 |
|||
|
|
|||
What can be more thrilling than the rhythmic whirr and rumble of the etching press as the great wheel follows itself around to its conclusion? The ancientness of the machine, its sense of history, its reliability, the solid steel bed trundling slowly back and forth between the heavy rollers, the feel of the felt blankets, the paper as it peels from the inky plate, the heart-stopping reveal. Alchemical, magical – otherworldly in my opinion!
Despite the preponderance of clean and instant results in a digital world, the age-old practice of traditional etching prevails and still engages those artists who continue to enjoy working with materials, machinery, and physical, messy processes. In contrast to the information overload and relentless speed of modern life, traditional etching can take time, allowing contemplation and the space to go with the flow.
Simple things like lifting a plate in your hands, feeling its weight, rasping a file against its edges, catching the alluring gleam of a sheet of water on a recently degreased plate before it dries, the waxy tack of a roller loaded with toffee coloured ground tracking its way across the shiny surface, and every other detail leading up to the first mark making moment, all allow thinking time, time to change one’s ideas a little, space for the vision to establish itself.
The contact with materials is utterly absorbing: the subtle motion of an etching needle gently removing a slither of wax to reveal the metal beneath, the sugar lift solution melting away from the plate laying bare a series of glistening painterly marks, the swish of the paddle as it throws a cloud of rosin dust into the top of the aquatint box, the gentle stroke of a feather gliding through fluid smoothing away a wave of tiny bubbles to expose the shimmering plate, a scraper shaving metal curls from the surface, the burnishing tool polishing to and fro, reflections bouncing off a worked piece of zinc or copper. And the smells of waxes, turpentine, and sticky black varnish.
The language of traditional etching has unique eloquence. For me, interweaving this alchemical process with the layers and symbols inherent in the landscape feels the most robust way of exploring a world of complex and overwhelming emotions, both personal and universal.
I like that my etching plates almost look as if they have been eroded by the elements themselves. They have been scored and furrowed, scraped, burnished, re-scored and re-furrowed until their history is symbolic of the very subject that confronts me.
My work has been described as conveying “powerful, uncompromising landscapes” pervaded by a “stern lyricism which speaks beyond place and season”. (Kari McGowan.) Dartmoor, where I grew up, is in my being but the North Cornwall coastline, the highlands of Scotland, and the sea and mountains of British Columbia have equal potency for me.
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:-
Royal West of England Academy Autumn Annuals and Open Print – 1992,93,94,97,98,2003,04,09,18,20,24
International Original Print Exhibition, RE, Bankside Gallery, London, 2024
Woolwich Contemporary Print Fair, London, 2021, 2022, 2024
‘Journey’, A Mayflower 400 Project, Transatlantic Touring Exhibition, Tamar Valley Printmakers and the Printmakers of Cape Cod: Theatre Royal, Plymouth, UK, Sep-Nov 2021, Torre Abbey Torquay, UK, July-Aug 2021, Cape Cod Museum of Art, USA, July-Sep 2020, Crapo Gallery, University of Massachusetts, June-July 2021
Printmaking nationals at the Mall Galleries, London, including National Print Exhibition 01, Originals 04 (award winner), 05, 07, 08, BITE 2011
Other exhibitions include:-
Reflection, Mary Gillett and Madeleine Strobel, Artmill Galleries, Plymouth, 2024
Inkscapes, Printmakers’Council, Horsebridge Gallery, Whitstable, 2024
Contemporary British Printmakers, Artizan Collective, Delamore Arts, 2024
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)
Mary Gillett and Tessa Asquith 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, Brighton
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)
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
21 Group of Artists
(50th anniversary)1967-2017
Blurb 2019
Encyclopedia of Printmaking Techniques
Judy Martin
Search Press 2018
Dartmoor Dreaming
The Art of Mary Gillett by Jenny Pery Devon Life 2003
Printmakers draw on Mary’s guiding hand
by Laura Joint
Plymouth Evening Herald 2017
South West Academy
Art People Place
Halstar 2014
| Contact Mary: 07817 165856 Email: click here | Follow Mary: 
|