Help preserve our future
West Dean is part of a registered charity and relies on the support of generous donors, friends, legacies to help us deliver world-class education in conservation and the creative arts and maintain our award-winning gardens.
Merlyn Chesterman
Merlyn Chesterman is a woodblock printmaker. She trained in Fine Art at Bath Academy of Art. She has a Dip Ed and has taught at West Dean since 2005. Merlyn has a studio in North Devon, and her woodcuts are exhibited worldwide.
She is a Senior Fellow of the Royal Society of Painter-Printmakers, and in 2014 set up Pine Feroda, a group of 4 printmakers who work collaboratively to produce large-scale woodcuts. Merlyn has recently completed residencies in Hangzhou China, Hong Kong and Sweden, and is co-author of the book 'Making Woodblock Prints', published by Crowood Press.
How would you describe your approach to
teaching?
I encourage play and risk-taking, and at the same time support
individual interests and ways of working. Results are quick,
powerful and often surprising.
What inspires your own work?
My woodcuts are made as a result of a strong emotion I have had in
connection with the natural world. They may be about the wind, the
cold, fear, amazement or delight.