Inside & Out: The Art of Christian Small

by Gerda Stevenson (Editor)

Christian Small lived and painted in the Scottish Border village of West Linton for over 60 years. She immersed herself in her art, creating a huge body of work - from domestic objects to the local landscape of the Peatland Hills.

This beautiful volume includes a biographical introduction by writer Gerda Stevenson (a close friend of the artist's daughter), and photos of Christian and her family from different periods of her long life. Woven in and out of the paintings are poems by Gerda, and Christian's thoughts in prose as imagined with poignant eloquence by her daughter Jenny Alldridge.

108 pages, Paperback

First published March 1, 2019

About the author

Gerda Stevenson is a Scottish actress, director and writer, described by The Scotsman in 1999 as 'Scotland's finest actress'. She has played a vast range of parts in the theatre, including both Desdemona and Lady MacBeth, and has appeared in many television dramas. She was Murren's mother in the Mel Gibson film Braveheart, and her voice is familiar to listeners of British radio, as a reader of short stories and adaptations. As a writer she has adapted a number of works for radio, most recently The Heart of Midlothian by Sir Walter Scott for BBC Radio 4, nominated for a Sony Award in 2008. Gerda played the part of the heroine Jeanie Deans. Gerda Stevenson's partner was the Scottish Gaelic poet Aonghas MacNeacail and she has published poetry and stories herself.

Her father is the musician and composer Ronald Stevenson. Her sister Savourna Stevenson (born 1961) has recorded many works on the Scottish harp.