Jacki Baxter’s instinctive, vibrant prints capture her emotional responses to landscapes and her love of colour. She uses different rollers, mark-making tools, stencils and lino to create vivid images that are full of movement and light. The work in her featured artist show is inspired by a trip to Cornwall.
What is your featured artist show about?
All the work in my featured artist show was inspired by a visit to Cornwall. It’s related to the land, sea and weather – the vast skies and the constantly changing water.
This is a beautiful print – the colours and marks are so vibrant. Can you tell me about it?
Yes, this print is “Gwanpp Twelveheads III”. It was inspired by an actual place where tin was mined and now the land has reverted to nature, but it can’t hide the scars of the ravages of the mining. Because of the tin in the soil, the landscape really is that orange and vibrant, with huge pools of orange water. The whole effect is quite eerie and still. The area is one of many that supported tin mining, and the brutalised landscape covers many acres.
This is my interpretation of it. It’s an emotional and instinctive response to the landscape.
Because I work in a very immediate and responsive way, I generally only make monotypes, and sometimes very small editions.
How did you make "Gwanpp Twelveheads III"?
I use lino as the base and apply the colour with rollers in many different sizes, using them both flat and on their sides to make marks. The use of colour is always important, perhaps the most important thing. I sometimes make the background first and then revisit the print and add more marks and details. The idea is to create the feeling of being there, the experience of the moment, rather than a representation of the view.
And you have this water series too? They have a lovely sense of movement and depth.
The water images try to convey the elusiveness of water, the ever-changing qualities and colour of the surface and the depths below. They were all created with monotype backgrounds first, using a variety of mark-making items. Then I printed stencils or surface patterns made using etched lino on top of the backgrounds. I aim to capture the experience of seeing and being in the moment.
Tell me about “Ice Cube I”, in the top right of your show. That has a more graphic feel than the other prints, with the arches and the yellow 'S' shape.
This is actually a gin and tonic, but transformed into an ambiguous image. It’s a landscape on a small scale when you look closely at the glass. I love the yellow ’S’ of the lemon. This is printed on Japanese paper, which is very soft and gives the print a different, gentle quality.
Jacki’s featured artist show is on at Greenwich Printmakers until April 24 and her wonderful prints are available at the gallery and at our online shop all year round. For more information, see her artist’s page and her website.