Saturday 14 February 2009

cressida campbell



A friend and I went up to the S.H.Ervin gallery on Observatory Hill on Thursday to see the Cressida Campbell show there. It is such an amazing position up there near the old Observatory with virtually a 360 degree view of the Bridge, the city and the harbour.
I was lucky enough to get the beautiful book of Cressida's work for Christmas and it was great to see such a large selection of the work up close.
She has a most unique method to produce her prints and woodblocks - first she carves a large plywood board and then paints watercolour between the engraved lines. Once she's layered it up enough she wets paint and paper and lays the paper over the board. She then presses a roller over the paper, peeling back the paper and rewetting it till she's happy with the print. She exhibits both print and painted woodblock.
She is a most amazing draughtswoman, some of her meticulous landscapes are metres long and incredibly detailed ! It was the smaller works that really attracted me.

3 comments :

  1. Wow her work has such detail in it! And can I just say how gorgeous your screen printed tea towels are :)

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  2. Thanks for this! Fascinating work, and I'm really intrigued by the description of her process.

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  3. it was a delightful exhibition, and we felt quite overwhelmed by her output and the sheer effort involved. very inspiring though!
    regards

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