a number from the RHS Club archive. Keith is not in all of them (and is not identified when he is, but if not the subjects are identified. Part of the fun is finding him!
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Artists
The Regent Road campus of the post-war period featured a number of high quality art teachers, Including Nigel McIsaac, who is frequently referred to as an inspirational teacher. Ian Spence, the third artist named in our article, is one such pupil. Many artists have been nurtured with, and continued beyond school, and this topic explores their work.
Jennifer Matthews
Jennifer Matthews won artistic awards at school in 1981 – prizes for Fabric and fashion design, along with the R S Watson Prize for Architectural Drawing. Visit her own website, and have a look at a fascinating 20 minute interview recorded at the Ballater Gallery here.
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Janet Melrose
Janet Melrose won a William Rutherford Bequest award for Art in her final year in 1982. Examples of her art can be seen here, and another, where she is described as ‘A challenger, a questioner, a risk-taker‘, can be seen here. Her abstract art is an interesting counterpoint with Jenny Matthews studied watercolours.
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Ian Spence
Ian left Royal High in 1962, then attended Edinburgh College of Art, subsequently qualifying as an Architect then a Town Planner. He ended his working career as deputy head of Planning at Edinburgh Council in 2008, giving himself plenty of spare time to enjoy hobby painting, and in 2022 become President of Edinburgh Rotary.
He cites his main influences at school as art teachers Nigel McIsaac and Shand Hutchison, inherited an artistic gene from his father which he has donated to one of his daughters (and a grand-daughter), and his favourite subjects include family portraits, landscapes and architecture. For an extended biography, click here.
Ian’s portfolio shows a includes a variety of images – portraits, landscapes and interiors.
Click on any of the images below to enable a full screen slideshow.
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Emily Hogarth
Emily (leaving year 2003) has recently been the subject of an RHS Club biography project. She was awarded the prestigious job of creating the Scottish first minister’s Christmas card in 2021. Emily’s website explains her career: Since completing her masters in Edinburgh Collage of Art in 2008 Emily has been working as a self-employed illustrator and surface designer. Her distinctive illustrations and bold designs have provided Emily with success over the past few years.
Her designs have been seen in The National Museum of Scotland, Cadbury’s Flake ‘Allure’ as well as the Nivea Pearl and Beauty global campaign. Since graduation she has worked with: Nivea, Cadbury’s, Red Magazine, Lloyds Bank, Jasper Conran for Debenhams; Bebaroque; Graham and Brown; Tigerprint; Studio Roam; Medici Cards; and Cole and Sons. Emily recently illustrated the interior of the new Royal hospital for children and young people in Edinburgh. Her website is at emilyhogarth.com and contains an excellent online shop…
Emily’s portfolio includes a variety of images – Cards, Artwork and Photos.
Click on any of the images below to enable a full screen slideshow.
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Stewart Mackinnon
Stewart is included not only as an Artist, but also as a Film Maker – click here to see that entry. His Biography reveals that it was a series of chance encounters which took him down the artistic route, “two important teaching staff influences being form teacher Reverend Robert MacNicol, and Nigel MacIsaac who ran the art department – both were thoughtful and kind but could be brutally honest”. Another chance happening was the realisation that he could create a project for entry to the school’s ‘W J Watson prize for Original Research’, which involved extensive drawings, winning it much to everyone’s surprise aged sixteen, two years earlier than normal.
The images shown in the gallery below are predominantly from the 1960’s and 1970’s, prior to his Film career.
Click on any of the images below to enable a full screen slideshow.
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For those not given an individual entry…
The following is a melange of artistic and photographic images from a variety of RHS-based sources. The images sequenced 4 to 6 are of David Hockney’s celebrating painting ‘George Lawson and Wayne Sleep’ (1972-1975). George Lawson is a former pupil – for an explanation of the Hockney images, click here.
Click on any of the images below to enable a full screen slideshow.
All entries uploaded without copyright permission – no copyright infringement is intended.
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Film Makers
Film Making, unlike Art, was not a frequent hobby in the School until the early 2000’s. Despite this, a few names have emerged for inclusion in this category, a feature which your editors apologise for its somewhat unkempt appearance at the moment.
Nigel McIsaac
Nigel is credited with filming and editing the famous 1951 short film The Singing Street Nigel wasn’t strictly an FP, but teachers are members of the RHS Club ‘ex officio’ while still teaching, and is credited by several Former Pupils as being a major influence in their post-school endeavours
Ian R C Cowie (1972)
Ian was a BBC sound and vision man for thirty years until hanging up his headphones a few years ago and becoming the longest serving RHS Club President since 1949. Ian’s contribution to the Royal High community film output has been substantial. In 2018, he made several films to support the Barnton 50th anniversary, including the sponsored walk to Barnton from the Regent Road campus, and three interviews of famous RHS personalities.
Starting in 2020, he made a series of ‘Covid Schola Regia’ videos, chronicling the experiences of the Rector, School Captain, and other senior pupils during the Covid pandemic. Click any of the following three years to view the videos – 2020 Covid Schola Regia, 2021 Covid Schola Regia 2, 2023 – Covid Schola Regia 2023 Early in 2023, a recording was made of an organ concert played on the recently refurbished school organ. Ian’s co-conspirator on most of these projects has been best boy, key grip and dogsbody Alastair Allanach, who is also occasionally given production credits.
Stewart Mackinnon (1965)
Stewart started out his career as an artist, then started his film career in 1976, and has gone on to script-write, edit, produce and direct a long list of successful films, working on the way with such luminaries as Ridley Scott, Dustin Hoffman and Ralph Fiennes. Click here for an introduction to Stewart’s school, apprentice, journeyman and impresario life. Some of the document refers to Stewart’s offer to the school to provide pupil.mentoring. The slideshow below is a small selection of Stewart’s films.
Click on any of the images below to enable a full screen slideshow.
RHS pupil films
RHS Pupils have been making films for many years, but a school film club-led interest produced some winning performances in the 2000’s and early 2020’s at the Edinburgh Film house. Click here to see the 2008 winners, and click here to see the activity in the school edit suite in action in 2019.
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The Royal High School Club 
