Preparing For Two Summer Exhibitions

Being a professional artist is challenging!

You might think I spend all my time in the studio making prints, but that's not the case.

Artists trying to earn a steady income must balance time spent creating with time on social media, managing a website, communicating with galleries, and handling admin tasks. All of this is essential to attract and maintain customers. While I love my work, it can be frustrating to find time just to create.

However … I have managed to get some time in the studio recently to begin a new body of work. I have two exhibitions coming up this summer. I will be exhibiting at the new Eastgate Studios and Gallery, Beverley, East Yorkshire from the 2nd July to 13th August and at the Cambridge Contemporary Art Gallery also from the 2nd July until 4th September.

So here is a sneak peek at some of the work I’ve started.

New print from a recycled collagraph plate - a small insight into parts of the process

A collagraph plate - recycled. A small flying curlew plate sits on top.

Stone work detail - a variety of wallpapers and tissue to create different textures

Plates inked up and ready to print the first print proof.

Once the collagraph plate was made and a guide created I am then able to begin printing the monotype layers that form the background to each print.

The first print proof - adjustment required to the stonework.

I used plant material in some of the subsequent prints and none in others.

I started this project by recycling an old collagraph plate of a moonlit landscape with a curlew on a fence post, where you can still see parts of the curlew. I added a stone wall, the sea, and a headland using a separate plate of a curlew in flight. Sometimes, I use one small extra plate, like the flying curlew, with the main collagraph plate, but I might use more depending on the design I want. I have a small collection of curlews and herons ready to use, and I’ll add other British coastal birds later.

New print from a new collagraph plate

Preparatory drawing of the collagraph plate

The next couple of images are from a brand new plate I’ve made. I’m not entirely happy with it. I wouldn’t normally let you see this but I’m adding it in so you can see that from time to time, things don’t work out the way I’d like and I have to return to the drawing board. The ideas I had on the way I wanted to print the foreground just didn’t work out the way I envisaged so I have to have a rethink. I may have to start again - watch this space.

Revisiting an Old Plate I Haven’t Printed in a While

I've gone back to an old plate called ‘Lone Tree Under A Starry Sky.’ This time, I used two very different colour schemes. For the first print, I chose bright colours like warm yellows, hot pinks, purples, and deep blues. The ink application is looser and more painterly, creating a dramatic look that highlights the texture of the collagraph plate.

For the second print, I toned down the colours to lighter, more see-through versions, adding a soft wintery grey instead of deep blues. This gives a feeling of winter light in the early morning.

If this is your first visit and you want to see how my work progresses, please join my mailing list for updates!