Various opening times – please see below
We’re excited to welcome four very talented artists to Courtyard Arts. Laura Burns, Betty Grove, Amanda Towers, and Jude O’Sullivan are displaying a number of pieces in our gallery space. Please pop along to view their work. Opening times are listed below including two opportunities to view printmaking demonstrations.
Printmaker
I am a printmaker and tutor at Courtyard Arts. I engage in a number of different printmaking techniques, these screen prints on display have developed over the last two years.
Created from paper masks and stop out, these hand pulled prints are a minimum of 5 colours. Each colour is pulled through the screen separately, combining both translucent and opaque pigments to build the image to its final conclusion. The process is a voyage of discovery with some surprising successes and some learning curves.
Editions are small up to 10 prints in each case and are variable as I play with each colour overlay.
The majority of these prints were created during 2020 lockdown, when I had the freedom to access the Courtyard studio.
I am eternally grateful to Kate Davies, for giving me the opportunity and freedom to thoroughly explore the wonderfully vibrant medium of screen printing.
I will be demonstrating this process during the Art trail at Courtyard Arts. Please refer to the Courtyard website for dates when I will be at the centre and demonstrating and encouraging visitors to have a go at screen printing and Lino cuts.
Instagram – @judeosullivan3950
Printmaker
I studied at Loughborough College of Art and Design and have been teaching in further education for 25 years. I currently teach life drawing and printmaking at Courtyard Arts.
Printmaking has been my passion, influenced by nature and architecture. I derive my ideas through drawing, photography and emotional response to places visited. Colour is a Key component throughout my work, I use this to encapsulate the mood and emotion I am trying to express. I use a range of printmaking processes throughout my work.
Currently I am enjoying the expressive nature and freedom of monoprinting. Developing and exploring my use of this medium, evolving new ways to manipulate the ink playing with colour, composition and form.
Textile artist and illustrator
I’m an illustrator, fine artist, designer and craft maker from France but now based in Hertford.
My principal technique is a mix of hand-drawn lines with digital colours and textures. However I love to experiment with new techniques and different forms of expression from drawing and painting on paper, fabrics and ceramic materials, embroidery to using hand-dying processes: the possibilities are infinite! Most of the artwork presented for the art trail are executed in wool using the technique of punch needle embroidery.
I take my inspiration from the Art and Craft movement, mythologies and folklore of the world. My style is an ode to traditional Japanese wood blocks and art movements such as Les Nabis.
Instagram – @betty_illustrations
Paper Collage and Cutouts, Digital illustration
Originally from Leicestershire, I decided to study Graphic Arts and Design at Leeds Metropolitan University. Here I specialised in printmaking, surface pattern, Graphic and illustrative design.
On moving south to live in Hertford I worked at Liberty in London alongside designers and buyers of the classic Liberty style. Following this, I took a position in the buying department at the London Graphic Centre. It was then I decided to use my experience to create and develop my own design studio.
My unique eye for design has lead to various interior products, creating a brand which, now known as Laura B Makes, has sold around the world to countries such as Japan and America as well as throughout Europe.
My latest work sees me drawing on my love of paper, using colour washes and experimental mark making to create a distinctive palette from which to work. For subject matter, my latest work draws inspiration from the natural world and combines and contrasts it with classic architectural and interior design.
Through intricate hand cutting of paper and multi layering, I build a slightly abstracted view of reality, drawing out shapes and textures. The passion I have for both the materials I work with and the subject matter in my art imbues my work with a genuine emotional chemistry.
Instagram – @laurabmakes