Printmaking

I have four modalities within printmaking that I practice, these are woodcuts, monoprint/relief, drypoint and mezzotint. Each of these modalities offer different channels of expression around the essential quality that I am communicating.

I particularly enjoy the sculptural process of the woodcut. Woodcut encourages a simplicity of line that I find expressive. Mezzotint takes time and physical exertion; I am still working out the technical processes of it – however the result can be very satisfying, and I particularly like the idea of combining mezzotint with my writing as an equal component. Drypoint can express a line like a drawing and so I feel it works well when it evolves directly from my drawing. I like to combine the drypoint process with monoprint – this can sometimes be challenging as it increases the accidental component of printmaking.

There is time in the field, observing, drawing and note taking in my journal that is the springboard for my printmaking practice. In the studio it’s a time of thinking, looking and designing. I particularly love it if I can convey in my drawing some wild essence and I know if I can get that in the beginning it will be somehow present through all the permutations of the print making process. It is also at the early stages of visioning the artwork that I get a feel of what modality best communicates that essence.

Place is very important in my art, and not only is it conveyed through the work, but it is also important for me the position of my studio in my garden.  I do my printmaking in the print studio of the Red Shed, Palm Beach Waiheke Island.

Drawing

I am interested in expressing through my art the intangible essence within the natural world. I journal consistently, sketches of landscapes, birds, plants – the notebook is both an exploration of how I see and a journalistic tendency to write down impressions. It is the way I attend to the world around me. Drawing is an act of attendance, an act of love. I am compelled to sit and gaze and give time to what I see and to allow space to grow within me.

journals

I often create my journals and collage the covers with my printmaking. I like to carry them everywhere, a drawing, a small attendance to everyday.

Place

Every drawing is also about place for me.
This drawing of tātarāmoa was done at Whakapapa, Tongariro national park.
I remember the time of sitting and attendance, the whiteheads moving through the tops of the trees, the sound of Whakapapaiti stream.

drawings inform my art practice

Sometimes I work my drawings into my printmaking - particularly drypoint etchings. Sometimes its the memory of the act of the drawing that informs my printmaking. This drawing is at Te Toki reserve on Waiheke Island - they are shelve fungi on a dying taraire. What I didn’t capture in the moment was the drifts of steam rising up from the fungi in the early morning light. This may come later, through memory, a layer perhaps through relief/monoprint.