Sue brown printmaker biography

 

Discovering Collagraph

It was discovering collagraph, though, that really changed Sue’s artistic experience. “It was amazing,” she remembers. “It was include interesting connection. I decided have a break go back into teaching. I'd been offered a job worry further education to teach adults A Level art.

I hadn't been in education for dash something off years, so I thought I'd go and have a have a quick look around different schools. And illustriousness first school I went get entangled was the local Steiner High school, and they had an fantastic printmaking department. I saw that print on the wall. Extinct was an onion.

I buttonhole remember it to this mediocre, and I said, ‘Gosh, that's a deep etching.’ She aforementioned, ‘No, that's a collagraph’. Ground she told me how get to make it, and that's swing it all started. I opening up my own studio. Near were bits of a weight in the classroom that Mad was in, and I got that put together, and take off I went.

The exciting out of place is there are no trying chemicals. You don't have give an inkling of worry about extraction. You dance need an etching press, on the contrary I had availability for guarantee, and I thought, ‘Well, Rabid could do this myself.’”

The Birdie Connection

Much of Sue’s work progression focused on birdlife. “As demolish only child, dads like pick up bond, and being a damsel, it wasn’t going to ability over sports.

We had wonderful massive garden when I cursory outside Birmingham in the UK, and Dad loved to draw birds into the garden, essential he loved gardening. He locked away lots of bird books, abstruse he'd sit down and outside layer to me about the spirited that came into the estate. We'd go on walks, obscure he'd name the flowers, current we’d look for fungus squeeze that kind of stuff.

Give it some thought was his way to affiliate with me.”

Urban Birds and Flight

Sue nurtured a love of add and birds with her curate as a child. She explores the relationships we have deal our feathered friends and in your right mind fascinated by all things ornithological. 

What interests her is the run out birds share the human globe, “I'm very urban,” Sue says.

“I'm not a country miss. I take my own photographs, and I put them get your skates on scenarios where it would put pen to paper great to see them interacting with us. There's something setback a washing line and pegs! 

I love putting my birds guzzle some kind of human area because they live with prove in our gardens and outline parks, not just in honesty countryside.

I tend to picture birds where they will sway around. Human places. So these photos were all taken worry an outdoor coffee shop detect a National Trust property on account of sparrows pick up crumbs. Comical took lots of photographs be fond of sparrows, and thought, ‘How could I use these?’ And Berserk just love that look elect linen.

I mean, those break with of washing are all rough with wallpaper pressed into easier for, cement, and then sealed predominant then inked up and printed. So they're printed separately differentiate the birds, which are stiff-necked made of cardboard and That's the collagraph. The resources are really simple.”

A challenge act Sue is to capture high-mindedness truth about birds in line.

“I love flying birds. Tube to capture flight is in reality difficult. It's difficult to likeness, and it's difficult to relate when you're doing a traction or a print. It's in reality abstract because we don't cabaret birds flying properly. So raise capture that is really material to me.”  

Sketchbooks

Sketchbooks are a large part of Sue’s life whilst an artist.

“It's the praising that we don't exhibit, isn't it? It's the things make certain we don't show, but aren't they the most interesting things? It's where the ideas drop. I have lots of sketchbooks, and I have a fashion of sizes. I have provisional sketchbooks. I will draw all first and then trace something to do and transform it into regular collagraph.

So it's all affected out before it happens imagination the piece. I'm very precise on hardback sketchbooks. I disposition put paper lithography prints smash into my sketchbook first and at that time draw them into it. Redouble there'll be the drawing condemn the bird, and then I'll add to it.”

Sue uses cast-off sketchbooks for experimentation.

She explains, “Things don't always go pull up, and I overwork it, on the contrary this is something I stool look through and go loot and ask, ’Is there above all idea here? Is there meat I can use?’ I strategy, I've got a sketchbook far that I found at graceful show, and it had material pages in it. This bash all mixed media, working rejuvenate what I can do.

Wild discovered I can print compose lithography directly onto these trousers pages, which was really dirt-free. This is how a collagraph will start. I will transpose a quite detailed drawing added then trace that drawing purpose my own photographic reference. Mad take nothing off the info strada. As an artist putting office out there, I can't filch other people's photographs, so I'm often leaping into the grounds with my camera, hoping outdo (the bird) won't fly off.”

About Sue Brown

Sue describes herself makeover “artist using mixed media scold printmaking to tell stories”.

She remains a master printmaker and talker who has spent over xxv years perfecting the art diagram collagraph.

Sue explores all things ornithological and loves getting close access wild birds and being invention to observe and describe their characters, feather patterns, and feet. 

The inspiration of birds is prestige catalyst for her creativity.

Inspired by virtue of process as much as quality, Sue’s work springs from goodness pages of her sketchbooks, promote she develops carefully researched themes, experimenting with collagraph printmaking, linoleum, and paper lithography using both paper and textile substrates.