I think being an artist is often something that you are born with! As children my twin sister, Judith Glue and myself were always drawing, painting and making anything from shell ornaments to knitting and sewing for our barbie dolls( we were given two of the very first Barbies from an auntie who lived in Canada!). I always wanted to attend art school and at the age of seventeen I headed off to Gray's School of Art | Academic Schools | RGU in Aberdeen. Sadly in those days of no mobile phones or internet, I felt very lonely in what I thought then was a big city and I returned home after completing my first year but I continued to be creative working at Tankerness house museum amongst other things and exhibiting for the first time in 1977 in a mixed show at Orkney Library & Archive Selling artwork and various crafts became a way of making some extra income and I continued to do this all through my art course at Harrow school of art in London. Although my course had been very varied, working with print making, sculpture and photography, I concentrated on painting and drawing during my final year mainly using watercolours and inks to paint a series of work based around craftspeople at work. Once back in Orkney in 1985 I gained a commision painting six large composite paintings for the then new Highland Park Whisky Distillery · Kirkwall, Orkney The fee from this commission allowed me to fund my new gallery at the back of Judith Glue's shop in Kirkwall(where the cafe is now) and I started to paint mainly watercolour landscapes, seascapes, birds and flowers of Orkney. Around the same time Orkney's tourist industry was growing and this mean't that along with a lot of local support who bought my work, I grew a great customer base to which I could sell my Collections – www.janeglue.com prints , Cards and Gifts – www.janeglue.com and Original watercolour and mixed media artwork by artist Jane Glue – www.janeglue.com
In those days, I would often work on location, taking my watercolour box, pad and sketching school with me to all my favourite landscapes and seascapes in Orkney. I still visit many of the same locations, Birsay, Harray, The Ring of Brodgar and often the outer isles such as Westray to see the puffins and Hoy where my all time favourite place is Rackwick bay. I love all the old cottage ruins along with our seabirds and wildflowers. One of the most important things for me as an artist living in Orkney is the changing light and colours and I try to potray this in my paintings.
Today I work mainly from my studio at Hatston in Kirkwall and visiting all the locations that still inspire me. I never get tired of looking and taking inspiration from my home and discovering new ways of interpreting what I see. I still paint with watercolours, mixing them with collage and other mixed media. These last few years I have been obsessed with birds in all forms and set amongst different landscapes of sea and sky. I still love the colours and light of my home, Orkney. To view all of Jane's artwork visit
Orkney artist Jane Glue prints – www.janeglue.com
To read more about Jane's career go to