Friday 26 July 2013

Meet the Printmaker - Kerry Day


Kerry is on the admin team behind The Print Shop, so has been doing lots of behind the scenes work in getting the shop up and running. Here she gives us a really nice insight into her work and generally what makes her tick...

Please can you introduce yourself and tell us a little about your work...
What sort of prints do you make?
I’m a full time artist who also teaches every now and again.

Are you solely a printmaker or do you work in any other creative fields?
I consider myself a mixed media artist. I paint in oils and acrylics: draw and more recently I began Pollyarts. In 2011 I had just finished my MA in Printmaking (UWE) and I just needed to take a break from any art for a while. So I began knitting, starting with a few items for myself, I find it a very relaxing thing to do. This led to seeing if anyone would buy my creations and found they did. Today Pollyarts has knitted phone pouches, hats, jewellery, and screen printed bags and tea towels, which you will find in the shop.


What inspires you and are there any themes or ideas that often run through your work?
With my fine art prints I’m interested in capturing movement in the human figure. I regularly attend a Life Drawing with Movement class at The Bristol Drawing School where the model will pose in dynamic sequenced poses from 10 seconds to 2 minutes at a time. Other times they will move or dance along to music. This is a very expressive and freeing way of drawing. I’m also inspired by the 19th Century photographer Eadweard Muybridge who was best known for his pioneering work in photographic studies of animal and human motion.





Could you give us an insight into where you work – your studio/workspace and
where you print?
I do all my printing at Spike Print Studio at Spike Island and I have a studio in Hamilton House for my painting and preparation work.



Can you share a little printing trick or secret with us?
If you find your screen printing ink is getting a bit thick and you have no time to mix a new batch just add a tiny bit of washing up liquid and a dribble of hot water, mix well and that should loosen it up enough to finish the print job, then I suggest you bin it and mix a new lot up.

How would you like to develop your printmaking skills in the future?
I mainly use screen printing and would like to try some etching again at some point, especially dry point.



Which printed publication do you most look forward to thumbing through?
This is going to make me sound ancient but I do like to flick through Simply Knitting and say to myself “one day I will knit myself that”. I imagine myself as an old lady head to toe in knitwear with bright red hair ☺ 

Monochrome or multi-coloured?
Both. I would say the majority of my work is multi coloured but occasionally I think it’s really nice just to use one colour.

Thanks Kerry, I like your handy hint on the washing up liquid/hot water trick there, thanks for sharing!

In addition to having her prints and screen printed products on show, Kerry will also be running a workshop at The Print Shop... 'Intro to Linocut' will introduce you to the art of relief printing, and is suitable for beginners. To find out more, click here


The Print Shop
Unit 6
Quakers Friars
Cabot Circus
Bristol
BS1 3BU

Open Daily
Mon - Sat 10am - 6pm
Sun 11am - 5pm



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