Mary Gillett | About Mary

My starting points are often found on Dartmoor and on the north Cornwall coastline. My images are contemplations on how our surroundings can reflect our histories, our moods and our thoughts. I specialise in etching which is a medium that has been developed by artists for its own intrinsic qualities and is now often used to produce single images as individual as paintings.

My etchings almost look as if they have been eroded by the elements themselves. The metal plates have been scored and furrowed, scraped, burnished, re-scored and re-furrowed until their history is symbolic of the very subject that confronts me. This tactile immediacy is of the essence and combines with the use of light and dark to create images of intense atmosphere. My oil paintings and pastels are informed by the etchings but are often lighter in feel.

Recently I have been applying some etching principles to the medium of collagraph so that I can work on a larger scale and more freely. This development reflects my love of painting which continues to influence everything I do.

I graduated with a Fine Art degree from the University of the West of England in 1979, followed by a PGCE and a Postgraduate Diploma in Printmaking at Brighton University in 1984. I founded Tamar Print Workshop on my return to Devon in 1992 where I have been working ever since.

Group exhibitions include:-
Woolwich Contemporary Print Fair, 11th – 14th Nov 2021
‘Journey’, A Mayflower 400 Project, Transatlantic Touring Exhibition, Tamar Valley Printmakers and the Printmakers of Cape Cod, Theatre Royal, Plymouth, 9th Sept – 20th Nov 2021.
‘Journey’, A Mayflower 400 Project, Transatlantic Touring Exhibition, Tamar Valley Printmakers UK and Printmakers of Cape Cod, USA, Torre Abbey, Torquay, UK, July – 30th August 21
“Journey”, Cape Cod Museum of Art, USA July-Sep 2020
“Journey” (as above), Crapo Gallery, University of Massachusetts, June-July 2021
Royal West of England Academy Annuals (various – between 1992 and 2019)
Royal West of England Academy Printmaking Opens (various – between 1997 and 2009)
Printmaking nationals at the Mall Galleries, London, including National Print Exhibition 01, Originals 04 (award winner), 05, 07, 08, BITE 2011

Other exhibitions include:

The Pull of the Print, Printmakers’ Council, Linden Hall Studios, Deal, Kent Into the Woods, Spring Cheltenham Gallery, Gloucestershire (2022)
The Ropewalk, Burton on Humber, Land Sea and Sky, (Printmakers Council 2019)
Cornish Landscapes as seen by 5 artists, St Endellion (2019)
Watts Contemporary Printmaking Show, Watts Gallery, Guildford (2017) Drawn to the Valley Printmakers at Theatre Royal, Plymouth (exhibitor and curator) (2017)
Two woman show at the Craft and Design Centre, Leeds (2016)
Beckford Fine Art, Guildhall, Bath (2011)
Response to Turner, Plymouth Museum and Art Galleries, (2006)

Regular exhibitor with:

Tincleton Gallery, Dorchester
Artmill Gallery, Plymouth
Limekiln Gallery, Calstock

Earlier exhibitons include:

‘The Art and Craft of Etching’, 300 Years of Etching, Pallant House, Chichester ‘An Introduction to Printmaking’, Printmakers Council, Romford Library
The Fourth British Print Exhibition, The Grundy Gallery, Blackpool
‘The Elements in Print’, Brighton Festival Exhibition, North Star Studios Sussex Artists and Photographers Exhibition, Brighton Museum

Solo shows include:-

Scribing earth and sky, Tincleton Gallery, Dorchester, 2018
Dartmoor Festival, (2004)
Chapel Gallery, Saltram House, Plymouth (2002)
Plough Gallery, Torrington (1997)
Royal Albert Memorial Museum, Exeter (1996)

Current exhibitions include:

21 Group at the Artizan Gallery, Torquay

Print South West at the Musgrove Hospital, Taunton in collaboration with Somerset Art for Life Programme.

Future shows include:

Woolwich Contemporary Print Fair, The Fireworks Factory, No.1 Street, Royal Arsenal, Woolwich, London, SE18 6HD, 03 – 06 November
‘Journey’, A Mayflower 400 Project, Transatlantic Touring Exhibition, Tamar Valley Printmakers and the Printmakers of Cape Cod, Theatre Royal, Plymouth, 23rd August – 2nd October 2022
PSA at the Penwith Galleries, St Ives, Cornwall, 27 August -24 September 2022

As a member of the 21 Group of Artists regular exhibition venues include Theatre Royal Plymouth, Penwith Galleries St Ives, Artmill Gallery Plymouth, Limekiln Gallery Cornwall
As a member of the Plymouth Society of Artists regular exhibition venues include Plymouth Museum and Art Galleries, Theatre Royal Plymouth, Penwith Galleries St Ives, Artmill Galleries Plymouth

Press and Publications include (right click on image and open new tab to enlarge):-