The painter, printmaker and co-founder of St Jude’s prints reveals to NATALIE MILNER how nature’s understated beauty inspires her art
I took sculpture at Central School of Art and Design, but when I went into the print studios I decided that was what I was more suited to. The print rooms at central’s old Southampton Row building were beautiful.
How did you develop your style?
I have always had a graphic way of drawing and working with line. I like to create a hard-edged, linear quality. Being able to draw is a two-way thing in that it helps you to become a printmaker – certainly with relief printmaking and making stencils for screen – but then, in turn, it influences the way you interpret the world around you.
What draws you to linocut and wood engraving?
There’s something about relief printing that I love. It is a satisfying process. The tools and the Japanese papers I print on feel so beautiful to use. You draw the image on the block, cut it, ink it and print. It’s this transformation I enjoy. When I’m doing lots of watercolour, I look forward to printmaking. I like to move between the processes.
Your work focuses on native British plants, often weeds. What attracts you to this subject?
This story is from the July 2018 edition of Artists & Illustrators.
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This story is from the July 2018 edition of Artists & Illustrators.
Start your 7-day Magzter GOLD free trial to access thousands of curated premium stories, and 8,500+ magazines and newspapers.
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