I'm delighted to have sold these two monotypes in my studio today!

They are my latest work and it's pleasing to discover that the change of colour palette has appealed to visitors to my Open Studio event.

I am sharing my studio in Plymouth with my friend and talented landscape painter Anne Blackwell-Fox. Anne's beautiful work often focusses on the coast and countryside in Cornwall and she exhibits regularly in the Elaine Foster-Gandey Gallery in Lostwithiel.

The studio at 15 Rospeath Crescent, Plymouth PL2 3SY will be open every day until Sunday 6th September, 11am - 5pm. Look out for the bight green signs or the brochures in local venues.

There is a steep driveway and a couple of steps but everyone is welcome.

Sacred Spaces 1

Monotype and Pencil Drawing

Sacred Spaces 2

Monotype and Pencil Drawing

Hummingbird

I mostly make monotype prints on my printing press, but occasionally I dip into another process.

A couple of weeks ago, I decided to make some new drypoint etchings from a drawing of a Hummingbird. 

Drypoint etching uses a different process to metal plate etching, where acid is required to etch the drawn lines on the plate and create the grooves to receive the ink. 

The plate for a drypoint can be made from perspex, drypoint card or Tetra Pak card. An etching needle is used to draw the image into the surface of the plate, creating the groove in which to push the ink. The surface of this type of plate is soft and the etched line will have a burr on it, creating a softer feel to the printed image.

The ink is pushed into the plate using a piece of card as a spatula. Then the plate is then wiped, revealing the inky etched lines of the drawing. I like to leave some ink around the image to create texture or tone. Careful wiping on a specific area can create a highlight.

The drypoint plate will wear out much more quickly than a metal etching plate, so it may be possible to only make 5-10 prints.

Hummingbird is a varied edition of six prints.

'Hummingbird' VE1

Drypoint etching

14.8 x 12cm

£10 unmounted & unframed

Open Studios

I will be taking part in an Open Studios event organised by the Drawn to the Valley Artists Group this year. Over thirty artists will be taking part across the Tamar Valley region, including seven in the Plymouth area.

My studio, at my home in Plymouth, will be open to the public everyday from 29th August to 6th September.

I will be joined by my friend and talented artist, Anne Blackwell-Fox, whose paintings and prints of landscapes and trees work especially well with my printmaking.

On display in the studio will be original framed and unframed artwork and cards, and there will be an opportunity for visitors to make their own print on my beautiful Gunning printing press.

Anne and I will be happy to chat about our processes and inspiration, especially living on the border of Devon and Cornwall, with the coast, countryside and moors to explore.

Look out for the bright green brochures for more details of all the studios to visit.

Studio at 15 Rospeath Crescent, Plymouth PL2 3SY

Open Saturday 29th August - Sunday 6th September

11-5pm everyday, plus late opening on Thursday 3rd Sept til 6.30pm.

Sacred Spaces 2

This is the second version of the paler, atmospheric print 'Sacred Spaces.

I have drawn this specific tree a few times, as I'm particularly attracted to its curving, intertwined branches. The tree is located in the Dartmoor National Park, between Kings Tor and Ingra Tor.

The drawing has been worked in pencil with a small amount of ink pen to highlight certain areas.

Sacred Spaces 2

Monotype and pencil drawing

£225

'26 Art Exhibition

I'm delighted to be invited to join the Kelly Bray Printmakers for their annual Art Exhibition this year.

The show will feature the work of local artists and printmakers who meet regularly in print studios in Kelly Bray, Cornwall.

Saltash Railway Station will host the collective's vibrant display in its beautiful redeveloped space in Isambard House, Saltash.

The exhibition runs from Wednesday 12th August to Sunday 16th August.

 

Sacred Spaces

Many of my monotype prints have a dark atmospheric feel to them, using my favourite colour palette of sepia, white and yellow ochre.

I decided to try another variation on an ethereal landscape with lighter shades, still including sepia and yellow ochre, but with lots more white.

The paler colours allowed the image of the tree to be drawn in pencil rather than ink pen, adding a ghostly light and a sense of a sacred place.

Dartmoor's mists can give an otherworldly feel to the moorland landscape, offering a reminder of a time long ago when worship and folklore merged amongst the stones, trees and heather.

Sacred Spaces 1

Monotype and pencil drawing 43 x 38 cm

£225 framed

Urban Tree Festival, Plymouth

The Urban Tree Festival has been running in Plymouth for four years, focussing on trees and nature within the city.

There are many activities, talks and walks to attend through the week long festival and it has become more popular every year.

The Almanac Cafe in Plymouth, is hosting a tree exhibition, which I am delighted to take part in. Two of my tree drawings will be on display and I will be there on Thursday 14th May and Friday 15th May to steward and demonstrate my drawing.  

The Urban Tree Festival Exhibition

Almanac Cafe, Plymouth

The Lucombe Oak 

Pencil on paper

Oak Tree 

Pencil on paper

Yew Tree Drawing

Pounds House in Plymouth has parkland that is well worth a visit for mature specimens of interesting trees.

This beautiful yew tree stands near the park side of the house. The branches hang typically low, so it is possible to crouch under them. I took a few photographs, finally deciding on this image to draw in my studio.

The drawing is worked in pencil on smooth surface, heavy weight cartridge paper.

