Tessa Pearson and Louise Davies - Monoprints: Tessa Pearson and Louise Davies - passion for bold colour
Monoprinting is a form of printmaking that has lines or images that can only be made once. This is unlike most printmaking that allows editions. This exhibition brings together two artists, Louise Davies and Tessa Pearson, who use the technique in their printmaking.
Louise Davies uses intense layers of translucent colour and overlapping shifting shapes that are pulled together by calligraphic lines that define the subject matter and employ individual approach to colour.
Much of this work stems from her formative years in the West of England and its countryside. Later moving to London Louise recalls the landscape by adding her romantic notion of colour to emphasise the beauty of nature, induced by nostalgia for the past: suns rising and setting, turbulent storms, calm and troubled waters. Louise also uses drama and vibrant colour in her London and cityscapes. Buildings are back lit by luminescent skies that add magic and excitement to the already vibrant city. The River Thames is set alight with neon colours that reflect the mood of the image.
Louise Davies R.E. is a fellow of the Royal Society of Painter Printmakers. She has devoted the last thirty five years to her art work having trained as a painter and printmaker.
Tessa Pearson has always been in love with colour, and has spent her life seeing the world as a myriad of pattern and captivating images. Marvelling at patches of brilliant yellow in a dramatic patchwork green landscape, the glimpse of a violet pot against a cobalt blue wall will thrill her. Trained in textile design, her influences have been many, from Matisse to Hodgkin and the bold colourists of mid twenty first century painters Patrick Heron and Albert Irvin.
Tessa sees gardens as living paintings and they have been the inspiration she has returned to many times. Creating her own garden has been an influential process informing her work: she immerses herself in the planting, responding to the colour, rhythms and characteristics that excite. The time spent drawing and painting these moments build a rich recollection of imagery to create monoprints. Working with unpredictable water media and experimental printmaking processes, mixing direct spontaneous mark making and considered digital imagery ensures the liveliness and energy captured from direct observation.
Tessa studied Printed Textile design at UCA Farnham and the Royal College of Art, where she won the Courtauld's Prize. She is also the winner of the Surrey Artist of the Year competition at the New Ashgate Gallery in 2012.
New Ashgate Gallery
02/03/2019 to 13/04/2019
Open Tuesday-Saturday: 10am-5pm
Waggon Yard
Lower Church Lane
Farnham
Surrey
GU9 7PS