Artist-Printmaker
What do you consider your biggest achievement to date?
I can now call myself an artist-printmaker. I am a member of Southbank printmakers and regularly sell my screenprints and etchings through their gallery in Gabriel’s Wharf on the Southbank in London as well as at other exhibitions. But I am most proud that I have developed a style and method of working which is uniquely mine.
Talk us through your career path since graduating.
At West Dean, I had become interested in printmaking. I first started with linoprints, inspired by Dale Devereux Barker. But the final module I took on the Foundation Diploma in Art and Design (FDAD) was one of Jane Sampson’s silk-screen courses. I was hooked, found a print studio locally, at Putney School of Art and Design, and have not looked back. That was in 2014. I have since started producing etchings as well as screenprints.
On completing the FDAD, I linked up with four other alumni and together we put on the first ‘student’ exhibition in the West Dean College lobby area. On the back of this, we organised an exhibition at the Oxmarket Gallery in Chichester. I learned so much from that about planning, organising and hanging an exhibition plus I sold some prints.
For a few years, I continued developing my work, exhibiting and selling it locally. Then in 2018, I joined Southbank Printmakers which is a co-operative of 40 artist-printmakers with a permanent gallery at Gabriel’s Wharf on London’s Southbank. We take it in turns to open the Gallery so I have had to hone my selling skills as well as getting to grips with the card machine. I helped organise an exhibition for the group in the Fountain Gallery in Hampton Court last summer.
What projects are you currently working on?
I am currently preparing work for an exhibition with Southbank Printmakers at the Oxo Tower in London. We open on the 14th December. I hope to be exhibiting with two fellow printmakers in the spring at Sprout Arts in Tooting and I am planning an exhibition in St Antonin, a village in the Tarn-et-Garonne in France, in August.
Do you have any tips for recent graduates?
It is about finding a balance between making the work that you want to make and doing what you need to do to get it out into the world. If you just do work that you think will sell, it can lack a certain spark. But if you do want to sell, you have to be professional about it – stick to deadlines, present your work well and network with other artists.
How do you think studying at West Dean College prepared you for what you do now?
I learned a lot from West Dean but, in particular, I learned to take myself seriously as an artist.
What's your favourite memory from your time at the College?
My favourite memory is of queuing up to print on the wonderful Albion press. It produces a wonderful clear, print and gives you a good workout at the same time. No need to go to the gym!
Read more about the FDAD (Foundation Diploma in Art and Design)
