Background
I am a practising graphic designer, with a wide interest in the visual arts. I trained at the University of The Arts, London as a graphic designer in the mid 1980s. Previous work in abstract landscape photography have led to exhibitions in London, East Anglia and East Sussex. I have now been a printmaker for some years, using the collagraph technique as an art form, for visual expression and experimentation.
Printmaking
It all started when I attended a collagraph printmaking day at The Ropewalk Gallery, Barton-upon-Humber, run by Angela Lindsley. The collagraph process and the magic of printmaking made an immediate impression on me. I realised that this was the medium I needed for a new artistic direction, and something that would give me much more creative freedom, compared to the inevitable restrictions of my client-led design work. Since then, I have been given invaluable advice and encouragement by artist Tim Needham at The Ropewalk.
This led me to push the limitations of the collagraph technique and the physical limitations of the printing press. I have also experimented with various ways of making plates: dishcloths, plastic fruit bags, household filler, leaves and twigs, varnishes and plastic washers and layers of card have all been used to create printing plates. On the print side, I have explored the use of metallic inks, large print sizes and embossings.
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