Myf we wish you were here!
Over this summer i have re-visited many of the different screen-printing techniques that i have learnt since Diana Milstein first taught me to mono-print in her attic in Bristol when i was 8. Throughout my youth I have dipped in and out of the print-industry and print-study and had times of no-print-at-all as ihave tried to find my place in the world . It had been amazing to have this project as a reason to confirm my print-passion and knowledge. 33 years after first visiting the Dove as an infant, i am finally making and presenting my artwork here and it feels like exactly the right place for me.
Being asked to join in with this years SAW project was a heartwarming confirmation of my official "landing" back in Somerset, and more specifically, Butleigh, after many years out in the wide world searching for.. well something!.
My work is very process-lead in that i set up the image-making techniques that i know and love, and then let loose as i over-print last weeks , or yesterdays work, so a suprise collage effect occurs out of a variety of images that i have carefully chosen. This i feel creates a suitable layering of pictures, a bit like dreams or memories that often mix together in the mind. It is a very prolific approach and a far-cry from the reproductive reason print was invented in the first place as almost all of my work ends up as unique pieces.
My sketchbooks work in a fairly similar way. I always over-work pages and overlay materials and collage as much as possible to gather as much of a "complete" record of my visual experience. The majority of the sketchbook for this project was created within 1 week staying in the Door-house in early spring. It was a magical week when not only was i watching the blossoms and the wildflowers opening infront of my eyes, joking to friends that i'd found the portal to the next dimension of beauty, but i also conceived my first child.!
Thanks to Myfannwy Morris who i only really met a handfull of times, but who clearly lit the fire under the concept of a new generation of artists entering the Dove's Amazing Space.
http://www.misssmithart.co.uk/
http://lauraburke.info/