Artist profile

Barbara Rae RA studied at Edinburgh College of Art from 1961 to 1965. After graduating, Rae was awarded a travel scholarship, taking her to work in France and Spain in 1966. Her travels provide her with an endless source of inspiration - she continues to work in Spain and often works on the west coast of Scotland, in Ireland, and recently travelled to the Arctic in the footsteps of Dr John Rae.

Rae was elected President of the Society of Scottish Artists in 1983. She was made a Member of the Royal Scottish Academy in 1992 and a Royal Academician in 1996. She has been a Member of the Royal Fine Art Commission for Scotland since 1995 and was a Member of the Board of the British School at Rome in 1998. In 1999 she was awarded a CBE and received an Honorary Doctorate from Napier University, Edinburgh. Rae lives and works in Edinburgh.

Rae has collaborated with the RA on a number of projects; she curated the Art Sales exhibition Between the Land and the Sea, and has also developed a range of unique ceramics and exquisite jewellery pieces.

Photo: © Royal Academy of Arts