An Introduction

Hi, let me introduce myself, my name is Emma and I have just been appointed artist in residence at the Ochre Print Studios in Guildford.  http://www.ochreprintstudio.co.uk/ This blog will follow the work I am doing in the studio and maybe some other artistic ideas that may come and go over time. 

I graduated with a BA in Fine Art from the University for the Creative Arts in Farnham last summer.  It only took me eight years, which may seem rather a long time, however I took the five year part time course and half way through my husband got a job in India so I had to take a bit of a break then.

India was a fascinating experience with so many cultural treasures to explore.  The time away also allowed me to reflect, refocus and come back to the course with a clearer objective of where I wanted to head.  My main interests have always been in visual perception, with artists like Victor Vasarely and Bridget Riley my childhood favourites, but I was keen to explore more fluid ways to challenge our perception.

Let go and embrace all that can be.    76 x 56 cm  Ink drawing

In my final year at Farnham this lead to a series of black and white ink drawings of unusual forms that often seem to undulate and which people see many different things within.  For me they are not objects but meditations, the drawings grew as I made them but I could never be sure how they would finish.  Each one was a journey in itself.

Growth is magical, celebrate it.  76 x 56 cm  Ink drawing

Throughout my time at Farnham I was always a keen printer learning a wide range of intaglio and relief techniques.  Last Autumn I decided to learn screen printing as it offered new ways to explore the drawings further.  So I took the introductory course with Julie and Annee and have been getting to grips with the techniques.  

I am delighted now to have the chance with the residency to be able to spend more time in the studio and hope to experiment more with the screen printing and start introducing more colour to my work, but also to return to some intaglio and relief work as well.  So the next few months will be a time of trial and error testing out ideas and techniques in the studio while working on some more drawing ideas at home to translate to print.  Exciting times are ahead.

 

Waiting with yellow.   50 x 30 cm Screen print