I am currently exploring expressing landscape through colour and shape, composition and space. I live in a town, my street on the edge of both great industrial heritage and the quiet countryside. As someone from The Black Country, having lived in towns and villages, I belong in the tradition of grafting with your hands, but also desire to blend into the fields, both elemental experiences, both part of me, where one begins and another ends is an unknown, maybe fluid, boundary.
This work in development is a response to the environment and mindfulness, and the freedom of only printing a handful of pieces, directly responding to drawing en plein air, in all weathers. It creates its own rhythm- slow observation, fast drawing, slow cutting, fast printing.
Messy and imperfect, 'flash landscapes', capturing the observed on the same day, created as soon as I arrive back at the studio, push me to explore new ways of working, the edges of the prints themselves not defined, and I'm excited to see where they might take me next as I press on to further abstract the landscape.
FAQs
Which Art Markets will you be at this year?
Selly Manor, Bournville, Sat 30th November 2024
Moor Pool Hall, Harborne, Sun 1st December 2024
MAC Birmingham, Sat 7th & Sun 8th December 2024
Can I buy direct by from you?
Yes of course! You can email me at catherinebowdlerprint@gmail.com or DM me on Instagram @catherinebowdler. I don't check emails every day so it may take a few days to reply. You can pay by bank transfer or Paypal.
Is it a lino print?
No, my prints are screen prints.
What is screen printing?
Screen printing is a process in which ink is forced onto paper through a fine mesh screen stretched around a wooden or metal frame, by pulling a rubber squeegee across it.
The design for each colour is put onto a screen by a process of applying a thin layer of light sensitive emulsion, followed by exposure to UV light in a dark room. Areas of the emulsion covered by black remain unaffected by exposure to light. The rest of the emulsion will harden on the mesh. The unaffected areas can then be washed away leaving a design stencil in the screen through which ink can be forced to print onto the paper underneath.
What does original print mean?
An original print means that all the processes are created and produced by the artist, typically signed and numbered in a limited edition. It is not a commercially printed reproduction which are a copy or facsimile of an artists work by mechanical means and are often referred to as ‘Art Prints,’ ‘Limited Edition Posters,’ or ‘Giclee Prints.’ When you buy an original print you buy art that is designed, made and approved by the artist.
Do you work from home?
I use a variety of small studio spaces, currently I have a dark room and small studio at home plus a larger studio in Birmingham.
Recent C.V.
2024
Selected for Bath Open Art Prize exhibition
Exhibition Banbury Museum Shop
Compton Verney Print Fair
'Shifting Print' development work
2023
Awarded DYCP Arts Council Grant for 'Shifting Print' development work.
Residency - Fyns Grafiske Vaerksted, Denmark
Group exhibition - Mrs Jones Gallery, Shrewsbury, UK
Compton Verney Print Fair
'Shifting Print' development work