Eastern Approaches by Joyce Cairns (b.1947) is a portrait depicting two figures and a bird with red eyes in the foreground, with dual perspective in the background of a boat, house, and lighthouse within a harbour. The two figures share the same serious expressions, but differ in their clothing. The left figure, possibly a woman, bears a leopard print hat with a black, textured shirtcoat. The right figure is dressed as a mariner with the cap reading 'Kriegsmarine', which was the naval warfare branch of Nazi Germany from 1935 until 1945, and is likely present due to Cairns being influenced by German painters from the interwar years. The boat behind the mariner further emphasizes the figure's career, a focus of much of Cairns work during the time period this work was produced. Cairns employing figurative expressionism in the way the figures are abstracted creates a depth to the work that draws the attention to their physical makeup and expressions rather than portraying direct action. 

Joyce W Cairns PRSA,DEd,HRA,HRHA,HRWA,HRBA,RSW,MA(RCA), born 1947

Born in Edinburgh, Cairns studied at Gray's School of Art in Aberdeen from 1966 to 1970. In 1971 she went to London to complete her Master's degree at the Royal College of Art, and obtained her art-teaching qualification from Goldsmiths College, University of London, in 1976. Cairns is a painter of Scottish scenes and portraits in densely packed autobiographical works. During the 1970s she painted many mythological themes, often treating them in a pseudo-religious manner using the format of altarpieces. She has been influenced by German painters of the interwar years, including Beckmann, Dix and Grosz. On returning to live in the north-east of Scotland in 1976 she began to paint the life and work of her community. For the past twenty years she has lived in the village of Footdee, at the mouth of Aberdeen Harbour. Her pictures give glimpses of harbour and are people with sailors and characters from her life. Cairns was elected President of the Royal Scottish Academy in 2018.