Greenwich Printmakers

THE DUTCH DODO is a new print my Tammy Mackay. This dodo is drawn from a model made by taxidermist Jan Hakhof for an exhibition in Amsterdam, and is consider one of the most credible dodo models worldwide. 

Ann Burnham’s new monoprint is inspired by a walk on the Devon coastal path. Each colour has been rolled onto a perspex plate, wiped away in places and passed through the etching press.

Christina France

Lost in Low Cloud, referring to an entry in my father’s RAF pilot’s log book, forms one of an ongoing series of drawings and prints responding to my father’s experience as a young pilot flying Typhoons as part of the second tactical force at the end of WW2. The larger body of work entitled ‘Ghostlines’ broadly explores notions of repetition, sequence and chance within the narrative of D Day and the Liberation. Underlying imagery is from aerial photographs of airfields unnoticeable at ground level.

In making this work I have tried to capture the ethereal nature of the skies as I became interested in the significant part conditions played in the outcomes of many of the events recorded in the sparse, sometimes poetic lines of the log book.

These are two new small lino cuts in Elaine Marshall’s ‘Running mummies in the Park” series.

‘Making Lemonade’ - a stylised still-life by Diana Croft will featured in our new 2019 calendar (coming soon!). 

Deco Hotel, Galle

Linocut, 372 x 560 mm

Built sometime in the 1930's, the Deco Hotel in Galle, Sri Lanka, is the building depicted in this beautiful two-plate linocut by Peter Luty.

When printing this lino, the first plate prints the orange and green colours, the second plate prints the black.

Built originally as the home of a wealthy gem merchant, this building in the Old Dutch Fort, Galle is an amazing example of the Art Deco style. The building, very different from any of the Dutch colonial style buildings that surround it, looks as startling now as it must have when first constructed.

The Old Dutch Fort in Galle was first built by the Portuguese in 1588 but subsequently heavily fortified by the Dutch in the 17th. C. The British took over in 1796 and remained until independence in 1948.

Unlike the rest of Galle which was devasted by the tsunami of 2004, the walls of the fort kept out the worst of the floods though some buildings were affected.

The architectural style of the fort is an eclectic mix of Portuguese, Dutch, Sri Lankan & modern. The merchant’s house in Lighthouse Street is, perhaps, the only Art Deco building there. The building is now a hotel.

Sue Rowling is our Artist in Focus from the 6th - 26th August.

Sue is a Painter and Printmaker who originally trained as a textile designer and worked in the fashion industry as a designer and colour consultant.

Her prints are colourful spontaneous painterly “one offs” which are then built up in layers by hand. Using a blank silkscreen to create a flat image she then works into each print while wet, by drawing into it, scraping or wiping away areas and manipulating the imagery until the required effect is achieved. Sometimes areas will be blocked out or overprinted. It is this freedom of mark making and colour blending that inspires all her work.  Each piece is unique and in many ways more of a painting than a print.

“Reedbeds Evening ll” Unique Drypoint & Monoprint by Angela Brookes

“Having worked with clay for most of my professional life, I now find my printmaking work is foremost in my practice.   My interest centres mostly on the natural world.  I frequently visit the coasts of Norfolk and Suffolk and am drawn to the vast and unpopulated open spaces and huge skies, so typical of this area.  I work ‘en plein air’ in the fields and on the marshes working first in pastel, simply sketching and observing.  These drawings are an emotional response to the subject and feed both my printmaking and my imagination.   My prints explore the glory and the mystery of the landscape both rural and urban. I enjoy depicting the ever changing effects of light and colour at different times of the day and as the seasons roll through the year.  I love the reversal of all the tonal qualities of the landscape after snow has fallen, and the effect of the evening light, in all seasons, has a particular resonance for me.”

“La Luz lV” Unique etching & monoprint

“Spring Tide" Unique Drypoint & monoprint 

LAURA REITER

Laura Reiter is a painter and printmaker working from her studio in North West London.  

Laura works mainly as a screen printer.   She will often add elements of mixed media to her work.   Now, she is beginning to experiment with block printing (lino). She often, also, makes monoprints which feel close to her practise as a mixed media painter. As well as painting and printing she teaches in a number of situations and locations.  She has exhibited both here and abroad and has won a number of prizes for her work.  

One of the most important activities when making her prints is the element of transparency of colours.  She builds up prints with multi layers of colour which in turn produce other colours.   She loves to play with the interaction of both colour and shapes on the surface of her work.    

Sometimes motifs are quite abstract but more and more she is placing recognisable shapes such as natural form, objects and buildings into them.  She often uses photos from her travels both in the UK and abroad picking up on the particular nature of the things she has seen in places such as India, Nepal, Morocco and Iceland.  

Michael Reid is our current Featured Artist in the Gallery.

These are Diana Croft’s two linocuts that are in the gallery.

‘Going Up’ inspired by her local scenery of Box Hill and the Surrey Hills a favourite destination for numerous cyclists ever since it featured in the Olympics.

Sandra’s work is usually about people, animals and birds creep in at times too. She is a veteran people watcher. As she says “It’s great being able to sit quietly on a train observing people and scribble away!”   And “Overground to Canada Water” is perfect evidence of her people watching skills.

Her work celebrates people ..life...joys...and moments of drama.