Yew Tree, Pounds Park Plymouth

Pencil on paper 51 x 38cm

£340 unframed

Spring Exhibition

I'm delighted to be exhibiting with the Drawn to the Valley Artist's Group at their Spring Exhibition in Plymouth this year.

I will be showing several of my monotypes and drawings as framed and browser pieces, as well as four minis and cards.

Over twenty artists are taking part, with a range of work including painting, printmaking, textiles, jewellery and ceramics.

The exhibition is taking place at Hyde Park Social Club on Saturday 2nd, Sunday 3rd and Monday 4th May. 

 

    

Passages of Time

These three monotypes demonstrate a change of background colour. Instead of using a mixed palette of colours and blending the them on the printing plate, I have chosen to mix Prussian blue with a little black and green to make a teal colour. I think the teal works really well on its own to describe the Dartmoor landscape.

The ink drawn trees featured in these landscapes are all from the Foggintor Quarry area. I worked from photos and sketches made during a drawing session lead by Maria Floyd of The Dartmoor Collective.

'Passages of Time' 1

Monotype and Ink Drawing 43 x 38cm

£225 framed

'Passages of Time' 2

Monotype and Ink Drawing 28 x 23cm

£175 unframed

'Passages of Time' 3

Monotype and Ink Drawing 28 x 23cm

£175 unframed

Peirson and Peirson Gallery

I am delighted that 'Communion' 1 has been selected to be exhibited in the Peirson and Peirson Contemporary Art Prize and Exhibition, here in Plymouth.

The exhibition will show a wide variety of art themes and processes in the Peirson & Peirson Gallery (formerly ArtMill) in Hyde Park Plymouth. The exhibition will take place from 13th-17th June 2026.

'Communion' 1

Monotype and drawing

Communion 1

Leading on from ‘Gathering’, I have noticed that two or three trees appear to be in a fellowship with each other: a communion of interconnectedness and unity.

These are from the Norsworthy end of Burrator Reservoir.

'Communion' 1

Monotype and drawing 29 x 23cm

£225 framed

Gathering 1

I have been looking at small groups of trees, particularly those that give a sense of separateness from the rest of the forest, or clusters that can be singled out from the rest of the landscape; 

trees that are gathering.

'Gathering' 1

Monotype and drawing 29 x 23cm

£215 framed

Spirit of Winter 1

This tree, near Northsworthy Bridge on Dartmoor, seems to be the epitome of the bleakness of winter, as it leans over, blown by cold winds against a colder sky.

'Spirit of Winter' 1

Monotype and drawing 29 x 23cm

£215 framed

Spirit of the Woods

Burrator Reservoir and the surrounding forests are a great source of inspiration for me. I regularly visit when the sun is low in winter, or the area is heavily misted. I’m particularly drawn to these quiet, atmospheric scenes and take photographs to use for my drawings.

'Spirit of the Woods' 3

Monotype and Drawing 28 x 28cm

£85 framed

'Spirit of the Woods' 3

Monotype and drawing 14 x 14cm

£65 unframed

'Spirit of the Woods' 5

Monotype and drawing 14 x 14cm

£65 unframed

'Spirit of the Woods' 1 & 2 SOLD

A Higher Place

Another beautifully rounded oak tree from the edge of Dartmoor, which fitted into the square frame perfectly! I spotted this tree near Yelverton on Dartmoor.

'A Higher Place' 1

Monotype and drawing 28 x 28cm

£85 framed

Spirit 1

I attended a monotype workshop led by the talented Gemma Gunning from Bristol and enjoyed experimenting with single colour printing and using different textural techniques. It was a great opportunity to loosen up the creative process and gave me ideas for future work. Spirit is one of many prints that I made that day.

'Spirit' 1

Monotype 34 x 28cm

£65 framed

Log Print from the Lucombe Oak

Sadly in July 2024 I heard that the beautiful Lucombe Oak in Widey Woods had succumbed to high winds and the tree fell. The hollow base of the trunk could not support the tall structure of the tree and it crashed across the top path in the woods. It was such a sad sight to see, not just because of its age and stature, but because it was known locally to many as the tall tree with amazing twisted branches.

I took several photos of this fallen giant, which I hope to document in the future with drawings and prints. The local authority had cut a couple of fallen branches to allow for access, and I brought a small log home to make prints.

'Log Print from the Lucombe Oak', Plymouth

Ink on paper 22 x 22cm

NFS

Hawthorn near Kings Tor

Having enjoyed making the print and drawing from ‘This Leafless World 1’, I decided to capture the twisted hawthorn as a larger drawing in pencil.

'Hawthorn near Kings Tor', Dartmoor National Park, Devon

Pencil on paper 41 x 30cm

£305 unframed

This Leafless World 2

I’ve taken many photographs of trees in and around the Dartmoor National Park, and the four I chose for these prints have been recent favourites. When I take the photographs, I begin to think about the textures, colours and style that I want to create for the monotype background. For these prints, I wanted a sense of a lone tree, perhaps the last one in existence, echoing the environmental concerns around loss of local trees and wider deforestation.

'This Leafless World' 2

Monotype and drawing 48.5 43cm

£215 framed

'This Leafless World' 1, 3 & 4 SOLD