Media and methods
"Because I like the freedom to play around with ideas in my work, I don't limit myself
to any set method or medium. I prefer to search for interesting objects or documents
which also have a personal resonance and use these to stimulate my own memories,
feelings and imagination.
"Over recent years I have been working on a series of prints, paintings
and three dimensional works that sprang from the chance finding of a pair of old
gloves and a wartime glove pattern that belonged to my mother. Not only was this
a very personal area to be working in but it also had cultural and historical aspects
that I found interesting. Over the generations each individual's search for cultural
identity is nearly always expressed in some form of textile clothing which has been
stitched together by hand or machine. Therefore the stitch, either actual or
represented in print or paint, is an element that appears in my work again and again."
"My primary method of printmaking is lithography. I generally use aluminium
photo-lithographic plates on an offset press. Some of my earlier work was produced
using zinc plates on a direct litho-press.
"Lithography is a 'planographic' process. This means that the surface of the plate
is flat, neither raised nor depressed. The process relies on the simple premise
that oil and water do not mix. The image is either created on the plate photographically
or it can be drawn. In photo-lithography an aluminium plate coated in light sensitive
emulsion is exposed to ultra violet light via a special light box and then it is
developed using developing fluid. Zinc plates or lithographic stones can be drawn
onto directly using a greasy, oily crayon and then processed. In both cases the
image made will pick up oil-based ink when it is rolled onto the plate/stone and,
so long as the plate is kept damp at all times while rolling up, the clear areas
should remain free of ink. Once the plate or stone is completely dry it is ready
for printing using either a direct or offset press.
"Many layers of colour and images
can be built up by using a different plate for each layer. In my case I like to
experiment by using different images and methods of making the images within the
context of one print. I print onto good quality rag-based paper or sometimes onto
fabric, as in the 'Gloved Hands' piece.
"I paint mainly in oils or acrylics on canvas. Most of my 3-D work involves the
use of sewn or filled fabrics and I like to incorporate printed images onto the
fabric wherever I feel they are appropriate."