Brenda was based in London for many years and is a member of the Royal Society of Painter Printmakers.
She showed regularly at the Bankside Gallery. In the 1980s she re-built a village house and studio in Andalusia, producing art works inspired by sun and shadow in Spain. She moved to Sussex in 2004 where she paints and prints in her ancient Oast House. Her speciality is collagraph and etching, and more recently embossed paintings. Brenda published a book Collagraph and Mixed-media Printmaking in 2005, and later a DVD Collagraph, a Sculptural Approach to Printmaking, soon to be published as a series of short films on YouTube.
In her early years, Brenda produced detailed figurative etchings of Londoners London; gritty architecture, trains and life in inner London. Today her inspiration is more abstract; natural growth mineral forms and erosion and she uses gold & silver leaf in her unique richly textured, glowing original and limited edition art works.
ARTIST STATEMENT
My recent images are loosely abstract, rooted in the landscape, and I have a fascination with patterns of growth, and the structure and erosion of the land. I love exploring parallels between the forces of nature: cloud formations, water/river flowing patterns , dramatic eruptions and earth movements. I am interested in how man attempts to tame nature, imposing his own order and structured lines, on the landscape.
I love the strong light and shadow of Southern Europe, and New Zealand, and my early experience in Theatre design has led me to interpret the landscape as though lit by various intense coloured lights.
While essentially a mixed-media artist and printmaker, I have recently become interested in using watercolour in combination with, my printmaking skills. In my recent series of unique abstract works, the watercolour element has taken over from the embossing collagraph, which I use as a dynamic ground on which to build my image. When embossed, my heavy 600 gms hand-made paper produces a wide range of undulating surfaces which allows the colour to pool and flood in interesting and different ways, creating depth and texture to enrich the painting.
While essentially a mixed-media artist and printmaker, recently I am recently using watercolour in combination with my printmaking skills. In my new series of unique abstract works, the watercolour element has taken over from the embossing collagraph, which I use as a dynamic ground for my image. When embossed, my heavy hand-made paper produces a wide range of undulating surfaces, which allows the colour to pool and flood in interesting and different ways, creating depth and texture to enrich the painting.
Brenda’s Mediums
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Embossed watercolours utilise specialist print papers and existing plates as their starting point.
Watercolours, gauche, pen, acrylic inks, wax pencils and gilding wax are then applied in response to the texture to enhance the marks and create unique works.
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Brenda has started using cold wax as a finish to her embossed watercolours, to replace the need for glazing.
The finish adds a soft sheen to the work that enhances the textural elements in the paintings
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Existing artworks are utilised to develop new collaged work.
The textures Brenda creates in her printed artworks lends themselves beautifully to this method; creating new spatially complex and exciting unique works.
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Collagraph plates are created from a wide range of found objects and materials, including both natural and manmade.
The resulting plates are then inked up in Brendas unique method.
The method is technically complex and often feels like a journey into the unknown.
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Collaged etching is an extension of etching using smaller plates, which allows more freedom and the opportunity to achieve a greater range of textures.
Brenda’s experimentation with this method led her to creating her unique collagraph approach.
